Losing Weight: Do the research!

As you all know I am on a quest to send that snarky scale at my Dr's office straight to hell.  I know she is still sitting there laughing at the girl who cant control herself.  Just kidding I have some self control, sort of, sometimes, not really with food so much. Ok, so basically I have no self control with food.  I love it so much.  I have been known, on several occasions, to eat an entire back of snack size snickers, thus defeating the purpose of getting the snack size ones. Anyways part of my diet mission is to be sure that I am educated, so I can hopefully this time create a plan I can stick with and change my lifestyle.

Do your research! Research when you are starting anything new whether its a diet, a workout regimen, religion, clubs, etc, is crucial.  You need to know what your options are.  In the diet world the options are countless as every "guru" knows what is best.  Thats why people get on diets, lose weight, then gain it all back.  They didnt do their research and were looking for a quick fix.  You cant expect a quick fix to equate to a long term weight loss plan.  As I mentioned in the last blog, I am at an advantage as far as research goes.  Grant and I both took a genetic test so we know that he is a fat reducer and I am a carb reducer.  Basically we can eat nothing. Awesome! :) Just kidding, thats where the research comes in.

Pinterest, how you save my life daily! Im not sure how I survived without pinterest, or how I thought of any of my own ideas.  Ironically, I have yet to successfully complete any pinterest crafts I have started.  I have used a few of the recipes but usually just look at the picture and wing it. Another diet downfall, winging it leads to more calories or yucky food. Feel free to look at my pinterest or do your own pinterest research for what you want in a diet.

I also use Google, my favorite thing ever!  Now dont get your mind blown by this amazing research im about to share, but simple articles like this can help you to better understand the diet you are about to begin.  Here is an article on starting a low carb diet and what to learn and expect.

STOP LYING TO YOURSELF! Ok sorry for the shouty capitals! But for real just because you are not downing a loaf of bread followed by a bag of cookies doesnt mean you are low carb.  Carbs are little devils that get into everything, jerks.  As I was enjoying a nice helping of my applesauce yesterday thinking how healthy I am being and patting myself on the back I look down to realize there are like 8 million carbs in this, really?  So look at food labels, you dont have to get all crazy and like keep count of everything, unless you want to, I dont. Aint nobody got time for that.

Also dont lie to yourself and think that you are magically going to be a diet guru.  You're not. Im not a diet guru. I generally have no idea what Im talking about, thus the research and my innate ability to make crap up. :)

So anyways the point of this blog post is to do research.  Figure out exactly what kind of diet you want to do, what foods you are willing to give up, what changes you are ACTUALLY going to make.  Then spend some time looking at your different options, different diet plans, meal plans, etc.  I always make a meal plan because then I might actually stick to it, plus it saves me from going to the store everyday when I get a new idea from pinterest. The other great thing about pinterest and Google is that you dont have to do much work, if you want a full diet plan with menu and grocery lists those exist, I just dont like being confined to that. So go forth into the world and conquer your diet plan!

Be a Conqueror!

Dear Fat, Please leave!

This will be a gripping tale of my tragic encounter with the scale at the Dr's office today, and my plan for sending that scale straight to hell!
Well, I am on day 3 of a super case of laryngitis, meaning I have absolutely no voice.  For me this is quite a situation as I love to talk, and laugh, and sing, and just be loud in general.  So im basically dying here, which is why I have been a blogging machine.  Due to the laryngitis situation I went to the Dr today in hopes of getting a nice shot that will quickly cure this and bring my voice back, no dice.  Apparently there is no way to fix laryngitis, just time. Major bummer.  Another major bummer encountered at the Dr's office today was the much hated scale, and today I hated it the most ever!




