Banana-Date Tea Cake tastes much better now. Well, this is a typical pound cake and just takes time to get ready to be eaten. So, I decided to upload my “sunken” tea cake to remind myself a failure. I have to remember that I should use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour to make the texture firmer.

Week 38 Feedback:

I haven’t lost any weight yet: I have actually gained two pounds since Christmas. My total weight loss is 43 lb. (I’m saying to remind myself) I know why. Why? Because I have been consuming more calories a day. It’s ironic that eating pizza with salad helps me lose weight quicker than eating homemade meals. When I cook something at home, there should be leftovers. I keep them for a couple of days in the fridge, but I usually don’t want to keep longer than that (even if it’s still O.K. to eat.., according to A.A.). What happens is that I take bites from there though they are not suitable for my diet so that I don’t want to throw away. Every time I open the freezer, I see corn bread, roasted chickens, hams, beef, and etc. (I used to have my pastries, too)

Day 267: Thursday

• Breakfast: orange & dried cranberries (1 T) with 100-cal yogurt; a piece of leftover banana tea cake; 6 pieces of leftover cookies (!)
• Lunch: instant cream corn soup with seaweed & a quarter pound ham; a piece of banana tea cake
• Dinner: 3 cookies (!)

It snowed on Monday and Tuesday. Sophie and Misha loved it! (I didn’t like it if I need to drive.. eventually, I canceled my piano lesson because of bad road condition) A.A. and I took them to parks for three days in a row. We went to Fuller Park near our house on Monday and took them to the Eagle Island State Park on Tuesday. Since the incident (she almost drowned) at the Eagle Island, both were on leash. But, it seemed like they still could enjoy running on the snow. And again, we went to Fuller Park today. There were still snow on the ground at the park, and Sophie and Misha couldn’t wait for running. Actually, Sophie hardly ever stopped running, but Misha. She usually gets excited and jumps around for a few minutes and that’s about it. It’s very interesting to watch them playing together.

Day 266: Wednesday – diet doesn’t seem like going well.. 

• Breakfast: banana with dried cranberries (1 T) & 100-cal yogurt; a piece of leftover failed banana tea cake
• Lunch: 10 pieces of saltine crackers with beef sausage (2 oz); seaweed soup with egg & ham (¼ lb); one taquitos; a piece of leftover garlic toast
• Dinner: skipped, of course!

Unbelievable! Well, believe it. I had HUGE lunch today.. I was out of control. I really wanted salty food and had bites from every different snack. After the meal, I had lot of barley tea. I really want to lose weight, but what I’m doing now doesn’t make sense to me.

This Fried Rice was successful.

I was pretty excited to try new recipe this morning: Banana-Date Tea Cake. All my bananas were ready to be baked and I had lots of dates in the fridge. This recipe is from Tartine by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson. This book is nicely organized and well explained. I have baked Lemon bars on Brown Butter Shortbread before, and it was fantastic. Though I used a half cup of almond flour instead of pine nuts (optional), the crust was amazingly tasty (Sadly, A.A.’s colleagues didn’t like it because of the lack of sweetness). But, as far as the recipe for this particular tea cake, the direction was different from the one I’m used to: blending eggs into banana & vanilla extract mixture. I usually add eggs one at the time to whipped butter cream with sugar; add banana mixture and dry ingredients. But, this recipe says to add the banana and egg mixture to whipped butter cream slowly and beat until incorporated. I was suspicious and interested in the method. So, I tried; as a result, the butter cream and this mixture actually got separated! Well, I didn’t want to throw away, so I just folded remaining ingredients and baked. I knew it was not going to look O.K. Result: sunken center, but tasted good. I loved the ingredients, so I will redo this tea cake soon.

Day 265: Tuesday

• Breakfast: banana with dried cranberries (1 T) & 100-cal yogurt with a little bit of milk; some Banana-Date Tea Cake (failed..)
• Lunch: seaweed soup with leftover fried rice (about 100 g) 
• Dinner: leftover garlic toast (about 250 cal) – somehow I was so cold at night and just grabbed a piece of toast without thinking to make myself warm.. it really doesn’t make sense, but I sometimes eat something without thinking.. bad habit.

Here are things that I made yesterday: fried rice with lettuce & black beans; chocolate macarons; sablée cookies. I’m so happy to try this cranberry cookies by Panipop-san. (Panipopo-san’s blog is right here) I actually baked this right after Christmas, but I was too tired to take pictures of them and I needed to find out the portion I liked. The recipe calls for 30-40 pieces, but I could make only 20 of them even though I doubled the original recipe. So, I tripled this time, and yes, I had 44 pieces!  Since I converted grams to ounces or cups, I also wanted to make sure the baking time. I know it all depends on the ovens and it took 17-18 minutes to have desired color and texture. After baking, I realized that I forgot to add lemon peel. Chocolate macorns’ recipe is adapted from “French Chocolate Macaron Recipe” by David Lebovitz. This mcaron was unsuccessful. I was careful about the size and filling: smaller size and different and more reliable cream frosting. The size looked almost perfect, but I didn’t think about the baking time, which was much shorter than I thought: It took only 6-7 minutes. I overbaked nearly 40 macarons and only a dozen survived (that was the last pan). I was so disappointed when I tasted those unsuccessful ones. The taste and texture will change next day or two (usually and hopefully), so I guess I will expect that. 

Trying new recipe is very exciting and fun, but I want to taste them, especially if I want to take them to someone. I know I don’t have to taste them, but I get so nervous if I don’t do it. So, this is my huge and critical issue as a dieter. This issue is not actually new; I felt same way a couple of years ago. At the time, I baked something almost every day and my pastries were sent to the freezer, because no one wanted to eat! A.A. is not a big fun of sweets (he loves candies, that’s about it.) and I was satisfied with just baking and didn’t want to eat much. Those pastries were frozen for a few months and sadly sent to the trash can. I don’t want to repeat such thing, so I have to find a solution.

Day 263: Sunday

• Breakfast: banana, dried dates (5 pieces=about 100 cal), dried cranberries (1T) with 100-cal yogurt & a little bit of milk
• Lunch: two pieces of leftover macarons; 4 pieces of cookies (to taste); a piece of Chicken & Artichoke pizza from Papa Murphy’s
• Dinner: skipped.. (but, I ate macarons to taste..)

Day 264: Monday

• Breakfast: banana, dried dates (5 pieces=about 100 cal), dried cranberries (1T) with 100-cal yogurt & a little bit of milk; two cookies
• Lunch: harusame noodles with seaweed, egg & napa cabbage
• Dinner: skipped

I made macarons for the first time, and it was fun! Since three egg whites were still in the fridge after baking cookies, I had decided to try this French neat sweets. Result? I think it turned out pretty good. But, thing is that I have never eaten “real” macarons (“real” means by “store-bought,” in this case). So, I really don’t know how the texture or taste should be as a French macaron. It tasted good, though. I made almond butterscotch cream, but I didn’t have exact recipe for it. So, it took forever to become like “cream.” I guess I put too much heavy cream in it, or I was just inpatient to wait for cream to get thicker. I put cream on macarons and it was too soft. I made a mess not only kitchen but macaron itself. I wiped excess cream off after a little while and it looked O.K., but I need to remake sometime soon. I will probably make different cream, like cream cheese frosting, or something can be made quick.

Day 261: Friday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana & kiwi
• Lunch: harusame noodles (50g) with napa cabbage, seaweed & egg
• Dinner: main dish was skipped.. but, a bottle of beer (125 cal); chocolate macarons(for tasting, yes, really)

Day 262: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana & kiwi; macarons
• Lunch: harusame noodles (about 25g) with napa cabbage, seaweed & egg; apple with 100-cal yogurt
• Dinner: skipped (honestly, I had a third of the bottle of Guiness)

I would love to say, “Happy New Year” to everyone. My new year resolution: update my blog regularly. I just posted my journal that went back to six months ago at once. I think it’s kind of ruin the whole purpose of easy blog system if I update like this. So, here I am still trying to refresh my mind as new year started. Today’s weather was silly: raining in the morning and cloudy all day. This kind of weather gives me migraine and makes me feel very tired. I wanted to take Sophie & Misha for a walk, but somehow (?) I fell asleep and got up around 8 p.m. I felt so bad that they didn’t go anywhere today. Maybe because of the weather, they even didn’t want to play at the backyard; they slept pretty much all day today. I will take them to the park tomorrow. 

I believe that I made pasta casserole with garlic bread a couple of days ago and A.A. has been eating same meal since then. Well, it’s time to cook something. I have some ideas of what I want to cook, but I’m too lazy to go grocery shopping.. oh, I will tomorrow.  

Day 260: Thursday – Happy New Year!

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana & dried cranberries (1T); Crème Brûlée (last one!); a spoonful of cashews
• Lunch: rice with seaweed, green onions, napa cabbage & egg soup (rice 100g=about 120 cal; soup=about 80 cal); yogurt with 1T dried cranberries & apple (A.A.’s 100 cal-yogurt); 10 chips; dried persimmon
• Dinner: skipped..

