I like to order things online. I do not like the ridiculous amounts of packaging that accompany these items that I order. I was pleasantly surprised today when I saw a shipment of shirts and scarves we ordered from American Apparel
No box, no tissues, no bags full of air, no foam peanuts. Just the items we ordered in an envelope no bigger than necessary to ship the items. Amazon.com, if you are reading this, please take note.
So two weeks ago I posted my first quarter goals. Since then I purchased a new digital scale, so I could get more precise measurements (it’s precise to two-tenths of a pound). Thew new scale measures me at three pounds heavier than the old one, so I’ve adjusted the graph accordingly and revised my goal to 153 for the Ten Miler. Here’s the latest chart:
I’m pretty proud of myself for maintaining my caloric budget for three weeks. I’ve averaged 1665 net calories per day since 1/6, which is right on target. As you can see from the graph, my weight loss is right on track. (The dip on 1/20 is probably due to water weight). Unfortunately, I forgot to incorporate the Super Bowl into the graph, so next weeks numbers probably won’t be great.
As for my running, the good news is that I did seven miles yesterday. The bad news is that my IT Band is back with a vengeance, so I’m going to cut out a run this week and concentrate on some stretching and strengthening exercises.
We went to PetSmart to pick up some toys for the dogs since they haven’t had any for months. Amazingly enough, they had all their holiday dog toys on sale for 75% off! We cleaned up.
The dogs don’t know the difference, so why not? Apparently some people feel otherwise. The lady working there said she’d heard several customers wonder why anybody would buy a santa dog toy after the holidays. I get so frustrated when people fail to realize that dogs aren’t people.
Unfortunately, two santas and a snowman have already met their demise.,
… how awesome it is that my request for cookies follows right after my weight loss goals.
I just had a Keebler Fudge Shoppe Grasshopper cookie for the first time, and it’s essentially a Thin Mint. This, of course, triggered a craving for some Girl Scout Cookies, so I did a Google search to see when they’d be available. Google pointed me to this page, where you can find your local troop. Also on that page is this text:
What does that even mean? I’d love for someone to explain it to me. In any case, the Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Council have been selling cookies since January 4th and will continue to do so until March 31st. Before I contact them, though, if any CvilleBloggers out there have kids that are selling cookies, I’d love to buy some.
I mentioned in a previous post that I had some specific quarterly goals in mind. This quarter, my goal is running the Charlottesville Ten Miler again faster than I did last year without suffering through another bout of Iliotibial Band Syndrome. The first step in that goal is getting my weight down to help take the load off my knees.
A little over two years ago, I dropped my weight from 185 pounds to 150 pounds. Since then, my weight has crept back up to around 165. I’ve decided to get back down to 150 for the race. I was playing around with Gruff today, and made this graph to chart my goals and progress:
I weighed in at 168 pounds directly after a week of holiday gluttony. I figured a couple of those pounds were still in my stomach, so I set a goal of four pounds for the first week and two pounds for each week after that. 2/24 and 3/9 are weekend trips we have planned, so I gave myself a little slack there. I’m guessing my actual progress will be a smoother curve that levels out a bit between 2/17 and 3/16 rather than the jagged line in the graph.
Sunday: Dinner at Michael’s Bistro: After regretting not ordering the meatloaf at Bizou last week, I sprung for it at Michael’s. What came out was a huge chunk of meatloaf on mashed potatoes topped with some sauteed vegetables. The mashed potatoes were boring and forgettable. They consisted of overcooked potatoes, butter, and sour cream, and their texture was starchy, not creamy, fluffy, or whipped, which are all much better consistencies for mashed potatoes in my book. The vegetables were bits of peas, onion, corn, and tomatoes, and they tasted kind of like a stew. They worked really well with the meatloaf. The meatloaf itself was not as good as Bizou, but it held it’s own. It was much meatier and denser, which made me feel like I was eating a hamburger patty at times. While I’d order it again, if I were ever in the mood for meatloaf, I’d head to Bizou.
Tuesday: Lunch at Just Curry: It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had another hole punched in my Curry Card. I ordered the beef curry. I was thrilled to see that they’d given up on the little plastic containers of the pepper sauce and now have a self-serve squeeze bottle. I was not thrilled with the quality of the food. The plantain was undercooked and had obviously been sitting around for awhile. Either the rice or the curry was watery, and by the time I made it to the lawn to sit down and eat, I was able to pour the water out of the bowl. Finally, the new Jamaican Ginger Beer is pretty gross compared to what I had the last time I was there. I’m hoping that the curry was just an anomaly, and things will be back to normal next time. I won’t be getting that Ginger Beer again.
