cucas87

I'd love to come to Saravana Palace.

I would be up for some walking.

Happy Birthday -- and my only advice is to do what I'm having to do today: get back on the plan and get back to the gym. That way, the upcoming celebrations won't be too damaging. That's my only recourse after my recent food extravaganza.

We had a wonderful dinner at Dino on Saturday night. I'll go into more detail below but I have to recommend 2 things to everyone: (1) some lovely Barbera wine and (2) the wild mushrooms and gorgonzola appetizer. Thanks to Dean, we enjoyed the Hilberg (Barbera) d'Alba. This was delicious. My father was in town from NJ this weekend and we were happy to partake of the last few nights of Dino's Restaurant Month and we all just shared everything. We had a nice bread basket to start with, along with olive oil for dipping, the potato bread in particular was good. For apps: (1) wild mushrooms and gorgonzola. There is no way to describe how good and creamy and earthy and mushroomy this is. My father is still emailing me about how much he loved this dish and how he's going to try to recreate it this week at home; (2) the famed prosciutto; and (3) a cheese plate with pecorino, Crescenza and Caseficio dell'Alta Langhe "Robiola Bosina." For mains we moved on to (1) the dorade special (a lovely whole fish that was delicious and perfectly cooked). Dino's really does seafood well, and fish in particular; (2) the rotisserie chicken which was served on some delicious vegetables (I loved this, Scott thought it was a little dry); and (3) the lasagnette which was rich and earthy and a mix of textures and tastes and I can't believe I had not ordered it prior to Saturday. For desserts we had (1) the pumpkin bread pudding. Really wonderful. Dean said that pumpkin would be phased out of the bread pudding soon since it is getting difficult to obtain it; (2) the trio of gelatos (the banana gelato in particular is incredible); and (3) the vanilla gelato topped with the luxurious balsamic vinegar. This is (as others have posted) amazing and really should be tried. We also treated ourselves to glasses of moscato with dessert. This was a lovely evening with such good food and wine and my only disappointment is that we had had a few drinks before heading over to Dino so we didn't partake of any of Chris' inventions. The service was superb, from the attention we got from the staff to the timing of the dishes.

Bill, your progress is keeping me motivated!

This week I've lost 1/2 pound. Not a lot by any stretch but given the number of times I dined out and the small amount of time I spent actually working out, this is ok with me. Next week's goal: get to the gym! In the interest of full disclosure I'll admit that I had to resort to what I consider guerilla tactics today to avoid joining in the surprise ice cream sundae extravaganza at work: I [cleansing breath] polished my nails at work, leaving me too embarassed to leave my office.

Silly things I've been doing to sneak in some "exercise" include: getting off the metro one stop away from where I would normally get on/off for work (for example, Judiciary Square instead of Union Station) and walking up and down the stairs at work where I am on the 11th floor. This is good except for days like today when the stairwells in the office were (apparently) locked and I ended up having to bang on the door to be rescued. Also, my plans to walk during lunch have been impeded recently by work so I will need to do a better job of getting to the gym. And, like others in this challenge, I am finding that the initial exuberance has worn off a bit and now I realize how far I have to go. Still, my plan is to take this slowly and be patient (which is not my usual default position). I just keep reminding myself that Memorial Day is on the way, and if I do this right, I'll be in better shape and health by then [clicking heels together 3 times].

Incentive: I have a few big events coming up this spring. (Note to Al Dente: the coast is clear, I am *not* going to be sleeping with Paris Hilton). First, my brother will be releasing a new cd in March, and I intend to go to a number of his gigs. I hope to fulfill my role as his groupie in a slimmer state. Also, I have a big college reunion in June (not that the '87 in my screen name is a give-away or anything) and I'd like to be in decent shape for it. My class will be staying in the dorms again, and this year our dorms will be located at the bottom of a big hill, while many events will be taking place on the main campus at the top of the hill. When I was in college, I used the hill as an excuse to avoid going to class (e.g., hmm, it's very icy today, I might slip if I tried to walk up the hill. Better stay here.) I've heard that there's now a bus that will take you up the hill but that seems wrong. Third, I have some summer clothes I'd like to wear again. So at the moment I don't have my eye on a particular "thing" to buy in the event that I make it to my goal weight (which would require more weight loss than my fitness challenge goal), but I'm sure I'll find something(s) along the way to use as a reward or two.

I can relate to the difficulty of keeping it together on the weekend. One thing that has started to help me is to just do some kind of exercise, even some regular walking, because it keeps my mind in a better place. And oh yeah, not keeping ice cream in the house is my number one rule.

All I can say is it sounds like you are doing great, so try to focus on the fact that you've made it this far. I react to stress similarly (um, ok, I never experience a lack of appetite or an inability to eat) and I have found that weight loss is not a straight line. Usually I hit a plateau, or what feels to me as my body mocking me. But in the past, when I've stuck with the plan and kept going (and maybe added a little more exercise for a bit), the weight came off. You're doing the right things. Even if you eat more than you want to now -- or don't have time to exercise-- if you stick as close as you can to your plan, you'll be ok. Before we all started this challenge I had been annoyed with myself for waiting so long to take care of this, but now I'm just happy I'm doing it. I am having some difficultiesl, I have been walking almost every day for 30-40 minutes and yesterday I decided to really up the speed and incline on the treadmill. Not a good idea for my ankle that I thought, mistakenly, had recovered from a bad sprain a few months ago. But for once in my life, I've been able to look at this "fitness challenge as a health experiment and not a diet per se (please, don't get me wrong, I'll still be thrilled to fit into my old wardrobe!). In any event, I hope today is easier for you than you think it will be and I hope I'll see you tomorrow.