I have already done something wrong on my diet.. First of all, I didn’t do any exercises today (I should have gone for a walk with Sophie & Misha.. regretted a lot.). Secondly, I had snacks too much. NO MORE CHIPS!!! Lastly, I might eat too much rice or too much desert. I swear I need to fix my diet meals. I still want to bake something, but I need to remember that I shouldn’t eat any of them except when I really NEED to taste. i.e. test baking. Even if I set up restriction for my diet, I believe that I will still be able to enjoy baking.

Events in June: Staying at kennel for the first time! A.A.’s parents invited us to go to the Hells Canyon Dam Tour on the 14th of June, and of course, we couldn’t take Sophie and Misha with us, so we decided to board them at Escape the Crate in Boise for two nights. As you see the service on the Escape the Crate Web, they are not open for 24 hours. We had to leave early in the morning and came back late at night, so Sophie and Misha were boarded on the day before and picked up on the 15th. I believe that it was a good opportunity for both to socialize other dogs and be in the different environment without us. According to the staff at the boarding, they behaved well. Overall, I rate this boarding facility 8 out of 10 and recommend to others if someone doesn’t mind to leave dogs alone at night, around 8 to 6 in the morning. Yes, only thing I didn’t like was that nobody stays there after 8 at night to 6 in the morning. Honestly, if I can find similar boarding facility with 24-hour service, I might consider those, because I’m still concerned about leaving dogs themselves for almost 10 hours. When we boarded Sophie and Misha, the staff said they were working on setting up WebCam, which was good. I hope it is available now. Back to the story about Hells Canyon Tour: it was very nice and enjoyable tour. Of course, because of A.A.’s family plan, there was a little happening in the beginning. Our boat delayed almost one hour!!! If there were only A.A. and me, we would have left. A.A.’s parents were more patient, and we waited and waited and waited. At last, we saw the boat and thought that they would pick us up, BUT they didn’t. We were so disappointed, but we could do nothing. A.A.’s parents were very patient and we just kept waiting. Then, finally, after almost two hours since we got there, tour guides picked us up!!! We were so glad that we didn’t leave.  We enjoyed entire tour and got so wet. I thank A.A.’s parents that they offered us such incredible opportunity! 

Back in Boise, A.A. and I picked up Sophie and Misha next day. They were soooooooo happy to see us and seemed like their tales were almost ripped off by wagging so much.

Second important event in June was 1st Great Dane-meet up at Morris Hill Park. There were quite few, 10 to 15 danes got together for the first time. Sophie was so small among them; probably she was the second smallest dane there. But, of course, she enjoyed socializing with other big ones. We cannot forget about Misha, too: she just loved it!! Even though she was small (weighed less than 100 lb), she was so excited that she chased other danes, or was chased by them.

Events in July: One thing we enjoyed in this month was the second “Dane-meet up” at Morris Hill Park. 

Events in August: On the 7th was A.A.’s 30 some birthday. This year, I didn’t bake anything for him, because he wanted Ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery. It was delicious.

Events in September: School got busier and busier. I wonder why I was kind of stressed out: I have only one class and most of my students behaved. Oh, I remember that I had an intern, who was troublesome. I gave him some work for first a couple of weeks of this semester, and then I let him go as I felt uncomfortable having him in my class.

Events in October: First snow on the 10th! I saw snow on the Foothill.

Events in November: Sophie & Misha enjoyed playing @ Eagle Island State Park quite a lot. I’m so glad that we live pretty close to the park. It’s not a off-leash park, but with 15-foot leash or occasionally w/o leash, they ran like a horse (Sophie) and a cow (Misha). 

Events in December: A.A. and I went cutting down a Christmas tree on the 12th with Sophie & Misha. We could find a decent tree at Grimes Creek. There was an almost accident: Sophie almost jumped into the frozen river!!! Unbelievable.. well, A.A, said yes, it’s believable, because it’s Sophie. I saw her front paws were in the water, but probably frozen and very cold water scared her, so she came back right away. And, Sophie & Misha had to stay in the car while we were ting a tree on the top of our car. She ruined her play time. I’m glad she didn’t drawn in the river and A.A. and I never expected that we would see similar accident near future.

On the 16th, A.A. and I took them to the Eagle Island State Park again. It was the day after snowing and chilly, but sunny day. Both of them were off leash and running around like crazy at the park. While we were walking on the path, Misha, somehow changed the direction and just went toward the frozen pond. We called her name, but no response. A.A. raised his voice, “Misha!” And then, she turned around looked at us, suddenly, the ice broke. I was so scared to see her face was under the water. A.A. walked into the frozen pond and broke some ice to help Misha swim or walk back to the bench. We were planning to enjoy a sunny day in the snow, but things changed. Misha’s coat was a half frozen (she is a double coated, but still..) and of course, A.A.’s pants were all wet. We headed back home immediately (Sophie & Misha still wanted to play, though). We won’t be back to the park until the ice melts. They are so unpredictable. At least, I knew both Sophie & Misha were safe with us. 

Overall, I pretty much concentrated on my school work, dogs & cats and my diet for six months. Fall semester is now peacefully over and I’m getting closer and closer to the goal of my diet. I now need to focus on losing at least 10 more pounds within a couple of months. Misha turned one on the 29th of November and Shoe turned 8 on the 27th of December. I wanted to make a birthday cake for Misha, but too much things were going on around the time, so I couldn’t. For Sophie’s birthday,which is on the 9th of February, I hope I will be able to make something. Last a couple of months, I have been feeding Sophie & Misha human consumption such as hamburger, chicken and salmon with their dog food. It works great: I don’t need to wait for them to finish eating meals, which means that they just love to eat the mixture of meat & dry food. The idea of feeding such cooked meats came to my mind when their dog food was out and store was closed the day. I cooked vegetables and meats with rice or homemade pasta. I did make meals for a few times, but I figured that it cost  and took time. So, I decided to cook partially, like adding cooked meats in their regular food, and it was successful. 

I hope it will be a happy year for everyone. 

Day 117: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: curry rice; green salad; yogurt
• Dinner: a couple of bites of curry; wheat thin crackers

Day 118: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: curry rice with lettuce & seaweed; yogurt
• Dinner: 16 pieces of wheat thin crackers

Day 119: Wednesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: curry rice (last scoop of leftover); yogurt
• Dinner: small fresh lime snow cone

Day 120: Thursday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: rice (leftover fried rice) soup with seaweed; yogurt
• Dinner: about 10 pieces of wheat thin crackers

Day 121: Friday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin ramen with seaweed & lettuce; yogurt
• Dinner: 10 pieces of tortilla chips

Day 122: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: a quarter pound egg noodles with seaweed cream soup; yogurt
• Dinner: ONE bottle of New Castle beer..

Day 123: Sunday – Our 4th Anniversary

• Breakfast: a quarter of Dutch Baby from the Original Pancake House (nutrition info. is unavailable) with a quarter pound of roasted ham
• Lunch: Häagen-Dazs mango sorbet 
• Dinner: harusame creamy (instant) soup with seaweed

Day 124: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with NO banana (A.A. took the last one..)
• Lunch: 50g of somen noodles with seaseed soy based soup; yogurt
• Dinner: skipped

Day 125: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal
• Lunch: a quarter pound egg noodles with lettuce & seaweed tomato soup
• Dinner: skipped

Day 126: Wednesday (went to a dentist and felt numb all day.. can’t chew anything!!!)

• Breakfast: fried rice (relatively small portion.. my cereal was out of stock)
• Lunch: a piece of deLITE cheese pizza from Papa Murphy’s; grapes & pineapples
• Dinner: skipped..

Week 18 Feedback:

Well, finally my weight changed! I lost 3 lb. somehow and total weight loss is 25 lb. as of Thursday, the 22nd. For this week, I didn’t have much snacks at home and wheat thin crackers were out. This might help me lose a couple of pounds. Better not to have anything extra food at home!

Day 127: Thursday (meeting @ school – planning to wear my favorite black dress)

• Breakfast: cereal with banana (yes! banana is back)
• Lunch: skipped
• Dinner: Chinese buffet (ate shumai, broccoli, sui-gyoza, stir-fried oysters; a bite of sushi roll.. it’s obvious that I had too much)

Day 128: Friday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana; a piece of pineapple
• Lunch: beef stew with rice & lettuce; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese; grapes

Day 129: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana & pineapple
• Lunch: beef stew with rice & lettuce; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese; grapes

Day 130: Sunday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: leftover beef stew with rice; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese

Day 131: Monday — Back to school!

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: leftover beef stew with rice; yogurt (finally I cleaned up leftovers.. took forever!)
• Dinner: string cheese

Day 132: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: two pieces of KFC fried chicken w/o skin; seaweed salad; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese

Day 133: Wednesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Andrew’s Rib Ends (4 pieces) with baked beans (ate too much…)
• Dinner: skipped

Week 19 Feedback:

I don’t know if I want to weigh myself this week or not. My diet was horrible.. I have to start eating much lower calorie food to accomplish my goal.

