Adventures in Produce and Disneyland baby!

It's been a while since I have posted, cause honestly, I had to bring myself down from my Disney high. What a rush! But before I tell that story, lets have some more of "Adventures in Produce".

Before I went to Disneyland, I came across some more funky weird produce while shopping at my local Ralphs. The first was call a "Pepino melon" and it looked like this:

I also found a spiky orange melon that was called a Kiwano, or Horned Melon. It looked like this:

 

 

I decided to butcher these melons and have them for breakfast one morning. Rather than do any kind of research to find out the proper way to go about this, I just grabbed a sharp knife and decided to hope for the best.

 

The pepino melon was easy enough and inside looked like this:



I used a demitasse spoon to scoop out the inside and taste it... it was pretty awful. It was very, very musky and tasted like a very strong cucumber, only with almost no sweetness to it. I pretty much gave up on that after the first bite. Then, I pulled over the other. I started cutting into it, and it puked on me:

 

As if that wasn't enough to kill your appetite, when you finally get it open, you find this:

 

There was no part of me that wanted any part of that. But let me tell you this dear readers, out of a sense of duty to you, I knew I had to find out what the taste was like, so, I picked it up...and licked it. It actually wasn't all that bad tasting. It was mildly and slightly sweet. I couldn't get past the texture though, so it got binned along with the pepino and I went back to my old breakfast stand-by of green smoothie.

 

Ok! Now for the fun part! Disneyland!

 

Disneyland was so damn awesome! The whole reason that we went was because I had originally been signed up to run in the Tinkerbell Half marathon. Well, long story short: Hepatitis, hemolytic anemia, hospital stay, blah blah blah. The doctors nixed my running plans. However, I had already paid for tickets and hotel rooms and what not, so heck yea, I went.

 

My daughter Paisley had a race too, we ran that one together:

 

 

 

 

But this blog is about food, so lets talk about that. I am gluten free because I have celiac disease. If I get "glutened", I get really sick, so there is no cheating on that front. I did give myself permission to be a little bit lax with the rest of my diet, because since my diet is a lifestyle change, I think when you go on vacation, you should be on vacation, so I had basically decided to eat normally, (but gluten free). That being said, normally, gluten free eating is hard. You have to try to talk to the people making your food, explain what gluten is, and basically make a guess about whether something is safe or not to eat. I don't really like eating out, because I get glutened a lot. Well, guess what? Not at Disneyland!!

 

Our very first food experience was at a restaurant called Goofy's Kitchen, which is at the Disneyland hotel. It was a buffet, so I was immediately nervous. However, when I told the server that I was gluten free, he went right into the kitchen and brought the chef out to the table. The chef then walked me around the entire buffet and told me which foods were gluten free and which foods weren't. He even told me which foods might be contaminated and offered to get me fresh ones from the kitchen. He told me that there was nothing on the pastry table for me, but If I liked, he could go make me some gluten free pancakes or waffles! It was too good to be true! Except that it was true!

 



 

These were Mickey Mouse shaped gluten free pancakes. (I was half way through them before my mom told me that I should take a picture for my blog). They were HEAVENLY.

 

 

Delicious buffet food.

 

And you know what? Every restaurant at Disneyland was the same! They all sent the chef out to talk to me, I got to eat food that was almost identical to the food that everyone else ate and I didn't get glutened even once! This was HUGE for me. I was so happy. One more story about food.

 

One night we had dinner at the Blue Bayou which is the restaurant that is inside of Pirates of the Caribbean. Its kind of a fancy, sit down restaurant and by this time, we were used to the fact that they were seriously awesome about gluten free. HOWEVER, when we all sat down, they brought a basket of rolls to the table. This is always a hard time for me, because I used to LOVE bread. I've really gotten used to watching my family eat bread during bread time though, because they all love bread too ;-). I was happily drinking my mint julep and watching them all eat rolls when the waiter comes by with a little basket with two rolls in it and says, "Miss, the Chef has sent over some gluten free rolls." I almost burst into tears. Literally. Never, have I ever had a gluten free roll at a restaurant and it was pure heaven.

I could probably ramble on for three or four more pages about how awesome it was to actually eat food, but I won't. I will just leave you with this thought: If you have dietary restrictions, you should not visit Disneyland. You should LIVE there.

