So, my long awaited Christmas vacay was less than exciting....

It started with the kids bringing home their cooties and sharing them with my rotten half. On the 22 and 23rd the kids had it, by Christmas eve he got it.. the full blown flu. Shivers, sweats, fever -- the works.

This brings me to the nice upper respiratory infection which helped me ring in the new year. All of this to say  that I have not smoked a cigarette since December 27th. I'm hoping I can finally kick the habit.

Next up on my list, is the fact that I have, what my friend calls "my food baby" attached to my front side. That my friends is the huge pouch that is protruding from underneath my shirt, my fat, rolly polly, pudgy, jiggly belly.

I hate to diet. I absolutely hate it, I love to eat. I love food. I love to cook. I am a foodie by nature. So knowing all the things that I know about diets I am making it a point to do this the right way. Not to diet, but to actually change my habits and my palate.

So far, I've traded the smokes for Perrier water with lemon. Its fizzy, calorie free, and if it goes flat it taste just like water.... I find that the fizzy water makes me more thirsty for some reason, so now I find that I'm drinking more water than I have before.  I have sworn off soda. Not that I was a huge proponent of soda to begin with, but when my rotten half (RH from here on out) drinks it like its going out of style, its easy to find yourself drinking the same things...

I went to the farmers market and got the following:
eggplant
bell peppers
red onions
zucchini
tomatoes
fresh spinach
romaine lettuce
flat leaf parsley
carrots
celery
cucumbers
mozzarella
shrimp
garlic
turkey (for sandwiches)
sunflower seeds
plain yogurt
fresh basil
fresh dill

I'm going to make as much as I can using these ingredients and work on changing the way I eat.

To help me out while eating at home, I have picked out my favorite plate (this is odd I know, but this particular piece of dinnerware is dear to my heart) This particular plate is like a very shallow bowl and can only hold about a handful of food at a time. This will help me with portion control.

I'll work on posting the meals that I come up with and hopefully this can help someone else that's on the same journey....

Good Luck!!!!!