New Year, New Blog

New Year...new blog.

Some of you know me from my previous two blogs, which due to circumstances beyond my control I had to make private, or from my most recent photo blog, MsElenaeous Pics. I've enjoyed posting some of my photographs but found that I missed posting some of my thoughts, observations, raves and mostly rants. I make no promises that I will post daily or regularly. Who knows maybe I may even post too many times a day. Whatever. It all depends on my mood, schedule and if I have anything to write about. I've found the best way to find out if a blogger has posted something is by "following" them - maybe that'll work for you too.

Anyway, first off let me say that I don't make any resolutions, just vows. The first of which is to lose freaking weight. When I saw myself in a picture recently I cried. This couldn't be me. I refuse to let it be me. I stopped smoking cold turkey. I could stop eating. Well, not stop eating, but eating more healthy certainly. So with that in mind I have determined to follow the "Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salad" diet. Today is Day one. For breakfast I had Greek yogurt with 1/4 cup blueberries, 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds, 1 tbs of crushed walnuts and a 1/2 tsp of agave nectar. This is supposed to stay with me for four hours. The way the diet is supposed to work is that I eat every four hours (a special diet under 400 calories per meal) to keep my blood sugar stable. I figure I better get on the exercise bicycle pronto before I lose any strength. I'm too embarrassed to even document my weight here but will relate my progress (hopefully there will be progress) as it happens.

The problem with a diet like this happens when you have a family to feed. When I showed my husband the 3 oz. chicken that each of us are supposed to eat for our main meal he said he couldn't even see it. According to the book, one 12 ounce steak should feed the four of us. My husband usually orders 12 ounces by himself. I figure I'm going to make my meals and if they don't want to follow along, they're on their own. I am determined to see this through and have already told my husband to not ask me if I want a glass of wine, told my daughter to not ask me if she should pop popcorn and told my son to not ask me if I want a Pepsi.

Besides family creating some potential "roadblocks" to this particular diet the real problem is the food the author recommends I purchase. She comes from California where there is an abundance of fresh fruits and odd ingredients. Here in Virginia it's not so easy to find a fresh peach, nectarine or watermelon this time of the year. Same thing with Sea Bass. I don't even know what fish I could use to replace it with so I'm going with flounder. Agave nectar was a search, and I finally found it at the Natural Co-op store along with other expensive products I needed to purchase. I took my daughter with me who commented she couldn't stand the smell of the store and that she'd never seen so many smug hippies. When she tried the organic pear that cost $1.99, at first I was annoyed when she spit it out. And then I bit into it. It was the worst tasting bitter fruit I have ever had and I can only hope that the red lentils, quinoa, rolled oats, wild rice, turkey burgers, agave nectar and other assorted stuffs taste much better than that expensive psuedo fruit did.

Don't worry this blog isn't going to be just about my diet, although if you have any diet success stories to share I'll be more than happy to hear them. In fact, I hope you'll be sharing many of your stories that relate to any of the entries I may post. Maybe tomorrow I'll post the "curse" I received in the mail a couple of weeks ago. That'll be good for a laugh...