 

Oh, and I'm not telling you how much, but I actually LOST weight while at Disney. How you ask? We walked an average of 8 miles a day and I carried a 40 lb toddler for most of it. Seriously. My arms fell off. I actually coughed up the money and bought a stroller on the third day, cause, ow.

 

 

We are planning to take the same trip next January too, only this time, with the help of my doctors and nutritionist, I will be able to run the half marathon!

 

I had to come back to earth though, and I am back at work and back on my awesome diet. I have been losing weight steadily and feel fantastic! I can't wait to weigh in on the 8th! And hey! If you still want to get in on the contest, take a guess about how much weight I will have lost in the last 5 weeks and leave it in the comments! I will be awarding an amazon gift card in that amount to the closest guess!




 

 





 

I'm Growing A What?!!?

A will power people! I'm growing a will power!!

As it turns out, saying no is not actually going to kill you, and sometimes it feels pretty good! Will power and self restraint is something that I have struggled with my entire adult life. I would love to wax poetic and tell you how its all because of childhood trauma caused by my cousins-sister's-best friend's-boyfriend's gay pet cockatoo, but I think I just like food. Certain things that I would eat would trigger me to binge eat boat loads of crap. Like Potatoes. Potatoes are a huge trigger food for me. Not only would eating potatoes trigger me to eat more potatoes, but the starchy goodness of them would always make me want to eat something sugary right after. Not anymore! Not only have I been able to avoid temptation, but the longer I do it, the easier it is!

Trigger foods are foods that you eat that make you want to continue eating. Deficiencies are nutrients that your body is missing that make you want to consume a certain type of food in order to repair an actual or percieved deficiency. And everyone knows what emotional eating is... Something makes you feel bad so you seek to give yourself an endorphin dosage by eating something. Whatever. You know what the important part is? The important part is I HAD THE DOLLAR BILL IN THE VENDING MACHINE AND I TALKED MYSELF DOWN. "So what?" You say. "Big Freaking Deal." You're right. It is. In the completely unprecedented and personal victory kinda way!

People ask me how my new diet is going. Its going people. I love it. I'm am whole heartedly on board. They say it takes a month to develop habits? I believe it. I'm getting close and this already feels natural to me.

I spend a lot of my time weighing stuff.

And chopping stuff.

And then actually cooking stuff myself.

I'm spending more time on my nutrition than I ever have before, but damn if that hasnt increased my satisfaction with it!!

Speaking of which, there have been some requests for some recipes. I'm going to share the recipes for the tomato free tomato sauce, which I can only take credit for part of it. The idea came from elsewhere on the web. I'm also going to share the recipe for the veggie lasagna and it was created by Amanda Beckner. So, not mine, don't thank me, thank them. Deliciousness!

Tomato-free tomato sauce:
Ingredients:
2 cans beets (not pickled)
1 bag baby carrots
1/2 cup lemon juice
 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 onion
2 tbsp oil
2 cups of water
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp Basil
1 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop the onion and garlic (doesnt matter how fine, its going in a blender). Sautee onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add beets, carrots and 1 cup of water. Cover pot and lower heat to medium. Cook for 40-60 minutes until carrot is soft. Add 2nd cup of water and spices. Remove from heat and stir well to distribute spices. Mix in lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. Transfer contents from pot to blender and blend until chunks are gone. (This only took about a minute). Use immediately or freeze.

I love this sauce! Its yummy and works great on pasta, in lasagna and also as a dipping sauce. And, because its beets and not tomatoes, it doesnt stain my tupperware! Double score! In addition, there is no added sugar or anything, so when I eat it, I'm like, "Eating my veggies dude, back off."

Ok, so now onto the veggie lasagna. I told you that it belongs to Amanda Beckner, but also, I made a few changes to it. Its yummier now. Also, if you come across an ingredient like "Dairy free Daiya cheese shreds" Just know that it will work just fine with real cheese.

Ingredients:

1 cup fat free cottage cheese (or dairy free substitute)
1 package frozen california veggies
1 box gluten free lasagna noodles (or regular ones if you are lucky enough to be a wheat-eater)
2 cups tomato free tomato sauce (or tomato if you prefer)
1 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp parsley
1 cup daiya dairy free shredded cheese substitute (Or mozarella cheese if you are of the cow's milk persuasion)
5 ounces frozen spinach

Start by preheating the oven to 375. Then, the lasagna noodles say that they are no cook, ready for the oven noodles. They lie through their delicious pasta teeth. The first time I used them, they stayed hard as a rock. I now soak them in hot water for ten minutes prior to usage. Works perfectly.

