Happy 2013!!! Hope everyone had a great New Years Eve, whether it was partying it up with friends or just snuggling in with your family or a good book and ringing in the New Year with some relaxation. We had a great night at my brother’s New Years Party. It’s so nice having my brother live so close now, I’m glad we were able to spend the night with them 
What do you think? Do we look alike? Does it look like he’s 4 years younger than me? No?? What??
I’m excited for what 2013 has to bring, I’m going to get into my New Year’s resolutions below but for now I’ll give you a quick update on WHAT I ATE WEDNESDAY!! Thanks again Jenn for hosting!
For breakfast I had some eggs (with hot sauce), some turkey sausage and 1/2 an ezekiel english muffin. We didn’t end up eating breakfast until around 10 or 11:00 so this was my breakfast & lunch for the day and it was extremely filling! That never happens by the way, we’re usually up by 7:00 on weekends, I guess the Champagne & late night got to us.
My aunt & uncle gave us a case of salsa from The Brooklyn Salsa Company for Christmas so I broke into The Tropical salsa today and it was AWESOME! I’m totally in-love with this brand now, I’m hoping I can find a place to buy it locally when we go through our stash. We already finished The Harvest salsa which was SO good! It has butternut squash, coconut milk & cinnamon in it. What?? Can we say genius!!??
For dinner I made shrimp & zucchini with Tikka Masala sauce and served it over quinoa. Perfectly filling & delicious! I have a ton of leftovers so it looks like I know what my lunch will be the next couple days.
Ok, so here are my resolutions for 2013. I know everyone always says that they are useless since people never follow them, but I’ll take any chance I get to start fresh and work on things that might need improving. We shouldn’t really need a new year to be able to set these goals for ourselves but it helps set a starting date and gives you a certain sense of renewal.
One small one that Tom & I set was to not give Oto our plates after dinner to lick anymore. We don’t feed him scraps but we will let him lick our plates after dinner to give them a little prewash cycle In doing so, we’ve conditioned him to sit on his bed and create a puddle of drool on the floor in anticipation of the plate licking. Sorry Oto – no plate licking in 2013!
RESOLUTION 1: Drink more water.
I’m so bad at this. I don’t know why, I totally know how important it is, there are like 5 million reasons why you should drink lots of water and I have no excuse for how little water I drink. I really just forget. I go through the day and get distracted and water is just not on the mind. Time to change that! I’m going to use my huge glass, fill it up when I go to my desk in the morning and not allow myself to break for lunch until that glass is empty. I’m also going to try to drink more tea, I really love tea and I don’t know why I don’t drink more.
RESOLUTION 2: Spend less, save more.
Tom & I are both kind of bad about spending money on stuff. It’s time for us to spend less and start saving more! This expensive boiler fix was a little slap in the face and made us realize that we need to give ourselves a little more padding for things like that. It’s tough living in New England in the winter because there is very little you can do outside in the winter (especially when there is no snow). I’m dying to use my snowshoes but the 2″ of white ice we got this weekend isn’t going to cut it. We usually end up entertaining ourselves by going out to eat or going shopping which is NOT good on the wallet! I’m going to work on putting a list together of fun things we can do on the weekend that do not involve spending lots of money. I’d love your ideas so feel free to share!
RESOLUTION 3: Get down to my happy weight.
I’m generally pretty good about eating fairly healthy and staying active but there are some things that I could certainly get better at. Our boot camp group is starting a weight-loss challenge next week. Whoever loses the largest percentage of weight will win 80% of the money everyone put in the pot. I know I can do it, I’ve just got to put my mind to it! The holidays have been pretty bad so it’s time I get back into a healthy routine. Ideally I’d like to lose 10 pounds and get down to my happy weight, hopefully putting this down on paper (or online) will help me stick to it.