Day 134: Thursday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: leftover rib ends; yogurt; a quarter pound of caesar salad from Albertson’s
• Dinner: string cheese

Day 135: Friday – felt like I ate too much for lunch today. 

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed & lettuce; yogurt; 10 pieces of tortilla chips
• Dinner: skipped

Day 136: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed, lettuce and hum (about 400 cal.); yogurt
• Dinner: 10 pieces of tortilla chips (need to get rid of)

Day 137: Sunday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: a piece of pizza; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese

Day 138: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: ramen; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese

Day 139: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: ramen with seaweed & lettuce; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese

Day 140: Wednesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: scallop salad @ Macaroni & Grill; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese

Week 20 Feedback:

I weighed and it hasn’t been changed yet since I lost 25 lb. That’s because I have been cheating a lot. A.A. and I are planning to go down to his hometown to see his parents and nephew next month. So, I need to lose 10 more lb. by then!

Day 141: Thursday (I was too tired to cook for lunch today..)

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Fillet Sandwich (w/o a half of bun – 60 cal. less) total cal. consumed – about 380 cal.; yogurt (A.A.’s – 100 cal.)
• Dinner: banana; string cheese

Day 142: Friday (all right.. lunch menu is always problem..)

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Papa Murphy’s Combination Pizza (about 400 cal.) & caesar salad w/o dressing (about 100 cal.)
• Dinner: string cheese

Day 143: Saturday – blueberries are good for health, but I ate too much!!!

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: leftover caesar salad (about 100 cal.) with a quarter pound of ham; yogurt; string cheese
• Dinner: string cheese; three handful (about 2 C.) of blueberries (1 C.=83 cal.)

Day 144: Sunday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce & seaweed; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese; 1 C. blueberries

Day 145: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: salad bar @ Idaho Pizza Co.
• Dinner: yogurt

Day 146: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed & lettuce; yogurt
• Dinner: a cup of blueberries

Day 147: Wednesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed & lettuce; yogurt; friand from French pastry in Japan
• Dinner: a cup of blueberries

Week 21 Feedback:

Frustrating!! I haven’t lost any weight yet.. What’s wrong with it? I really need to lose more weight. Since I got more harusame from my mom, I will start eating this or somen noodles instead of ramen. The only thing I kind of don’t like these kind of noodles is that I have to calculate grams. No complaints! 

Day 148: Thursday

• Breakfast: cereal with blueberries
• Lunch: somen noodles with seaweed & lettuce; yogurt
• Dinner: two kiwi fruits (one has about 46 cal.)

Day 149: Friday.. already..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana (yes! banana is back!)
• Lunch: cereal (A.A.’s) with banana; yogurt
• Dinner: Ben & Jerry’s Frozen Yogurt (Half Baked) (I finished.. finished a pint!!!)

Day 150: Saturday – I know I ate so bad yesterday, so I want to make up!

• Breakfast: cereal with peach & kiwi fruits (peach was fine, but kiwi.. not good choice for cereal)
• Lunch: seaweed miso flavor soup with harusame & egg – total 320 cal (asari-miso:32 cal; 50 g harusame-174 cal.; one egg-70 cal; instant seaweed soup 22 cal X 2); a half pound of caesar salad w/o croutons from Albertson’s; banana; yogurt
• Dinner: one kiwi fruit

Day 151: Sunday – craving for meat.. well, I found out that Albertson’s caesar salad was not good choice for diet.

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: a piece of Veggie Lovers from Pizza Hut (350 cal.!); yogurt
• Dinner: peach & kiwi

Day 152: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed & egg; yogurt with peach & kiwi (yummy!)
• Dinner: skipped…

Day 153: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed & egg; yogurt with peach & kiwi (yummy!)
• Dinner: skipped…

Day 154: Wednesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Pier 49 Pizza – ¹⁄₈ slice of Nob Hill (about 309 cal.)
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 155: Thursday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen miso soup with seaweed & egg; yogurt with blueberries
• Dinner: skipped…

Day 156: Friday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: fried rice with seaweed soup; yogurt with a cup of blueberries
• Dinner: skipped

Day 157: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Papa Murphy’s Combo Pizza ¹⁄₈ slice of family size (about 500 cal.); yogurt with peach & kiwi
• Dinner: a bite of banana

Day 158: Sunday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed & egg; yogurt with peach 
• Dinner: a cup of blueberries

Day 159: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Chinese Buffet (ate too much!!!)
• Dinner: yogurt with peach & nectarine

Day 160: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed & two eggs (no meat today); yogurt with peach 
• Dinner: 10 pieces of blueberries

Day 161: Wednesesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed & two eggs (no meat today); yogurt with peach 
• Dinner: 10 pieces of blueberries

Week 23 Feedback:

I have been eating horrible.. need to control my eating habit. Since I lost 25 lb. (it has been 5 weeks), there have been no sign of losing my weight. Sometimes my weight changes, like lose one or a pound and a half then go back to the same weight. I think I need to cut about 100-200 calories a day to achieve my goal.

Day 162: Thursday

• Breakfast: cereal with blueberries
• Lunch: a piece of cheese pizza from Papa Murphy’s
• Dinner: ⅔ C. of blueberries

Day 163: Friday

• Breakfast: cereal with blueberries
• Lunch: a half of Albertson’s Caesar Salad Wrap (can’t find nutrition facts..); ¼ C. potato salad & macaroni salad; yogurt with banana
• Dinner: a bite of banana 

I just read the online article from Asahi.com about “Morning Banana Diet.” I guess it’s very popular diet nowadays in Japan and it caught Japanese people’s minds easily by MEDIA, like Mixi (one of the popular social networking sites). When you go to grocery stores there, be aware that all bananas might be gone for dieters!

Day 164: Saturday – had lunch late, like 9 hrs. after the breakfast!

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Veggie Pizza from Papa Murphy’s (¹⁄₈ of family size – about 427 Cal.); yogurt with peach
• Dinner: skipped… 

Day 165: Sunday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: ramen with seaweed & eggs; yogurt with peach
• Dinner: skipped…

Day 166: Monday – didn’t want to eat pepperoni, but I couldn’t say no..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Papa-Roni Signature Pizza from Papa Murphy’s; yogurt with peach
• Dinner: skipped… (of course!)

Day 167: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: tostada w/o beans & tortilla @ El Tenampa (I ate about a quarter of it, because it was ground beef instead of shredded..); yogurt with peach 
• Dinner: ⅓ C. of blueberries

Day 168: Wednesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 50 g of harusame & egg with seaweed soy base soup; peach & apple
• Dinner: skipped..

Week 24 Feedback:

I lost 4 more pounds, finally!!! Total weight loss is 29 lb. so far. Actually, when I weighed yesterday, I had one more pound less, but I think that was because of what I ate on Tuesday.. I didn’t get the tostada I wanted. Anyway, I’m so happy to see the progress at last.

Day 169: Thursday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: about ½ C. of Five Cheese Tortelloni by Olivieri (¾C. = 300 cal.); green salad; pineapples & nectarine
• Dinner: skipped.. I guess I usually eat lunch too much..

Day 170: Friday (busiest day ever..)

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed, one egg & lettuce; yogurt with pineapple
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 171: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: pizza
• Dinner: skipped

Day 172: Sunday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed & two eggs (no meat today); yogurt with peach 
• Dinner: skipped

Day 173: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: salad bar @ Sizzler; 6 pieces of popcorn shrimp
• Dinner: yogurt with peach

Day 174: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with seaweed & two eggs (no meat today); yogurt with peach 
• Dinner: string cheese

Day 175: Wednesday (ate bad, bad, bad…)

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: corn dog (about 200 some cal.); 3 pieces of chicken taquitos (about 250 cal.); yogurt with pineapple; string cheese
• Dinner: skipped..

Week 25 Feedback:

It seems like I lost one more pound.. so, let say I have lost 30 lb. so far. I try not to eat much for lunch, but it’s very hard.. I eat quite a lot for lunch, that’s why I don’t want to have dinner at all. This needs to be fixed! One thing I started trying is that I eat green salad before the main dish, because I have heard that vegetables absorb meat, grain, and so on. Well, I will see the result soon, I hope.

Day 176: Thursday

• Breakfast: cereal with peach
• Lunch: Chicken Garlic Pizza from Papa Murphy’s; green salad; yogurt with peach; 7 pieces of Tortilla chips
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 177: Friday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce; 3 thin slices of pastrami & egg; yogurt with peach & kiwi 
• Dinner: skipped…

Day 178: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 4 stalks of celery; Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce; 3 thin slices of pastrami & egg; yogurt with peach & kiwi 
• Dinner: skipped…

Day 179: Sunday – my Brown Cow yogurt has been out in our fridge, so I have been eating a half of A.A.’s 170 cal.-yogurt.. really sweet. hope I can get one tomorrow.