Wednesday: Lunch at Christian’s Pizza: In December, we went to a party that had some pizzas from the Christian’s up 29. It was absolutely disgusting. The biggest problem was the crust, which tasted like warmed over cardboard. I’m not the only person who’s noticed that the other Christian’s Pizza locations aren’t up to expectations. I decided to give the downtown location a go for lunch today and had a slice of spicy chicken. I’m glad to say that at least today, the downtown location’s quality hasn’t suffered. Hopefully they can get the other locations up to where they should be.
Wednesday: Cookies at Feast: I’d been wanting to swing by Feast and try a cookie after reading the Great Charlottesville Cookie Roundup. The trolley made a courtesy stop for some kids right in front of Main Street Market today, so I took that as a sign as it was time. I grabbed their last two cookies: Molasses and Double Chocolate Chunk. These were not my type of cookies at all, although I can see how someone with different cookie preferences would enjoy them. I like my cookies thin with a crispy outer layer. These cookies were two to three times thicker than I would’ve liked and were very cake-like. In fact, two of the molasses cookies stacked with some frosting may be able to pass for cake. This disappointing cookie experience has really cast a shadow on the rest of my day.
Thursday: Lunch at Revolutionary Soup: Despite the fact that I work in the same building as it, I’ve avoided the downtown location of Revolutionary Soup due to a few less than stellar experiences when compared to the Corner location. I didn’t feel like going outside today, so I ventured down the hallway and picked up a Gulf Coast Shrimp Salad. This time around I remembered to ask for the dressing on the side because they normally drown it in the stuff. The salad was excellent today. The last time, I was disappointed by the wilted lettuce and meager toppings. This time around there was plenty of crunchy lettuce, avocado, and roasted red peppers. The shrimp were hot off the grill, and it reminded me of why I love this salad. I’m guessing you’ll be seeing more RevSoup next week.
Friday: Lunch at Lee’s Grill: For the love of all that is holy to you, if you have not had the Teriyaki Chicken at Lee’s Grill, please go. You can’t spend a better $5.95 in this town.
Friday: Dinner at South Street: I decided to get the flank steak salad, and boy was it delicious. South Street’s sesame-soy vinaigrette may be my favorite salad dressing in town. I asked for rare because South Street consistently overcooks their beef. It came out medium, which was what I was going for. I only wish I’d remembered to ask for the dressing on the side, because they put entirely too much on the salad. Finally, I remembered to take a picture since I wanted to include more of them on the blog, but didn’t remember until after I’d started eating. In any case, here you go:
Happy New Year! Let’s just ignore the fact that I never did December.
Wednesday: Dinner at Amigo’s: Got the Chili Verde, and it was especially good today. What was disappointing was the increase in price. Some dishes have gone up by over 25%! I’m not sure if it has anything to do with this. In any case, I doubt it’s going back.
Friday: Lunch at Bizou: It’s hard not to go to Bizou when it’s right outside my office window. I had a craving for the meatloaf, but was talked into ordering the crab cake special. It was a good crab cake, but I have two complaints. First, the crab cake was disappointingly small. Second, while it was called a “crispy crab cake”, the outside was fried to the point of tasting kind of burned. I was not a fan of that. Next time, I’ll order the meatloaf.
Friday: Dinner at Maya: Inspired by Lilith’s post to cVillain, we decided to try Maya. It ended up being a mixed bag. Our entrees were both mediocre. I had the Seared Scallops, Braised Pork, Arugula, and Jus. Kate ordered the Pork Tenderloin. Both of our entrees were unspectacular. My jus was ridiculously salty, nearly to the point of being inedible. The pork tenderloin was slightly overdone. Even if it had been properly cooked, it would’ve been nothing special. The sides, however, are winners. The roasted acorn squash was absolutely stellar. Close runner ups were the Macaroni and Cheese, Broccolini and Mashed Potatoes. Our last side, braised red cabbage, will not be ordered again. I think on my next visit I’m skipping the entrees and ordering roasted acorn squash, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and maybe one other side.
Let’s not call them resolutions…
Spend more time with the dogs: They deserve more than we’ve been giving them.
Start a garden: I’d like to grow rosemary, basil, and habanero peppers. I have no idea whether growing these items in Virginia is feasible.
Cook more (and eat out less): Don’t worry, last week in food is not going anywhere (although it does need to be revamped). Now that I’m working for myself again this should be a lot easier. I actually really enjoy cooking. It’s the cleanup part I hate.
Blog about me (not just what I eat): When I write, I write for strangers. I discuss fairly generic topics and don’t insert too much of myself into my writing. While this may have a wider appeal, it makes for bland posts. I’d like this to be a more intimate place, and to do that, I need to dig deep and get personal.
Finish things: I’m not good at loose ends. Once I get to a point that I know something can be finished, actually finishing it becomes pretty uninteresting to me. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how to go about changing this. I think an excellent future post would be a photo essay of my unfinished projects.
I could go on, but I think five is more than enough. I have some very specific quarterly goals (with benchmarks and all) that I’m working on, and I’ll post about them soon.
