Thanks for all your kind comments about Tony’s article in the paper.  I talked to Tony’s parents and they agreed that Rick Morrissey completely captured the spirit of Tony.  And we all agreed that Tony is smiling down from heaven about this!

Hannah worked at the coffee shop yesterday so I swung by on my way to work and picked up a mixed berry parfait.  I love the packaging – thanks Hannah!

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It was a super busy day at work.  One of the secretaries was out sick so I was pretty non-stop all day.  Finally took a break at 1 to get to the gym.  I did 40 minutes on the treadmill and high tailed it back to work.  It went by in the blink of an eye – that hasn’t happened for a long time, so that was nice!

So along with ditching my wine at home, one other small change this week is that I wanted to have at least one low carb meal per day.  It could be breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Over the weekend I realized I had some Jennie-O sweet Italian turkey sausage in the freezer and defrosted one link – 160 calories.  After dinner the night before last I just cooked that up and put a whole zucchini in the microwave and cooked it for 1:30.  I let that cool and sliced both the turkey sausage and zucchini and threw it in a container, set that next to a container of marinara I made and shredded an ounce of Cabot white oak cheddar.

Once it was time to heat up lunch, I put the zucchini/sausage mixture in the microwave for a minute.  Took that out and then made little bites – zucchini on the bottom, then a slice of sausage and topped that with the cheese and put it under the broiler in the toaster oven.  I heated the marinara for a couple minutes and then when it was time to plate, put a heaping teaspoon of sauce on the plate, and set my zucchini sausage bite on top – I ended up with 9 bites and it came in at 319 calories, and 12 grams of carbs.

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These were actually really good and filling.  I had a cup of cantaloupe on the side for dessert.   Before I knew it, it was time to hit the gym again.  I am in week 3 of my strength training and now I at 4 sets of 10 reps each.  Last night it took me 25 minutes to finish strength!  I still use the assisted machine to do dips, but with less weight – go me!  Then finished with 35 minutes on the treadmill for an hour after work workout.

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We were meal planning this past weekend and Hannah remembered me making red beans and rice with smoked sausage and asked if I could make it.  Yep!  I cheat, I use Zataran’s, but I use the low-sodium version.  Hannah kept saying “it smells so good!”  She likes smoked sausage because there isn’t any gristle.  But as soon as we started eating it, she said “this isn’t what I remembered you making” and really only ate the sausage.  Jacob, who’d never had red beans and rice gave it two big thumbs up.  You win some you lose some!  I sauteed zucchini and had that on the bottom of my dish.

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Do you remember me talking about my friend Andie’s Book – It Was Me All Along back in mid-January?  First book I’d read cover to cover in nearly 10 years!  I was so moved by the book, and Andie’s writing style, that I reached out to her and asked if I could buy a book and have her autograph it so I could give it away on the blog.  She quickly replied “you don’t have to pay for it, I’ll just send you one!”  Love her!   You can check out all her amazeball recipes here by the way.

it was me all along

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Just a few of the many many quotes I highlighted on my Kindle:

  • “It all requires discipline and the absolute desire to change.  Losing necessitates feeling terrible now so that you can feel better later.”
  • “Food had to be a friend, not an enemy.”
  • “I was the one who abused the food and gave it character.”
  • “I set [a cupcake] on a pretty antique plate, brewed a steaming cup of tea, and ate it seated at the kitchen table for the better part of ten minutes.  It was delightful.  I’d made it special; I’d enjoyed it, and because of that – the eating lacked regret.  And though I did wish I could have another, I didn’t feel my old urge to binge”

There are so many noteworthy things I got out of this book, so I am hoping it will do the same for whoever wins this autographed copy.  Just leave a comment telling me, just for today, what you are going to do to make it a better day.  Workout after not having worked out in days?  Plan a meal, drink more water?  Spend more times with your kids or husband?  I’ll pick a winner on Friday’s post – good luck!

And I have the link for my Sebastiani pizza contest for voting!  Mine is the Cheezy Chicago Italian Beef Pizza – not sure when the voting ends, but I’ll remind you every day – you’re welcome!  AND THANK YOU!

Cheezy Beef Pizza

Alright, I have to get this show on the road – we have dual baby showers at my office that I am in charge of and I have to get all my stuff together for that, and I just got a text that the secretary who was sick yesterday is still sick today, so I better get a move on.

Make it a great day!