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 2 stalks of celery; Nissin Choice Ramen with napa cabbage (surprisingly good) & egg; yogurt with red pear (well, prefer regular pear)
• Dinner: skipped…

Day 180: Monday – Like I mentioned yesterday, napa cabbage was surprisingly good!! So, I would like to try that with harusame today.. (hope healthier than ramen noodles)

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 2 stalks of celery; somen noodles (50 g. = about 170 cal.) with napa cabbage & egg; yogurt with regular pear
• Dinner: 7 tortilla chips; string cheese; a couple of beef jerkey

Day 181: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: somen noodles (50g = about 170 cal.) with napa cabbage; 2 stalks of celery; egg; yogurt with pear & kiwi; two pieces of crackers
• Dinner: 3 pieces of Five Cheese Tortelloni by Olivieri; string cheese shared with Sophie & Misha

Day 182: Wednesday (unbelievable.. ate soooooooo bad.. stress?)

• Breakfast: cereal with blueberries (banana is out)
• Lunch: a piece of cheese pizza from Papa Murphy’s (again..); 170 cal-yogurt; a bag of popcorn (540 Cal. !!!)
• Dinner: OF COURSE SKIPPED

Week 26 Feedback:

I basically couldn’t wait to weigh myself on Tuesday, so I did see the numbers.. seemed like I lost three more pounds, but I doubt it! I have to do it again on Thursday, because I ate soooooo bad for lunch on Wednesday. -on Thursday, I weighed myself and well, seemed like I lost two pounds. 

Day 183: Thursday (today, I need to make up)

• Breakfast: Kirkland instant organic oatmeal (190 cal) with ⅓ C. of granola cereal & pear (out of both milk and banana)
• Lunch: Cobb Salad @ Red Robin; TCBY yogurt (Chocolate Batter about 200 cal.)
• Dinner: it’s obvious.. skipped

Today, I couldn’t make up.. had high calorie salad and frozen yogurt. Even though I had about ⅔ of salad (a half of chicken breast, some black olives, a piece of bread, and so on), I probably consumed 6, 700 calories just for a salad. It’s frustrating the facts that having salad at a restaurant is not really good idea for diet. Still needs to watch carefully what is in there. I remember that I made similar mistake when I had a salad at Macaroni & Grill. The salad I ate had more than 1,000 cal. if I finished. Making salad at home is the healthiest and safest for dieters!!! Another thing I found out today was hungry oatmeal.. oatmeal didn’t fill me up at all. I got hungry after 4 hours of breakfast. I need to have cereal..

Day 184: Friday – I’m craving meat, meat, meat, meat… too bad that A.A. doesn’t want to have steaks any more.. I guess I will have a steak and he will have some chicken breast.. is that a good idea???

• Breakfast: cereal with banana (yes! bananas and milk are back!!)
• Lunch: somen noodles (50g = about 170 cal.) with napa cabbage; 2 stalks of celery; egg; yogurt with pear & kiwi; two pieces of crackers
• Dinner: 3 pieces of Five Cheese Tortelloni by Olivieri; string cheese shared with Sophie & Misha

Day 185: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Mexican Buffet @ El Tenampa (salad; shredded pork; chile relleno; some shrimp)
• Dinner: yogurt with kiwi

Day 186: Sunday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Vegetarian Combo Pizza from Papa Murphy’s; yogurt with banana
• Dinner: skipped… 

Day 187: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: same as yesterday’s lunch..  that means that leftover pizza & yogurt with peach; 10 pieces of tortilla chips
• Dinner: skipped.. I think I wanted to fix this bad habit.. what happened??

Day 188: Tuesday – lunch is always a big issue.. what am I supposed to fix and eat? We need to eat ham.. it’s been sitting in the fridge forever.

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: salad bar @ Idaho Pizza Co.
• Dinner: yogurt with kiwi.. and, and a few bites from roasted ham (that is why I don’t cook lately..)

Well, I cooked ham.. which was good. BUT, I was not planning to eat at all and had a few bites.. which was very bad. I’m too scared to weigh myself tomorrow. Since I didn’t have meat for a while, I didn’t like the aftertaste of ham. Maybe because of fat? For lunch, eating salad is good, but not at a restaurant, I know that. I was too lazy to make salad at home and decided to go to Idaho Pizza Company, because it’s inexpensive compared to Sizzler. Bad thing at salad bar is probably eating a piece of bread, macaroni salad AND salad dressing. 

Day 189: Wednesday – What am I supposed to eat lunch today?? Our fridge is almost empty again.. I don’t want to eat ham today.. I will give some of them to Sophie & Misha.

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 4 oz ham (about 200 cal.); green beans; ¹⁄₁₆ of corn bread; yogurt with kiwi
• Dinner: skipped..

Week 27 Feedback:

Well, yesterday’s lunch was not as good as I thought so that I consumed high calories from relatively small meal. I gotta fix this.. Total weight loss is 32 lb. so far. Sometimes one or two more pounds less, but saying 32 lb weight loss is the most relevant. I need to lose at least six more pounds before the Thanksgiving. I have a month to go..

Day 190: Thursday – ate chocolate today.. regretted a lot. I won’t eat chocolate for a while!!!

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with leftover green beans, one egg; yogurt with kiwi AND small 4 PIECES OF halloween CHOCOLATE
• Dinner: skipped..

It’s very, very hard for me to have sweets in our house, because I love them and struggle not to have any of them. Like today, I had a few pieces. It is soooooooooo bad for a dieter. As Halloween is coming, A.A. wants to buy big bags of candies to eat before the Halloween and yes, they are constantly in the pantry. Some people think that it’s O.K. to have small amount of sweets, but not me. I do NOT want to eat.. If I do, I would ask myself, “Why do I calculate calories every time I eat meals? What’s the purpose of counting calories if I have junk food?”

Day 191: Friday – I gotta watch out my lunch..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: a half portion of Rib ends & beans @ Andrew’s Rib Shack.. was very good, but didn’t like the price and how much calories I consumed today..
• Dinner: of course, skipped..

I’m a very weak person. At lunch time, I was starving and couldn’t make my decision clear. A.A. and I had decided to have pizza for lunch, but the restaurant we were going to was still under construction. The place was right across the Andrew’s Rib Shack. So, we changed our plan and had meat. I wanted to eat steaks for a long time, so I was pretty excited, but I regretted a lot after I had a half portion of my lunch. My stomach felt weird because of the heavy thick barbecue sauce and beans. And of course, I hated myself because I ate a lot more than I was planning to for today. (Remember, I had a few pieces of chocolate yesterday, so I had to make up for that today, but look, what just happened???)

Day 192: Saturday

O.K. I really need to go grocery shopping before lunch and buy some vegetables and fruits. I believe having healthier food in the fridge will prevent me from eating candies and junk food. (But, I think A.A. mentioned he wanted to have pizza for lunch today.. well, I think I want to have cheese and tomato pizza today..)

• Breakfast: cereal with kiwi & raspberries (bananas were out)
• Lunch: One piece of Cheese Pizza from Papa Murphy’s; leftover green beans; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese

Day 193: Sunday

• Breakfast: 2 package of oatmeal (380 cal.) – cereal and milk were out and I had no choice. Oatmeal always doesn’t fill me up at all.
• Lunch: 3 stalks of celery (abput 20 cal.); Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce & egg
• Dinner: one persimmon (about 120 cal) from Costco

I knew some fruits were not suitable for diet, but I didn’t know persimmon (Kaki) was one of them.. it has about 120 calories per serving size which is 168 grams.. Even though I pared a persimmon thick, well, it was not really good for diet. Good thing was that I didn’t have yogurt today. I might need to choose either yogurt or persimmon for my lunch desert.

Day 194: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana (YES! cereal and bananas are back!!)
• Lunch: 2 stalks of celery (about 13 cal.); Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce & egg
• Dinner: a half of each persimmon and apple (shared with Misha)

Day 195: Tuesday

I ate a lot today: fruits; main dish; dessert. I did pretty good yesterday, but today. That’s why my diet takes so long to accomplish. Well, I finally had ice cream and meat the other day to satisfy my craving, so I do not need them for a while.

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 2 stalks of celery; a slice of cheese pizza from Papa Murphy’s; small DQ Heath Blizzard (600 cal. !!!)
• Dinner: a half of apple

Day 196: Wednesday

• Breakfast: cereal with persimmon (tasted O.K. prefer bananas or berries)
• Lunch: 3 stalks of celery (about 6 cal.x 3=18 cal); Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce & egg; A.A.’s light yogurt (100 cal.)
• Dinner: ⅔ of apple

Week 28 Feedback:

I didn’t lose any weight this week. Just remind myself: the total weight loss is 33 lb. so far. I know why the number didn’t change at all. I just need to fix my bad habit, like eating milkshake, chocolate, and other junk stuff I can think of. Thanksgiving is a month away. Should I reduce the amount of carbs?? Or, just stick with reducing total calories a day??

Day 197: Thursday – I had weird lunch.. obviously couldn’t satisfy my stomach with hot dog and celery, so I had to add some rice; not good.

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: corn dog w/o skin (so.. I ate hot dog w/o bun??), 150g of steamed rice with dried fish seasoning; 2 stalks of celery; yogurt
• Dinner: persimmon

Day 198: Friday – Happy Halloween!