Mix the garlic, basil and parsley into the cottage/ricotta cheese. Set aside. In an 8 x 10 pan, lay 3 noodles flat on the bottom (they will fit this pan size perfectly. Next, spread half the red sauce, all the cottage cheese, half the daiya, the spinach and the california veggies ontop of the noodles. (I like to chop the veggies to make smaller pieces, that way, your maintain your lasagna-ish composition). Lay the other three noodles ontop and top with the remaining sauce and daiya. Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and back for 20 additional minutes. Serve and enjoy!

I didnt take any pictures of me cooking the lasagna. I was going to take a picture of me eating it, but trust me, it wouldn't do it justice.

So, the next step in this game is to get fresh with it. I'm still a slave to the convenience culture. I like my veggies pre-chopped and my salads pre-washed. I'm going to a farmers market on monday, so, I'll let you know how this goes.

Lets talk about results!! I have big news to report! Not only did I spend today mostly pain free, but I had excess energy to burn and man! My mood has never been better. And.... ::drumroll please:: I have had to go four holes tighter in my belt!!! Its my fat girl belt and there is only one hole left, so after that, I will have to buy a new belt!

Speaking of, there is still time to get in on the game! The person with the closest guess as to how much fat I will lose by february 2nd will win an amazon.com gift card valued at that number! Leave a comment with your guess and either your name or email.

It's time for the big reveal...

Ok. So it's not that big. It's not anywhere near as big as I had hoped. I'm gonna give myself a break though, cause, come on. Festive holiday cheer and soy nog and all that. And chocolate. Piles and piles of chocolate.

The day after Christmas, I was all set to jump back on the crunchy granola band wagon, but there was the small matter of left over ham and pumpkin pie in the fridge. I did really well ignoring it. I ignored it all through breakfast and ... I was eating it by noon. The following day I did all right. Until I got to work. And there was all sorts of candies and coffees and goodies. The cheery bastards. Don't they know I have the will power of a golden doodle?

On the 28th, I was determined to get back in the saddle. I made all my meals, I prepared everything in advance. I knew I had to drive down to San Diego to celebrate my sister's birthday at a barbeque restaurant so I prepared my food, took it with me and ate it in the car on the way down. You're gonna be so proud. I didn't have a single thing at the restaurant. Things were really looking up. That is, until my other sister, who drove down with me, drove through In and Out on the way back up to the desert. I'm not even going to tell you what went on there, I'm sure you can figure it out.

So, step one. I'm admitting I have a problem. Finally, by the 30th of December, five days after my firey downward spiral from grace, I beat my diet back into submission. I have now had 5 whole days of clean and healthy eating and it can only go up from here.

So, this morning was my appointment with the nutritionist. Even with my little five day "bender", I lost 5lbs of fat! My lean body mass stayed right where it was at 162 lbs, and my hydration improved. I no longer have any idea what my goal weight should be, because if 162lbs is my lean body mass, obviously I should weigh more than that right?

How about the non-weight related benefits? I can now say with definity that I have much less inflammation in my joints. Its especially noticeable in my knees and ankles. I have so much more energy and my mood has really improved. The energy thing is particularly incredible to me because I have mostly given up caffeine but I have felt so peppy. Other people are noticing too. People at work have been asking me about my energy and one girl even asked, "What did you do? You're so much nicer now!" Which, if you think about it, is just another way of saying, "You used to be such a bitch!"

Where to from here? Well, the nutritionist taught me how to design my own menus, so I should be able to add in some new foods, but we decided that I would stick with these for another two weeks. I still have a lot of work to do on my health. My hydration was better, but I am still bad at drinking water. I'm still drinking caffeine, (only one 2 oz espresso a day now though) and I'm not sure I'm at all interested in giving that up.

In October, I woke up one morning throwing up blood. I went by ambulance to the hospital where they discovered that I had hepatitis and hemolytic anemia. It took them four days to narrow the cause down to Epstein Barr. I was told that it could take several months to heal from this completely, but, because the pain has yet to go away, I'm going in for an abdominal ultrasound tomorrow morning. I'm pretty freaked about this, because my grandfather on my mothers side died of liver cancer when he was 34.