Something about getting married and getting an office job signals to your body that its time to get fat, so most people about my age start packing on the pounds.  Its easy to explain them away, or take less notice because really who am I trying to impress.  Well that stupid number on that stupid scale today was the straw that breaks the camels back, poor camel, his back really broke because my big butt was sitting on him. Bless it.  Anywho, its time for the fat to take leave and go find someone else to torment.  So now comes the part where I make a diet plan.  I cant really do strenuous cardio at the moment due to some back issues, so Pilates and Yoga is all I have as far as working out, and while theyre great they are not exactly the fat busters that I need, so once again I must rely on food to help me out!

The PLAN! I make diet plans all the time, its sticking with them that I am terrible at, luckily that scale was some serious motivation.  So what is the first thing I did, refer to pinterest of course!  My board, "One Day When I'm Healthy" typically provides me with some great ideas on where to start. I took a genetic test about a year ago that told me I am a carb reducer, no big deal I said im not a huge carb eater anyways. LIES LIES LIES, although I didnt realize I was lying, I also didnt realize that carbs are in EVERYTHING, like for real. So I tried to create a plan that is low carb but not icky. The one thing I have read is that for anyone on a low carb diet its good to eat protein, be creative about it though, dont just eat beef jerky and cheese all day.

Step One: Breakfast

I luckily already had it in my mind that I needed to get it together so while at the store buying Mucinex I also picked up a big batch of fresh fruit to make smoothie packs.  Smoothie packs are a pinterest idea where you put all your ingredients in a bag and freeze it, when ready just throw it in the blender.  UH YES PLEASE! I love easy, we are busy people and I am becoming less of a morning person the older I get.  (it probably also has to do with the fact I dont go to bed until after midnight thanks to Grant the night owl). Anywho these packs were super simple, just diced up the fruit, added a half cup or so of yogurt (I use vanilla Greek yogurt because I am a yogurt snob and dont want your watered down mess) and threw them in the freezer! In my meal plan I also included days where I would have boiled eggs and fruit or oatmeal.

Step Two: Lunch

UGH Lunch.  I hate thinking about this because it always takes planning.  Grant and I's typical morning involves some sort of rushing, throwing random leftovers or whatever might be in the fridge in a bag and calling that lunch.  If there is nothing in the fridge then we eat out.  And I wonder how I got fat. Anyways back to lunch.  Here are a few of the things I put down, spinach salad, tuna stuffed tomatoes, zucchini pizza bites (pinterest), and tilapia over spinach.  Its important to me for lunch to be filling, but not heavy because then its nap time.  In fact one day after a particularly heavy lunch I decided to rest my eyes for a few minutes, 20 min later I woke up to someone knocking on my office door and the pattern of my sweater imprinted on my forhead. Classy and very boss like of me. UGH.  Sooo a filling but light lunch is important, regardless of what diet you are on.

Snack Time

What, you're on a diet, you cant snack. WRONG! I am a snacker, that is by far my biggest down fall.  It is about learning how to snack and when to snack.  I typically go about 5-6 hours between lunch and dinner, and that is usually when I want a snack.  A snickers, a cookie, a cupcake, a bag of chips, anything delicious and fattening is my typical go to.  Well fat no more I say, time to change those snacking habits.  I planned a snack for each day and tried to coordinate fruit on the days that I didnt get fruit in my breakfast (oatmeal days).  Apple's are great for you, they give you energy, are full of anti-oxidants, and can be very filling, so those are a great snack option.  We also have access to a brand called Nutrilite, an organic vitamin and supplement company.  Nutrilite makes delicious, I mean seriously delicious, 100 calorie snack bars, so those are also on my list.  These are  actually really great because they come in several flavors like caramel cream, chocolate caramel, cranberry crunch, and fudgy brownie.  They satisfy my sweet tooth, really I have a mouthful of sweet teeth, its pretty ridiculous how much I love sugar. I also added trail mix to the snack list, nuts provide protein and energy, a winning combination!