• Breakfast: cereal with banana, and and and 2 pieces of Halloween chocolate..
• Lunch: 3 stalks of celery; a piece of cheese pizza; yogurt
• Dinner: persimmon

It was Halloween and we had quite a lot of candies at home. Even though I took more than 100 of them to school, we still had enough for neighbors’ kids. Today, I substituted other two classes after my morning class, so I came home around 3:30 p.m. I was starving because I had not eaten since five in the morning. I was afraid that I would eat a lot at once for lunch, but I didn’t do bad, really. I believe that eating vegetables before the main meal helps me not to overeat. 

Comment on Substituting: It was fun! I was so happy to see some of my former 101 students, who are now in 201. They have been studying very hard and I could see their progress. For 101, well, I couldn’t finish going through what I needed to teach for today. The class had already delayed, so it was tough for me to catch up the original schedule. Oh, well, I did my best.

Day 199: Saturday – 1st Day of November

• Breakfast: cereal with banana; 2 pieces of Halloween chocolate leftover (someone needs to take them away..)
• Lunch: somen noodles (50g=about 167 cal) with lettuce, tomato & egg; yogurt; 14 tortilla chips(!); 2 stalks of celery
• Dinner: skipped.. obvious

Well, while I was making noodle soup, I was so starving that I had chips, because A.A. offered me leftover salsa (he didn’t finish when he had chips & salsa). I love salsa, and when I realized how much I ate chips, salsa was gone. I’m craving spicy food, like curry rice.. I may order to go.. because I have to eat forever if I cook the curry and curry rice is high in calories anyway, so it’s not good for me to keep in the fridge for a long time. Since I love curry, I cannot throw away if there is leftover: I gotta finish it, and what’s going to happen next? Yes, weight gain. That’s one of the reasons I don’t cook much any more.

Day 200: Sunday – tough day of the week, but I made it! A.A. asked me if I wanted ice cream, but I said, “NO!” It was very, very tough decision, you know.

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 3 stalks of celery (about 6 cal.x 3=18 cal); Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce, tomato & egg; A.A.’s light yogurt (100 cal.) with kiwi; 7 tortilla chips
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 201: Monday 

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: salad bar @ Idaho Pizza Co. (green salad with macaroni & potato salad; bread)
• Dinner: persimmon

Day 202: Tuesday – Decision 2008: Who will be a next president?

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 3 stalks of celery (about 6 cal.x 3=18 cal); Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce, tomato & egg; 7 tortilla chips
• Dinner: A.A.’s light yogurt (100 cal.); persimmon

Day 203: Wednesday – Obama is a new president!

I remember the presidential election, Bush vs. Gore, year 2000. It was the first time for me to observe the election in the U.S. and I was very curious though I had no rights to vote. So as this year. As a permanent resident of the U.S., I was very excited about this election and glad that it was finally over. I expect Obama will do great job as a first African American President of the United States. 

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 3 stalks of celery (about 6 cal.x 3=18 cal); Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce & egg; A.A.’s light yogurt (100 cal.)
• Dinner: skipped..

Week 29 Feedback:

Wow! I lost two more pounds.. so, total weight loss is 35 lb. so far.

Day 204: Thursday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 3 stalks of celery (about 6 cal.x 3=18 cal); Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce & egg; 20 tortilla chips
• Dinner: A.A.’s light yogurt (100 cal.)

Day 205: Friday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: cereal with banana (again!); corn dog w/o skin; 10 tortilla chips
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 206: Saturday – celery from Albertson’s doesn’t taste good to me.. really bitter..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: a piece of cheese pizza from Papa Murphy’s; about 10 pieces of tortilla chips; 2 stalks of celery
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 207: Sunday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 2 stalks of celery (about 6 cal.x 2=12 cal); Nissin Choice Ramen with lettuce & egg; 20 tortilla chips
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 208: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen with egg & rice sprinkle (furikake); corn dog w/o skin; Ben & Jerry’s ONE Cheesecake Brownie ONE PINT (1000 CALORIES!!!)
• Dinner: skipped, of course.

Day 209: Tuesday – I know I have to make up today..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: a quarter pound of sliced ham (47 cal/oz x 4 oz = 188 cal.); a piece of corn bread; A.A.’s light yogurt
• Dinner: skipped

I bake corn bread. The cast iron pan makes my corn bread tasted really good. Once thing I’m concerned is, “How much calories does it have?” My favorite recipe is from Williams-Sonoma, and it doesn’t show me nutrition facts. I guess ¹⁄₈ of my corn bread has around 200 calories.

Day 210: Wednesday – it’s obvious that I ate tooooooo much again..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: a quarter pound of sliced ham (47 cal/oz x 4 oz = 188 cal.); a piece of corn bread; Häagen-Dazs Açai (ah-sigh-EE) berry sorbet about 1 C (about 240 cal.!) 
• Dinner: skipped

Week 30 Feedback:

My total weight loss is 36 lb. so far. I’ve been losing little by little. By Thanksgiving, I want to lose at least two more pounds. So, I must stop eating sweets!!! I’ve noticed that I started weighing myself almost every day, because I needed to know what kind of food effects on my diet. I may be getting too nervous, but I cannot stop watching the numbers. Good news: A.A. finally started controlling what he eats and how much he should have a day. He said he is now trying to eat less food and he had five pieces of thin crust deLite pizza from Papa Murphy’s, which was much better than before. But, thing is that he bought halloween candies on sale while talking about his diet.. well, did not make sense to me.. Anyway, both of us are on a diet now. 

Day 211: Thursday – two more weeks to Thanksgiving

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: a quarter pound of sliced ham (47 cal/oz x 4 oz = 188 cal.); a piece of corn bread; Häagen-Dazs Açai (ah-sigh-EE) berry sorbet about 1 C (about 240 cal.!) 
• Dinner: skipped

Day 212: Friday – planning to go to Costco and get some vegetables & fruits!

I received a package from Japan. There were some sweets from the pastry store in my hometown and lots of Japanese seasonings and instant food that I cannot buy around here (unless I have to buy online). When I got them, I just had lunch and was not hungry. So, I didn’t want to eat anything that attracted me (this is very unusual for me.. not have any sweets that I love). Since A.A. took our last banana for his part of breakfast this morning, I decided to have two pieces of sweets and instant soup instead of my regular breakfast meal. This is the third time I had something else besides cereal for breakfast (Dutch Baby on our anniversary; a half size of waffle from Express Cafe on some lazy Sunday) since I started being on a diet. Sweets and soup were good, but I felt weird my stomach after eating these. Probably, it was a little heavy meal for my stomach..

• Breakfast: two pieces of sweets from RUBAN (there is no nutrition facts.. guess a couple of hundred calories); Knorr Japanese Cup a Soup (78 cal. x 2) with seasoned clams
• Lunch: tostada w/o beans & tortilla @ El Tenampa
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 213: Saturday – sounds like I ate too much.. especially lunch. I love fruits, but I need to be careful with the amount. 

• Breakfast: cereal with banana & a piece of pastry
• Lunch: a piece of pastry; 3 stalks of celery; few bites from roasted whole chicken (parts I don’t want to keep); seasoned scallops; Knorr Japanese Cup a Soup (78 cal); a half of yogurt (50 cal) with a little bit of pineapple
• Dinner: pineapples

Day 214: Sunday – I got stomach flu.. kind of wanted to eat, but not really. 

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔ C) with banana; a piece of pastry
• Lunch: a piece of sweets; ⅓ of Häagen-Dazs Açai (ah-sigh-EE) berry sorbet (about 160 cal); 3 pieces of Doritos; Knorr Japanese Cup a Soup (78 cal)
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 215: Monday – feel much better, so made chicken & vegetable chowder for lunch.

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔ C) with banana; a piece of pastry
• Lunch: Chicken & Veggie Chowder (two scoops.. no idea about cal) with steamed rice (about 170 cal. = 80g/48cal x 100g); A.A.’s light yogurt
• Dinner: skipped

Day 216: Tuesday – ate exactly same thing as yesterday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔ C) with banana; a piece of pastry
• Lunch: Chicken & Veggie Chowder (two scoops.. no idea about cal) with steamed rice (about 170 cal. = 80g/48cal x 100g); A.A.’s light yogurt; a couple of pieces of Doritos
• Dinner: skipped

Day 217: Wednesday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔ C) with banana; a piece of pastry
• Lunch: somen noodles (50g) with seaweed, spinach & egg; apple; 10 pieces of Doritos
• Dinner: skipped

Week 31 Feedback:

I lost 3 more pounds!! Total weight loss is 39 lb. so far. I sometimes crave sweets, especially ice cream or milkshakes lately (A.A. mentioned that I have been eating ice cream a lot more lately.), so I have to be careful. I started taking two pills of Eliminator #1 (colon cleanser) from Herbs That Work! instead of just one. It might have been helping my weight loss.

Day 218: Thursday – ate tooooo much!!! too much desert.. gotta make up tomorrow

• Breakfast: cereal (1 C) with banana
• Lunch: Chicken & Veggie Chowder (two scoops.. no idea about cal) with steamed rice (about 170 cal. = 80g/48cal x 100g); apple (Pacific Rose); about 15 pieces of Doritos; small TCBY Egg Nog flavored yogurt (about 200 cal)
• Dinner: skipped.. of course 

Day 219: Friday – need to stop eating chips, really.