My biggest goal, with this diet, and assuming that everything turns out ok tomorrow, is to make sure that this stops happening to me. No more mystery illnesses, no more hospitals, no more drugs. Just a healthy body that functions that way it should.

Ok, now that this got so dark, I think its time for a little levity. How about a game? I have five weeks until my next appointment with the nutritionist. Leave a comment on this post with your guess as to how much fat I will lose (in pounds) by February 8th, and the closest guess will win an amazon.com giftcard. Ready, go!

Magic does exist!

I did magic tonight. You are not going to believe this. Actual, tangible magic. But more on that later.

Why the long absence? you ask. Well, as honesty is the whole point of this blogging business, I'll tell you. I haven't written because I am facing some adversity within my diet. Christmas was extremely difficult for me and the only part of the diet that I didnt cheat on was the gluten free part. Then, after christmas, it was extremely hard to build up any kind of momentum. I finally did it though, and I'm back on track. So now lets talk about the cool, interesting new stuff involve in this damn endevor.

First, lets discuss freaky produce. I was going along, minding my own business, trying to find a jicama, (talk about freaky produce. Its like a combination between a potato and an apple...and your supposed to eat it. So weird), and I see this giant green thing. It was big and round and looked like a green orange except it was like the size of my toddlers head. Well, It was big and weird so I had to buy it. Its called a pummello, which to me sounds like some kind of candy, so I had pretty high hopes.

I lugged this monstrocity home from the grocery store and plopped it down on a plate. Not knowing what it was, I wasnt sure how to begin to dismantle it to ready it for consumption, so I turned to that great repository of human knowledge, wikipedia. I learned that a pummelo comes from south east asia and it known as the ancestor of grape fruit. It described the butchering method and tools so I set of to the kitchen for an experience.

Not being a fan of grape fruit, I first recruited several test subjects. These being my stepfather and my daughter. I used a large serrated knife to make the opening incision, but, being such a volumous fruit, my knife did not even reach the other side. It became necessary to upgrade to a pointy bread knife.

Pummelos are redder than grape fruit and have a much, much thicker rind. They are also only half as tart and like, twice as sweet. After my test subjects injested several pieces of the fruit it became clear that it couldn't be that bad, so I consented to taste it. And I immediately wondered why we decided to improve upon Pumellos by inventing grape fruit? If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Candy, it is not, but its pretty nice.

Let's talk about magic! I am not eating nightshade vegetables right now which means that when I make veggie lasagna, I have to do it without tomato sauce or peppers. This means that I cannot make lasagna. I did a little research, to see if the impossible could be done. As it turns out it can.

Ladies and gentlement, tonight, I used the combined powers of alchemy and root vegetables to make a tomato-free tomato sauce. And it was GOOD. I know! Impossible right? As it turns out, its all in the spice. I was able to make a delicious red sauce using only beets, carrots, an onion and the right spices. I could not believe it! Tomatoes are out, beets are in! Yum.

Beets are pretty weird. I had my reservations, I admit. Firstly, beets are a purple vegetable. I am here to announce that no self respecting vegetable is purple. Secondly, they are sweet and taste delicious just all by their selves. I actually ate quite a few before we got to the sauce stage. Fun fact about beets: They were once called "blood turnips". Which, I'm sorry, but lets examine the crazy appitizing appeal of that phrase.

My new goal is to find some of these:

They are the Tim Burton of beets and I want to use them in my next batch of sauce. I also have been watching food network and I've decided that I need to try a blood orange. Now I just gotta keep my eyes out for them!!!

On monday I am going to use my new sauce to create a veggie lasagna. I will post pictures of steps and the finished work. And then I will eat it.

It's just like magic!

Wow. Its only been 6 days. I'm not even completely finished with this weeks menu, (I have one day left) and already a profound change has occured. I have gone from tolerating/coping with my diet to liking it. Talk about unexpected.