1. I'm in for the Bombay Curry Company dinner on 2/27. I've been meaning to get there forever. 2. As for the Los Tios fun on 3/15, as of now I'm supposed to be in Mississippi for a hearing (that has been rescheduled 3 times so far) so while I might be able to make it, I cannot say "yes" right now. If you can add people to a "maybe" or "waiting" list, I'm there.

I'd still be up for this.

I've lost one more pound despite being in Houston at a conference where I've done little but sit for 9+ hours a day. Luckily the hotel had a small fitness center and I also managed to walk in the mornings (ok, to Starbucks, but it was something). Worst thing I did: try the wonderful peanut butter cookies available in the afternoons. Best thing I did: avoid the hotel's buffets. I need to get back into the habit of bringing lunch to work. Let's see how that goes.

If it's not too late to respond, I can attend on either night but I'd prefer the 20th.

Update: I've lost one pound despite it being RW and I've walked for at least 40 minutes every day except today. As for today, we'll see if I get a walk in before the season premiere of "24." I'll be in Houston this week for work. I'm not sure I'll be up to the big Texas portions. Stay tuned.

'zactly. As for me, I've been walking during lunch every day and I've even drafted a few coworkers on occasion. Next week I'll be in Houston on business travel and I've learned that there's a fitness center in the hotel and that the hotel is a short walk from the Galleria mall. It will come down to the lesser of the evils: food or shopping.

I had RW dinner at Tosca last night with 2 friends. It was a very nice experience. Great service and good food. The entire menu is available for RW and there are very few upcharges (I think only 2 entrees had upcharges). I was able to stay within the $30.07 menu nicely. For apps: spicy calamari (very tender calamari on some kind of grain in a mildly spiced sauce); cheese ravioli in a butter and cream sauce (too good to be missed and my friend was nice enough to share a bite) and grilled baby octopus (very good as well). For mains we had: branzino (delicious but a small portion); housemade pasta with seafood (very good and a large portion) and risotto with seafood (Much too rich to eat as an entree but delicious and perfectly cooked). Desserts: my friends each had the chocolate cake with cherry sauce and I tried the profiteroles (ok, not great). Our dinner last night was a 3-way birthday celebration. Our waiter overheard us mention that fact and when the desserts were brought to the table, each one had a candle in it (and thankfully, no song was sung). It was a lovely night. I'm not sure how often I'd go back to Tosca, mainly because while the space is very large, the tables are fairly close together and the restaurant was packed last night, which made the night a little less than relaxing.

Speaking of exercise, I work nearby to Union Station; if anyone else works nearby and ever wants to walk during lunch, just PM me, I'd be up for the company. And now I'm off for today's walk, see you all in an hour.

Today I was able to walk over to Chinatown Express, meet a good friend for lunch, share a huge bowl of homemade noodles in chicken soup and get back to the office in an hour. Total spent pre-tip: $6.20. The noodles are so good, cooked just right, and the soup is tasty but benefits substantially from the addition of some of the chili oil and cilantro-garlic paste on the table. One thing to keep in mind: the tables are *very* close together, so it's not the best choice of restaurant in the event, hypothetically speaking, that a friend decides to fill you in on some major news/gossip.

I've wanted to try this place for a long time and last night seemed like the perfect time to do so: a little cold, rainy, I didn't want to think about "cooking," and my recently-graduated-from-college cousin called for suggestions of a(nother) cheap place to eat. So we headed to the Arlington (Lee Harrison shopping center) location. When we arrived there at 6 we were some of the only people in the restaurant, but by 6:30 it was hopping. We each had a margarita (tasty and a relief that they are not made from a mix) and then we each ordered one of the day's specials: my cousin ordered the sirloin tacos and I ordered the grilled salmon (dr.com fit for summer challenge in my mind). The salmon was nicely grilled but the portion was pretty small. It came with rice, pickled onions, tomatoes and some slaw as well as corn tortillas. My cousin said the sirloin tacos were good and they came with rice. The food was good, not great, and we spent, including the tip, $49.00. Had we ordered off of the regular menu we would have spent much less, which is something I'll keep in mind for the future. The Arlington location is close to me and just for the drinks alone I'll go back, but I don't know that I'd bump Sushi Zen -- my usual Lee-Harrison hangout-- out of rotation for a trip to Taqueria Poblano.

Add me to the fit for summer" participants. Is it even possible that I can lose the prednisone weight and the weight I gained when I was sad about the prednisone weight? Stay tuned!

I called them last week and they said they are not participating in RW.

I'd love to join in.

I'm working on a few things of course, but in the meantime, if you feel like you just need to come to a cucas87 event, I'd be happy to host an apartment cleaning event. At my place, of course.

Thank you to everyone at Corduroy and everyone who came to join in for making yesterday's happy hour truly happy despite the cold, rainy weather.