• Breakfast: cereal (1 C) with banana
• Lunch: somen noodles (50g) with seaweed, spinach & egg; apple; 10 pieces of Doritos
• Dinner: apple

Day 220: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Chicken Garlic Sauce Pizza from Papa Murphy’s; green salad with celery & seaweed
• Dinner: one apple & one orange

Day 221: Sunday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Spinach spaghetti (¹⁄₈ lb) with seaweed & two eggs; 2 stalks of celery; 1 tomato; 1 apple; a few pieces of Doritos
• Dinner: one apple

Day 222: Monday – No school: Thanksgiving Holiday Week

• Breakfast: 4(!) pieces of chocolate cookies; Overnight French Toast (662 cal x 8/12=441 cal); 1 sausage link (170 cal /3=57 cal)
• Lunch: somen noodles (50g) with seaweed, spinach & egg; apple; 10 pieces of Doritos
• Dinner: skipped

Day 223: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal (¾C) with banana; 3 chocolate cookies
• Lunch: bite size fried rice with oven baked potato croquette; green salad
• Dinner: apple

Day 224: Wednesday

• Breakfast: cereal (¾C) with banana; 3 chocolate cookies
• Lunch: fried rice soy soup with lettuce, seaweed, tomato & egg; one orange; 20 pieces of Doritos
• Dinner: 1 cookie

Week 32 Feedback: 

My total weight loss is 40 lb so far. It seems like I lost another pound this week. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, you know.. toughest time of the year as a dieter. I need to watch out what I’m going to eat. For breakfast, it seems that I do not need to eat 1 C of cereal any more, so I reduced to ¾C. 

Day 225: Thursday – Happy Thanksgiving!

• Breakfast: cereal (¾C) with banana; 2 chocolate cookies
• Lunch: CPK frozen four cheese thin crust Pizza (a quarter =220 cal); Ben & Jerry Cake Batter Ice cream (1 pint =1,120 cal!!!!!); one apple; two cookies
• Dinner: of course, skipped

Day 226: Friday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: a half of Rib Ends @ Andrew’s (a lot of calories); leftover fried rice (about 150g); popcorn; Greek Yogurt (60 cal)
• Dinner: skipped

Day 227: Saturday – I ate too much yesterday, so today is the day to make up..

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: Spinach Spaghetti (I believe ¹⁄₈ lb) with tomato sauce; Italian Garlic Toast (1 piece=about 280 cal); Crème Brûlée (first time to bake this!)
• Dinner: apple

Day 228: Sunday – seems like I eat a lot every time I cook real food, not asian taste lunch dishes

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: Rotini pasta with mixed mushrooms casserole (using leftover tomato sauce); small piece of garlic toast; celery & seaweed salad; Crème Brûlée
• Dinner: skipped

Day 229: Monday – back to school!

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: somen noodles (50g) with 2 stalks of celery, seaweed & egg; Crème Brûlée; apple
• Dinner: skipped

Day 230: Tuesday – our fridge is almost empty.. have no idea what I can cook for lunch..

• Breakfast: cereal (less than ⅔C) with banana; leftover chocolate cookie
• Lunch: instant potato creamy soup with seaweed & a little bit of fried rice; yogurt with chestnuts spread; apple; lots of tortilla chips (regretted a lot)
• Dinner: skipped

A.A. and I talked about Christmas yesterday, and we kind of decided that we will probably go to A.A.’s parents house. In the case, we have to board Sophie and Misha somewhere. Also, I need to set new goal for my diet toward Christmas. It has been a while since I met his family (last time was August), I want to lose 5 more pounds before Christmas. No more sweets until Christmas!! (of course, I will have fruits as dessert)

Day 231: Wednesday – no chips for today! but, I had taquitos.. don’t know which one would be better?? Also, no bananas.. it’s out. 

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C); orange
• Lunch: somen noodles (50g) with seaweed; one taquitos; yogurt with chestnuts spread
• Dinner: skipped..

Week 33 Feedback:

My weight didn’t change, so total weight loss is still 40 lb so far. Honestly, sometimes my weight changes a pound or two, like up and down depending on what I eat. It actually drives me crazy. Oh, well, I know I have to be patient.. One thing I decided not to eat is chips, any kind of chips. I hope this will help a little bit. 

Day 232: Thursday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: Salad bar @ Idaho Pizza Co. (I only had a bite of bread!)
• Dinner: apple

Day 233: Friday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: a piece of cheese pizza from Papa Murphy’s; apple; A.A.’s 100 cal-yogurt
• Dinner: skipped

Day 234: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: Spinach pasta (100g) with seaweed & egg (soy taste)
• Dinner: apple

Comment: After Thanksgiving, I went back to school and it was obvious that nobody cooked really this week.. you see (or I see) lots of pizza and noodles again. I have two more weeks to finish up this semester. After that, holiday week will start again!

Day 235: Sunday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: Hawaiian Pizza (Canadian bacon & pineapple) from Papa Murphy’s; apple; seaweed salad (about 56 cal)
• Dinner: skipped

Day 236: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: somen noodles (50g) with seaweed, spinach & egg; apple
• Dinner: DQ Heath Blizzard (about a a half of small size = 300 cal)
   

Day 237: Tuesday – I have to stop eating ice cream!!!

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: ham & cheese quiche; leftover pancake; apple
• Dinner: Arctic Circle small egg nog milkshake 

Day 238: Wednesday – I know I have to make up..

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: a piece of ham & cheese quiche; seaweed soup; yogurt
• Dinner: skipped

Week 34 Feedback:

I lost one more pound – total weight loss is 41 lb. Sometimes I weigh one or two pounds less, but overall, I would say my total weight loss is 41 lb. I have two more weeks to lose 4 more pounds before Christmas.. it might be tough, but I will do my best.

Day 239: Thursday – craving meat again..

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: Salad bar @ Sizzler; frozen yogurt
• Dinner: skipped

Day 240: Friday – Cutting Christmas Tree @ Grimmes Creek

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: leftover quiche & lots of chips in a car; apple
• Dinner: skipped

Day 241: Saturday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: a piece (¹⁄₈ of family size = about 427 cal) of Hawaiian Pizza from Papa Murphy’s; instant creamy potato soup (80 cal) with seaweed; apple
• Dinner: skipped

Day 242: Sunday – craving steamed rice with salmon

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: leftover Hawaiian pizza; seaweed soup (soy taste); apple 
• Dinner: skipped

Day 243: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: a half of ham & cheese mini quiche; seaweed & spinach soup with an egg; apple; lots of chips (ate until I forgot to count)
• Dinner: skipped

Day 244: Tuesday – regretted a lot about what I ate yesterday, especially chips, so I was too scared to weigh myself. I know I have to make up somehow today.. I really, really want to eat meat, but I don’t think A.A. wants it..

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: somen noodles (50g) with seaweed, spinach and egg; apple; TCBY small eggnog yogurt
• Dinner: of course, skipped

Day 245: Wednesday – Final Exam: finally over.. well, I just need to grade now; that’s the hardest part, I guess.

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: egg noodles (a quarter pound) with seaweed, spinach and egg; about 20 pieces of chips (I threw away rest of them)
• Dinner: skipped

Week 35 Feedback:

I would say I lost another pound: total weight loss is 42 lb. I swear I won’t buy chips for a while.. it doesn’t matter if I eat organic chips or not. It still has lots of calories in small amount. Christmas is only a week away. I have to lose one or two more pounds before that!!

Day 246: Thursday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: a piece of Cheese pizza from Papa Murphy’s; apple; seaweed & spinach with egg soup; apple
• Dinner: skipped

Day 247: Friday – went to Costco to be ready for holidays

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana
• Lunch: leftover cheese pizza; a half of apple
• Dinner: a piece of pineapple; some cashews; kiwi; beef sausage (about 2 oz) with crackers and cheddar cheese

Day 248: Saturday

Facts: I thought I had been eating 50 g of somen noodles since my diet started, BUT, it was actually 25 g.. unbelievable! So, I had actual 50 g of noodles today, and I think it was little too much.. I guess, I stick with 25g until I accomplish my goal. I really want a digital kitchen scale.. maybe for my birthday??

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana; kiwi; pineapple (seemed too much..)
• Lunch: somen noodles (50 g) with spinach, seaweed & egg; tomato; two thin slices of baby swiss (was on sale and yammy!)
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 249: Sunday – Cooking Day

Last night, I prepared for chicken noodle soup: roasted two whole chicken; caramelized onions; made egg noodle pasta dough. I was standing for about 5 or 6 hours and my lower back is now sore. Anyway, I caramelized three onions (about 8 oz each) and ended up with 12 oz total after 90 minutes. Yes, I sauteed for about 90 minutes while roasting chickens. If I knew the amount would be reduced to about a half, I caramelized more at once. Well, next time.. My plan for last night was finishing up making noodles, but I decided to do today, Sunday, because there was no hurry. Today, I’m planning to make Lemon Cheesecake Bars and Corn Bread.  