Step Three: Supper Time

Thats right, I said supper, its a Texas thing, yall wouldnt understand! So dinner, dinner is a toughy for me.  You dont want to eat a super heavy dinner as typically you sit and so does your meal.  I run into the problem of being hungry again before bed.  As you remember from above my husband the night owl and I, the one who has no choice in being a night owl, stay up super late.  If we eat at 6 then by midnight im about to gnaw his arm off.  WHAT TO DO??  Well there are a couple of options.  I tried to plan dinners that will keep me full, but also its always good to have some healthy snack options around at night as well.  I wont lie, the dinners I have planned for this particular diet week are not very exciting.  Basically a meat and two veggies.  Pretty basic.  I always try to rotate chicken, beef, and fish so we dont get burnt out on anything.  I will say there is a quiche I am making that Grant and I discovered when doing a ten day cleanse before a cruise last year.  It has no crust (yay low carb) its just eggs, diced chicken, onions, shallots, asparagus, and dill.  Its legit, I actually make that rather frequently.

So, hopefully since I blogged this for the world to see I can actually stick to the diet plan and report back in a week on the progress.  Who knows I may invent some delicious new healthy recipe this week! Or I may eat my weight in cupcakes, its too soon to tell. :)

Cake, Cake, Cake, and more Cake!

Cake! I love cake. I know very few people who do not like cake, and I personally find those people weird. In my post collegiate boredom I began to experiment with hobbies. Having spent atleast 30 hours a week for the past five years studying, reading, writing, etc I had quite a bit of time to fill. I was working from home at the time and had to find something to do. I took up sewing, an art that my mom Jackie is amazing at. She made my wedding dress, shes that good. Unfortunately that gene was not passed on, I can handle the basics, but lack the patience and general know how to really make it a worthwhile hobby. I took up crocheting, something I picked up in junior high, something i still love to do. Unfortunately I dont have the attention span to do it for long. Then came cakes, and the story begins.

For my 12th birthday my step mom, Teresa, made me an awesome Winnie the Pooh cake. (dont judge Winnie the Pooh is legit)She used one of the character cake pans and star tipped individually stars in icing on the whole cake, which for those of you who dont know, that takes a while to do. It was then that I had my first experience with caking, so when one of my best friends was planning her son, Elijah's, first birthday I volunteered to make the cake. A bigger undertaking than I ever realized. This birthday party was set to have 70 people in attendance, a rather large group for a 1 year old's birthday. So the planning began, it was to be a sports themed party so we chose to make a large football cake. Afraid that the cake wouldnt be enough I put the football on a large sheet cake making a field and then made 2 dozen sports themed cupcakes.

It took me nearly 14 hours to make the cake, baking, cooling, and decorating. For a first try I would say it turned out pretty successful. Successful enough that when I brought it into the party my friend Nana started to cry at how happy she was for this cake for her son's birthday. So it began, my obsession with caking.
Along the way I have done dozens of cakes, all different shapes and sizes. The best part is that with each cake I learn a new technique, which I will blog on individually. I have learned to cut down the time it takes to make the cakes, how to make them taste better, and how to make them look beautiful.
Here are pics of some of the cakes I have done along the way!

Here is a Jungle Cake I made for Elijah's 2nd birthday!

Here is a super hero cake I made for my baby love's 5th birthday!
















Here is a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake I made for a friends kids birthday!

And here is my favorite, my first ever wedding cake! It turned out more beautiful than I could have imagined. I was so blessed to be able to contribute to Ryan and Donnell's big day!

Jaipur: the search for the best Indian food is over!