Here are my plans on how I’m going to do it:
• Drink more water (see above)
• Attend boot camp 3 times a week, try to make it to Zumba at least 1 day
• Eliminate most of the bread/carb items from my diet
• Limit red meat consumption to once a week
• Eat lean proteins and LOTS of vegetables
• Limit alcohol consumption to one day a week (one or two glasses of wine)
• Limit dairy & sugars (eliminate all refined sugars)
• Sit down to eat every meal at the table (no eating lunch on the couch)
• No mindless snacking while I’m cooking dinner (I do this a lot if I’m hungry while I’m cooking)
• All snacks & meals must be portioned out on a plate or bowl (no eating from the bag)
• Not let my week of healthy eating go to crap on the weekends (unfortunately I do this a lot)
Are there any other tips you like to follow when you’re trying to lose weight? I’d love to hear it! Help me win this thing!! I’ll keep you updated on my progress
What are your resolutions?
Good resolutions! Put your mind to it and you can do it. Think positive and from experience, I suggest you print out your list and keep it where you can see it as a reminder. A CASE of salsa for Christmas?! What a great gift! Happy New Year!
I know, great gift right?? Good idea, I’m going to print them out and hang them next to my desk as a reminder
These are great resolutions! Saving money is definitely a big one on my list, too. And I hear you about the lack of things to do during the winter in New England. I know that, where I live, there is a place where you can ice skate for free (free rentals, too!). Maybe there’s something like that near you?
That’s a fantastic idea Miranda, we haven’t been ice skating in a long time! I’m adding it to the list
Try substituting coconut oil for butter. Believe it or not, this medium chain fat will not make you fat! It will give you energy for boot camp, satiate your appetite while you slim your waistline. You can also add a “Hari” shake (foodbabe.com) to get more greens:
1-2cups raw kale
1 stick of celery
1/2 apple
1/4-1/8 avocado
1/2 lime squeezed in
1sprig of cilantro
1-1 1/2 cups cold water
Blend and drink! The good fats will satiate you while the cilantro cleanses and the kale nourishes. Good luck Mai-Lis, you have some excellent resolutions!
Thanks Heather!! I do really like coconut oil so I’ll start to use more. Any suggestions on what I could use in place of cilantro? Its one of the few foods/spices I don’t really like unless its buried in salsa
Try parsley instead instead of cilantro, they are both cleansing
That idea of eating meals at the table instead of on the couch is a good one. At home we never eat our meals at the kitchen table, but that should definitely change! And at school… I always eat in from of my computer. Another change needs to be made
Those are some great goals. Good luck with the weight loss. You still look amazing in your pictures above though!!
Um, sweet potato chips. YES PLEASE! We bought these for New Years and I couldn’t stop. Can you tell I have a problem?
Haha I know, they’re so good! They used to be one of my design clients and they would send me cases of them (I could go through a case of chips in 1-2 weeks, now that’s a chip problem!)
Those are great resolutions. I have set similar goals for myself. We can motivate each other and maybe even share successes.
I think that would be nice. Great pictures btw.
Absolutely!! I was motivated by your detox salads so it’s starting already!
Great Night, 2013 will bring big things!
I love boot camp classes. Great resolutions. Keep at it, and I love your “happy weight” terminology.
Those are great goals!!! I love the “happy weight” term. I’m trying to get to mine as well!
yay! It will be great to get some motivation from everyone else working on their healthy goals. I love your blog by the way, looks like we have the same outlook on things
I want you to resolve to have a feature on your chef dad. What are the chances of that!
Nice blog Mai Lis. Good luck with your resolutions. I found that cutting out bready stuff was the biggest factor in losing weight. I start the day with a high protein smoothie or yogurt now rather than english muffins, bagels or toast.
Trader Joe’s has a great virgin coconut oil. Very tasty for asian food especially.
Happy New Year to you.
I think that’s a great idea Kim, now I just have to talk him into it! I’ll see if I can put something together next time I visit New Hampshire
thanks for the tips!
Hmm I should add your #2 Resolution to my list, too!
Happy New Year!