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana and kiwi
• Lunch: egg noodles with seaweed, spinach & egg; apple; a couple slices of baby swiss & beef with salted crackers (cannot remember how many pieces of crackers I ate..)
• Dinner: skipped.. actually, had a bite of lemon cheesecake bar (yummy!)

Day 250: Mondy

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana, kiwi and apple (too much..)
• Lunch: egg noodles with seaweed, spinach & egg; ten pieces of crackers; yogurt
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 251: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana & kiwi
• Lunch: egg noodles with seaweed, spinach & egg; small piece of homemade cornbread; yogurt
• Dinner: apple & cashews

Day 252: Wednesday – Christmas Eve- snowing pretty hard..

On Wednesday, I was in the kitchen for about 6 hours.. 4 in the morning to around noon: baking Crème Brûlée (10 ramekins); Langue de Chat (used leftover 6 whites and added cranberries); White Chocolate chip cookies; cooked pasta & garlic bread. I enjoyed cooking & baking though my lower back was sore. I bought dried cranberries for the first time and I love them! It’s so tasty and I bet I can eat a lot. Of course, I won’t eat them a lot at once, because of relatively high in calories. So, I had a couple of bites when I tasted and had one tablespoon with my cereal. I need to make some brandy or ram-marinated dried fruits sometime soon. Hopefully I can buy some French glass canning jars in a couple of weeks. Anyway, all deserts are for Christmas branch @ A.A.’s parents house on Christmas day. We still don’t know if we can make it or not because of snow. It’s been snowing since I woke up. I don’t want to think about the worst case: what should I do with the deserts I made if we cannot go down there? 

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana, kiwi & dried cranberries(yummy!! but 1T); some cookies for tasting(excuse??)
• Lunch: spinach spaghetti with garlic tomato sauce; garlic bread (burned.. on the top of french bread); yogurt
• Dinner: cashews

Week 36 Feedback:

I can see the numbers dropping little by little and sure enough, Misha weighs more than me! My total weight loss is 45 lb so far. Since we bought cashews @ Costco, I have been eating some of them any time I get little hungry before meals. I think this is quite good idea to snack cashews if I don’t eat too much. It satisfies my stomach faster and better than string cheese. 

Day 253: Thursday – Marry Christmas!

It’s been snowing.. yes, we canceled to go down to A.A.’s parents house. The road condition on I-84 was not good: According to Idaho Transportation, from here to Mountain Home was fair, but from there to Bliss was difficult. So, we decided not to go so that we didn’t want to take high risk. So, my deserts are still on the kitchen table and the fridge. I have no idea how we finish 10 of Crème Brûlée and cookies. I guess I will ask A.A. to take all the cookies to work on Monday, but 10 ramekins.. I will keep them in the fridge until 28th, but I don’t know after that. I actually tasted this morning, and I think the last one tasted better slightly. I know why: first, I forgot to stir heavy cream with vanilla beans when I was warming up and warmed up little too long. I couldn’t tell the taste’s difference, but texture. 

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana, kiwi & dried cranberries(yummy!! but 1T); some cookies
• Lunch: leftover chicken noodle soup with spinach; a bite of garlic bread; yogurt; some cashews
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 254: Friday

I ate too much and did less activities today..  too scared to weigh myself.

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana, kiwi & dried cranberries (1T); some cookies (they need to go soon from our house!!)
• Lunch: leftover checkin noodle soup with napa cabbage & a small piece of cornbread (ate too much.. )
• Dinner: cashews

Day 255: Saturday – I gotta make up today

I was expecting that A.A.’s parents would come to see us today, but it was impossible: snowing again! What am I supposed to do with Crème Brûlée?? A.A. and I had after breakfast, but there are still 8 more in the fridge.. 

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana, kiwi & dried cranberries (1T); some cookies (they need to go soon from our house!!)
• Lunch: 50g spinach pasta with spinach & egg in somewhat curry taste soup; yogurt; some cashews
• Dinner: some cashews

Day 256: Sunday

I think I consume more calories when I eat homemade meals like chicken noodle soup, which is a good example. When I eat pizza, I always pay attention to how much calories it has and usually eat only one piece with salad or yogurt. But, when I cook something, I usually don’t count calories (I’m not a nutritionist, so it’s hard). As a result, I consume more calories than I expect and gain some weight after meals. I think it’s ironic: homemade meals are supposed to be healthier than store bought meals, but it really doesn’t work with me.

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana & dried cranberries (1T); one cookie
• Lunch: 50g spinach pasta with spinach & egg in somewhat curry taste soup; yogurt; some cashews
• Dinner: some cashews

Day 257: Monday

A.A.’s parents finally brought our Christmas gifts! So, I baked some cookies for them early in the morning: Rouge sur Blanc by Panipopo It was so easy to make and delicious though I didn’t add lemons. But one thing I noticed was that I could make only 20 pieces instead of 30-40 of them according to the recipe. I might have sliced each of them too thick. Anyway, it was very nice to try new recipe. Of course, A.A.’s parents seemed to enjoy eating them! While baking cookies, I made ham & egg pastries, because I had to do something with leftover spinach and tomatoes. The original recipe is “Bacon & egg pastries” from Cuisine at home Issue No. 68, April 2008. I followed the recipe when I first made, and I didn’t like the taste of bacon and a little work on few bites of potatoes. So, I used roasted & sliced ham instead of bacon; omitted potatoes; added tomatoes. Also, I added sharp cheddar cheese along with Gruyere cheese as I usually combine when I make quiche. I think I want four more quiche pans; they are convenient and good individual serving size.

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana & dried cranberries (1T); SOME cookies (I needed to taste, right?)
• Lunch: salad bar & all-you-can-eat pizza @ Idaho Pizza Co. (I had two small pieces of pizza); Crème Brûlée
• Dinner: some cashews

Day 258: Tuesday

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana & dried cranberries (1T); SOME cookies (I did NOT need to taste, but..)
• Lunch: leftover pastry; yogurt; apple; cashews; dried persimmons (homemade); Crème Brûlée
• Dinner: some more cashews

Day 259: Wednesday – New Year’s Eve

• Breakfast: cereal (⅔C) with banana & dried cranberries (1T); SOME cookies (I did NOT need to taste, but..)
• Lunch: 100g of steamed rice with seaweed & furikake (dried fish seasoning) with little soy sauce; yogurt; apple
• Dinner: a tiny piece of garlic toast

Week 37 Feedback:

I think I gained two pounds since Christmas. A couple of things I noticed are less exercises and more food consuming. Since Christmas, it has been bad weather and didn’t take Sophie & Misha for a walk at all. In addition, I baked and cooked things I usually don’t do much, and as a result, I have eaten more than I expected. That’s all I can say now. Now I know I need to get back to the track.

Since Summer School is over, I have some time to do for myself. Well, I finally decided to update my blog: Diet – Day 75-Day 116. I have lost 22 lb. so far though I cheated a lot. It has been so slow to accomplish my goal and frustrating every single day, but I keep doing what I need to do. My guess is that I will reach my goal around holiday this year. (all depends on how I go through holiday season). 

This update doesn’t sound fun to read through because less pictures and limited topic, but it still tells me the story of my diet, and it’s very, very important for me to look at myself. It’s so hard for me to realize who I am. But, this is me. I need to accept it.

Day 75: back to school.. yes, it’s Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with about 1 Tbl. raspberry jam (banana was out.. A.A. took the last one this morning)
• Lunch: marinated steak salad (leftover from yesterday); yogurt
• Dinner: a couple of slices of apple and melon (shared with Sophie & Misha)

Day 76: 

• Breakfast: cereal with banana (organic bananas are so tasty!)
• Lunch: shredded beef tostada w/o beans & corn tortilla
• Dinner: yogurt; small snow cone with lime flavor 

Day 77:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: asian salad; yogurt
• Dinner: a few pieces of Sun Chips

Week 11 Feedback:

Wow! I lost two pounds this week. So, total weight loss is 17 lb!

Day 78: Surprise Party for Garry’s B.D. @ Garry’s house!

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: leftover fried rice; about .4 lb of caesar salad from Albertson’s
• Dinner: a piece of small cheese pizza; 3 bottles of beer…

Day 79: 4th of July!

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: asian salad; 6 pieces of Triskit crackers; 1 bottle of guinness beer
• Dinner: yogurt; 11 pieces of Sun Chips 

Day 80: 

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Chile Relleno with some pork @ El Tenampa (it was buffet.. I did my best..)
• Dinner: yogurt

Day 81: I had two cans of Diet Mountain Dew..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: asian salad; yogurt
• Dinner: a piece of cheese pizza from Papa Johns 

Day 82: back to school..Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: string cheese (actually one bite..); 20 pieces of Sun Chips; Diet Mountain Dew
• Dinner: salad bar @ Idaho Pizza Co. (small portion of macaroni & potato salad with green); yogurt

Day 83: I’m now sure that Sophie doesn’t like any kinds of apples.. disappointed..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: asian salad; yogurt; 20(!) pieces of Sun Chips
• Dinner: a couple of slices of apple (shared with Misha)

Day 84:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: asian salad w/o ham; very, very small portion of vegetable chowder with rice; Sun Chips
• Dinner: Yogurt

Week 12 Feedback:

Total weight loss is 18 lb. so far, which is pretty good. It took almost 3 months to lose this much weight: very, very slow.. slowest ever! The goal is 30 more lb. less, so I guess I have to be patient.