A few days ago? When I had made that green shake that I said was so awful? I've had it twice more since then. The second time I had it, I was like, "What the crap was I so upset about? This isn't THAT bad." This morning? It was more like, "Hey! This is actually pretty good!" It's a pretty big change in a pretty short amount of time... it almost makes me wonder if they put something in that stuff to draw you too it. You know, like the first time you try a cigarette and your lungs feel like they are on fire and your tongue feels all fuzzy? And then by the 3rd cig, your like, "Where have you been all my life?" It's like that. (Yea, I used to smoke. Yes, I cold turkeyed myself and have never looked back. Not relevant to this blog.)

I'm still not big on celery. But, I managed to eat my whole serving today with no gag reflex, so that's totally progress. And yesterday, I made a veggie lasagna that was orgasmically good. Seriously. It was so good, it almost turned into a trigger food. I barely restrained myself from eating the entire pan. The one thing that I have yet to come to grips with is the granola. Now, it may just be the type that I bought, but when I opened the bag, I smelled nail polish remover and when I tasted it, it tasted like melted plastic and evil. I'm hoping that they are not all that bad, because I am supposed to be eating it and I had to throw it away this morning. If anybody knows of a yummy gluten-free, nut-free granola, please, pass it on!

Lets talk about weird food. I got this cheese called Daiya. Its a shredded cheese that's made from soy. (I think). It has a funny sweet taste to it and melts differently, (more creamy, less stringy) but its not bad. I think it might grow on me. Then, there is also the soy yogurt. Soy yogurt is really good. Like, really, really good. Vanilla with a pinch of cinnamon in it, Man oh man. Coconut milk doesnt taste like milk. It also doesnt taste like coconut. Its just kind of there. I'm learning. And today, for the first time, I started looking forward to seeing what the next set of menus would bring.

Benefits? It's only been six days, but I have noticed a marked increase in energy. Today I woke up, bounced out of bed, (yes, bounced. Something I havent done since I was six, so it's noteworthy.) I made the days meals in half the time and then started laundry and cleaning. I was not the only one who noticed the new energy level. My coworkers thought I had fallen off the bandwagon and abducted a barista. I told them, no, this is my brain on veggies. It felt pretty good.

Weight loss. My pants are looser and I moved down a notch on my belt. That was cool. I'm waiting for January 2nd for the big numerical reveal.

Quit reading now if you're squicky.

So, for the last 3 years (ever since I was pregnant with my daughter),  I have had serious problems with the potty. So much so that I have had 3 years of constant fluxuation between constipation and diarrhea. Now, I'm Sheldon Cooper. I have gone, normally, at 8:30 every day for the last three days. This alone, is worth the whole thing. This is something that I have been medicated for, to no avail, and now, magically, poof! (Or rather, poop! :-) )

Tomorrow is going to be a challenge. I'm driving far, far away to take my daughter to visit an old friend and go to the zoo, so I'm taking my food with me. Wish me luck!

Hi, My name is Laura and it has been 4 days since...

...I have eaten fast-food or had a Starbucks coffee. So far I haven't melted or turned into a pillar of salt or anything like that. I think its going well.

Today I had a real challenge because my bosses brought El Pollo Loco to work for our holiday meal. It smelled really nice and looked all yummy and chickenish, but, I stayed strong. At one point, I very nearly gave in, but I told myself that I would let myself have a piece of chicken if I ate my lunch first and then still wanted it. Guess what? After I ate my lunch, I didn't want it anymore! Amazing.

Let's start at the top. Breakfast was the next closest thing to revolting. I took a half cup of coconut milk, a half a banana, two figs, a half cup of water, a half tbspn of molasses and a half cup of ice and threw it into the blender along with 1/3 of a cup "Ultimate Meal Powder". It went from creamy and yellow to green in about 2 seconds. The powder that they gave me is supposed to be full of awesome nutrients. It has 23 ingredients. Things like: Flax seed, Quinoa, Amaranth, Millet, Yellow peas, Spirulina, Nettles and a bunch of stuff that sounds like its made from plants that you might find at Hogwarts. Here's a pic of the resulting concoction:

It was so bad, I don't think even chocolate could save it. If I was allowed to have chocolate anymore, I could test that theory. Luckily, my friends had suggestions for me. Everything from spike it with raspberries to chuck it and hit the vodka. Instead, I drank it through a straw. (Everybody knows that crap tastes better through a straw).

 

Breakfast did fill me up though, so that was a plus. After breakfast, it took me a good hour to prepare the rest of the day's meals. I won't bore you with the details, I'll just share pictures.