One of the things I love about living in a place as culturally diverse as Northern Virginia is the plethora of ethnic food. If you would have told me five years ago that I would frequently crave Indian food I would have laughed, having never tried it I had no idea what I was missing. I remember the first experience I had with Indian food, I was nervous that I wouldn't like it, curry didn't sound all that appealing. Looking though the menu of a restaurant in Shirlington I came across a dish called Buttered Chicken. If you know me the you know my deep obsessive love of butter, so I was quickly sold. Buttered chicken is a fantastic beginner dish for those weary of Indian cuisine. From the moment it touched my lips I knew that this would become an addiction, and it has.
As Grant and I were deciding what to eat for dinner to tonight the craving for this dish took hold of me and wouldn't let go. My husband is a researcher of food and his ability to find amazing food is uncanny. That is how we ended up at a place called Jaipur. The moment we walked in there was no doubt this was an authentic Indian restaurant. With their beautiful decor and pink theme symbolizing Jaipur, the pink city, it was elegant and classy. The bar was beautiful with a wide collection of wines displayed along the walls. A beautiful restaurant to enjoy a meal with family and friends or with a significant other.

Once the food was brought out our inner foodies kicked in and it was on. As I have mentioned Grant and I love to eat, eating great food makes it that much better. The second the buttered chicken touched my lips it was like a drug addict finally getting their fix. The complex rich flavors awakened my senses. The smell was phenomenal, not to strong as some would say of Indian food. The flavor was rich and creamy, but not overwhelming. The chicken was perfectly tender and fell apart as soon as the fork touched it. Couple that with the Naan and Roti and it was a meal that wont soon be forgotten.

Grant ordered the Lamb Rogan Josh. A different flavor from the buttered chicken, but equally delicious. It, too, has a richness to it. The lamb was tender and succulent, combined with the many spices used in the sauce, the basmati rice, and this was a dish to love.

We topped the amazing meal off with 3 scoops of ice cream, mango, rose, and pistachio. We were both somewhat weary of the rose flavor, but it turned out to be amazing. With the flavors of the aroma of a rose petal and the sweetness of an ice cream it was smooth and delicious. The pistachio was my favorite, as I have a love for pistachio flavored things. It too was smooth and creamy and you could tell it was made with real pistachios.
The entire meal was a beautiful experience that made us very happy we went there. It is definitely a place I would recommend and that we will now frequent. The leftovers was just as delicious as the first round. If you have not tried Indian food I definitely recommend it, dont be afraid of try something new and different, you may be surprised at what you find!

The real life adventures of a real life foodie!

Hi! Im Abby, welcome to my blog about my favorite thing, food. :) I have tried to write several blogs throughout the years, a dream blog, a life blog, none of them really stuck, which is why I have decided to write about what I love and what I know, food. From cooking it to eating it I love all things food, spoken like a true fat kid. I was raised in the south where food solves all problems. If you suffer a break up you eat a pan of moms homemade potato dough cinnamon rolls. You get in a fight with your sisters and you sit down over a bowl of homemade butterfinger ice cream to settle it. Times of sorrow and pain or times of happiness and ecstasy food is always the constant, the great uniter. Atleast in my world it is.

I was blessed to be raised by two amazing moms, my real mom Jackie and my step-mom Teresa. Both are amazing women who taught me everything I know, and both are luckily AMAZING cooks. To this day I cook left handed thanks to Jackie, even though im actually right handed. She taught me the basics. Teresa taught me the art of cake decorating, along with much more, a skill I have honed and been able to create some beautiful cakes.

Another major food influence in my life has been my amazingly wonderful husband. I have been absolutely blessed to be married to Grant for over 3 years now. One thing about Grant is he is CRAZY! I mean that in the best way possible, he will eat almost anything as long as it doesnt have olives or yellow mustard. He is the epitome of a foodie, and through him I have been introduced to some very interesting cuisine. From my first experience with Pho, a delicious Vietnamese noodle soup, to a terrible experience with fried pigs ears, Grant has been my guide.

This blog will chronicle my life as I experience it through food, from things I cook to things I eat. The most memorable moments I have involve family and friends gathered for a meal, and I seek to live my life through these moments of peace and happiness with my loved ones as we enjoy a communal mean together. So enjoy and dont read this blog while hungry! :)

Abby SmithFoodie