Day 85:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: salad bar @ Sizzler (wanted to eat ice cream, but I didn’t!)
• Yogurt

Day 86: already Friday.. I bought New Castle & I’m already pretty satisfied though I haven’t had yet.. 

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: small portion of chowder with rice; yogurt
• Dinner: a couple slices of apple (shared with Misha); ONE bite from string cheese (Sophie & Misha took it..); 6 pieces of Sun Chips

Day 87:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: small portion of veggie chowder; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese (shared with Sophie); 16 pieces of Sun Chips(!) – I need to stop eating snacks..

Day 88:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Papa Murphy’s Pizza - a piece of Hawaiian deLITE Thin Crust Pizza (relatively low calories as a pizza & yummy!); Brown Cow non-fat yogurt
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 89: Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 6 oz. steak with a half baked potato and a small scoop of baked beans; yogurt
• Dinner: skipped.. (I was not hungry at all..)

Day 90:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: steak salad (used 6 oz. steak leftover); yogurt
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 91:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Nissin Choice Ramen (much lower calories than regular ones.. 280 cal. for one package!); yogurt
• Dinner: 10 cherries

Week 13 Feedback:

I didn’t lose any weight this week.., a little bit frustrating. I didn’t eat any ice cream or sorbet or snow cone, but Sun Chips. Maybe because of chips.. So, I decided not have chips at home, instead, just crackers.

Day 92: 

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: salad bar @ Idaho Pizza Co.
• Dinner: yogurt; 10 pieces of wheat crackers; (just one) New Castle Beer

Day 93: Friday.. I ate really, really bad.. I even don’t want to think about how much calories I consumed just for today..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: cabo salad from Taco Del Mar (still cannot find nutrition facts.. is this really healthy food?); small snow cone
• Dinner: 20 rainier cherries(!); yogurt; 20 wheat thin crackers(!); string cheese; one Go-tart frosted strawberry

Day 94:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: harusame salad (used Yuzutonkarashi & Nagasawa-ke no tsuyu for dressing – yummy!!); yogurt
• Dinner: 6 wheat thin crackers; 3 New Castle’s.. 

Day 95:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: harusame salad; yogurt; 6 pieces of wheat thin crackers
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 96: Back to school.. yes, it’s Monday

• Breakfast: cereal with banana; tall Latte from Starbucks (had about a half of it.. about 100 cal.)
• Lunch: harusame salad; yogurt
• Dinner: 10 pieces of wheat thin crackers

Day 97:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: somen noodles (50 g) with seaweed & egg; yogurt
• Dinner: string cheese (shared with Sophie & Misha)

Day 98:

• Breakfast: cereal (NO Bananas.. A.A. took the last one this morning..)
• Lunch: a half rack of baby back ribs (probably around 800 cal.)
• Dinner: yogurt

Since school began, it’s been busy and cannot do much for my hobbies lately. Only thing I have been able to continue is probably my diet. My diet has been showing progress little by little. I cheat my diet menu quite often, so I guess I have been losing my weight so slow. I need to fix this! A few days ago, we bought chips somehow when we went grocery shopping. I didn’t notice A.A. grabbed chips until we got to a cashier. Well, eventually we bought them and we, especially I, have been snacking those. It’s not good!!! I love Sun Chips, but I wish I didn’t crave. Even those are baked chips, they have calories. I know I wouldn’t eat any if we didn’t have chips in my sight, so I don’t want to buy them, but A.A. wants to snack.. pretty big problem..

I started eating asian salad, which helps my diet. It has lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sliced ham, and sometimes fried eggs. Originally it was “harusame salad.” But, I have been eating without harusame since it’s out (I tried chinese harusame, but I didn’t like it). The dressing with this salad is made of 2 Tbl. soy sauce, 2 Tbl. rice vinegar, 1 Tbl. sesame oil, and 1 Tbl. sugar. And then I add mustard for finishing. When I think it’s kind of heavy taste, I reduce the amount of soy sauce and sugar. I believe my skin, especially my face, feels and looks much better because of the rice vinegar.  

I want to update my blog and take photos of Sophie and Misha more often. They have been doing great and I think Misha now weights around 90 lb. or more. She is thick and feels like heavier than Sophie.. She needs new collar, probably size 20”.

Day 61:

• Breakfast: cereal with raspberry jam
• Lunch: fried chicken; caesar salad; yogurt
• Dinner: skipped..

Day 62:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Cabo salad @ Taco del Mar (I tried to check calories, but I couldn’t find it online..)
• Dinner: a couple of slices of apple (shared with Sophie & Misha)

Day 63:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Crab legs salad (so good) @ Murphy’s; beer.. (doesn’t sound right..)
• Dinner: a couple of slices of apple

Week 9 (!) Feedback:

I lost a pound, so total 14 lb. loss for 9 weeks. I wish I could lose quicker..but, it doesn’t happen that way. I was so frustrated last a couple of weeks, because my weight didn’t change at all. During the ninth week, it finally moved down a pound. It was only a pound, but still a pound: I’m very happy to see that!!

Day 64:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: a couple of slices of apple & string cheese(shared with Sophie & Misha); yogurt
• Dinner: harusame salad (yummy!)

Day 65: today is FRIDAY.. that means that I have to be careful about what I eat..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana as usual
• Lunch: harusame salad; DQ small butterfinger bllizard (it was very HOT today, and I couldn’t say no..)
• Dinner: skipped, but I had beer.. (still HOT at night, you know..)

Day 66:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: tuna salad & Dagger Falls IPA (very tasty beer!) @ Sockeye Grill & Brewery
• Dinner: yogurt 

Day 67:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: harusame salad (tried Chinese harusame – didn’t like the taste & smell); yogurt 
• Dinner: snow cone

Day 68: back to school

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 6 pieces of baked snacks; yogurt; two pieces of ham
• Dinner: 6 more pieces of chips; snow cone; a few slices of melon

Day 69:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: one piece of chicken strip; yogurt; garden salad with soy & rice vinegar dressing
• Dinner: a couple of slices of apple (shared with Sophie & Misha)

Day 70:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 11 pieces of Sun Chips; yogurt; garden salad
• Dinner: 6 pieces of chips

Week 10 Feedback:

I lost a pound somehow this week.. so total weight loss is 15 lb. It seems like I crave sugar a lot more than before. Is is because I relatively have low carbs?

Day 71:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: 11 chips (again..); string cheese
• Dinner: a piece of cheese pizza from Papa Murphy’s; yogurt (my favorite brand, Brown Cow)

Day 72: TGIFriday.. already!

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: asian salad; 6 chips; a string cheese (shared with Sophie & Misha); halved dried pineapple 
• Dinner: snow cone; 6 chips (again)

Day 73: I really wanted to drink beer.. but I didn’t!

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: asian salad; yogurt; a few pieces of Sun Chips
• Dinner: about ⅓ of Häagen-Dazs mago sorbet (somewhere around 200 cal); Sun Chips

Day 74: Sunday.. 

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: asian salad; yogurt; 11 pieces of Sun Chips
• Dinner: small TCBY raspberry sorbet (probably around 200 cal)

Day 52:

• Breakfast: a piece of pear tart
• Lunch: Harusame salad; yogurt
• Dinner: Harusame salad; a piece of apple pie

Day 53: I wanted to do barbecue, but I was too lazy..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: Harusame salad; yogurt
• Dinner: Harusame salad (again, but it’s good); string cheese; a piece of apple pie

Day 54: ( Back to School! fun, but exhausted and didn’t feel like fixing a meal..)

• Breakfast: cereal with banana; a piece of apple pie
• Lunch: string cheese
• Dinner: Shredded beef tostada @ El Tenampa & 10 pieces of corn chips; ice cream..(bad)

Day 55:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: string cheese
• Dinner: harusame salad

Day 56:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: string cheese
• Dinner: salad; a half of burnt end brisket @ Andrew’s

Week 8 Feedback:

Well, I didn’t lose any weight this week again.. this is very, very frustrating. But, I understand this happens after losing certain weight as phase 1 of diet.

Day 57:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: harusame salad; yogurt
• Dinner: rest of harsume salad

Day 58:

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: TCBY yogurt; melon
• Dinner: melon; string cheese

Day 59: Hells Canyon Dam Tour! (Saturday)

• Breakfast: cereal
• Lunch: potato salad; a half of deep fried chicken breast; a cookie
• Dinner: rib eye wrap with green salad @ local restaurant in Riggins

Day 60 – it’s Sunday, Lazy day..

• Breakfast: cereal with banana
• Lunch: salad @ Idaho Pizza Co
• Dinner: Arctic Circle small milkshake