 

This was lunch. -Brown rice with lentils and vegetables.

 



And dinner- Salmon with baked yams and vegetables.

 

I enjoyed both of these meals immensely. Today was the first time that I have ever tried lentils. I highly reccomend them.

 

Still no headache. I'm fascinated by this part.  Each time I have quit caffeine previously, I have been absolutely debilitated. Maybe it just hasn't hit yet. Maybe I will wake up tomorrow in excruciating pain and beg my mr. coffee for a fix. I guess we'll see. It's still too soon to be seeing any kind of health benefits, I'll just trust that they're coming. The best thing that I can say so far is that I haven't felt hungry or deprived so far.

 

Yesterday I posted about the expense of my groceries. I was curious today about my past spending habits, so I checked my bank account statement for last month. Last month I spent $447 on food, both at the grocery store and at fast food/restaurants. I definitely plan to keep all of my receipts so that I can compare the costs of the two diets.

 

Shame time! I wanna be able to do a "before" and "after" picture, so I'm going to go ahead and post my current "before" pic.

 

At work.



After I left the hospital the last time, I had lost nearly 20 pounds in about 2 weeks. My butt looked completely different. I ate it back on, and I'm hoping I can get rid of it again.

 

Ok, the kidlet finally went to sleep, its time to shop for Christmas presents! Only 9 shopping days left!!!



So you wanna play mind games? Well that's fine, go ahead, lalala, I can't hear you.

I mean't to post yesterday, I really did, but a 20 page final paper for a sociology class reared its ugly, MLA formatted head and demanded my attention. I won't let it happen again, I promise.

As promised, I went to two different health food stores on Thursday. Wow. Have you ever been to a health food store? Its a new experience. Firstly, both stores that I went to had supplement sections that were equal in size to the grocery section. They sell every powder, pill, poultice or potion you ever need that will do everything from provide a multivitamin to make your toenails grow faster. Amazing. The employees were sweet and caring and wanted to help me find things in their store... it was weird. Secondly, everything costs about 3 times as much as the products that you buy at the regular grocery store. The consumer in me is dying to go and buy as many products I can at Ralphs and compare my receipts. That is the plan for next monday. I shall report my findings then.

So, I have been on this new diet for 2 days now, and I have learned several things.

1. Eating this way takes way more effort than the way I used to eat. Today I spent an hour and a half preparing my snacks and dinner for tonight. What took so long? Chopping vegetables! Man. Halfway through I felt like calling my nutritionist and telling her that I'm going to charge her by the hour for meal prep-time. 

2. I'm going to screw up a lot. Not intentionally. Not in the "screw it, I have to have a chocolate chip cookie, right now!" kinda way. In the oops, I didnt know that, kinda way. 1st screw up was yesterday, when I ate Salsa Verde on my blue corn tortilla chips. I thought since it had no tomatoes in it, I would be ok, but, alas, as I have learned, both tomatillos and jalapenos belong to the nightshade family. Additionally, I bought some "Veggie slices" on the doctor's recommendation, and I actually enjoyed them. My friend Lesley was nice enough to point out that the cheese might have yeast in it, and sure enough, they have something called "Yeast extract (inactive)" in them. I'm not positive this is a problem, but I plan to call the nutritionist to get yelled at on monday.

3. I hate raisins and jicama. Everything else has been ok so far, but these foods are intolerable. Also, gluten-free granola tastes like plastic and nail polish remover.

4. Celery tastes way better if you remove the strings. I'm not lying. You gotta try it.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the week, to see how it goes. I wish that I could report a miraculous cure for all my ailments already, but, its way to soon. If anything, my pain is worse today. Something interesting did happen though. The last time I tried to detox from caffeine, I went into withdrawals like a heroin addict. Excrutiating headache, shaking, chills, vomiting... it was so fun. I haven't given caffeine up all together, but today I only had 57mg, which is like, less than a quarter of what it usually is and yet, nothing!

Today's stat's:
5'10'' tall
Pain: 8
Weight: I haven't weighed myself. I'm playing a mind game. I'm not weighing in until my next appointment on January 2nd.
Caffeine: 57mg

 

In case you're curious, this was my dinner for tonight. Its rice noodles, green beans, carrots, bean sprouts, and onions with tofu. It was actually quite good!

 

Credit for my title goes to: The Barenaked Ladies