yeah, fitness posts have been lacking

[open post, not locked to fitness filter]

'cause it's been more of the same - usual breakfast, difficulty finding lunch, careful with the snacking even under stress moments, stir fry or low-cal dinner, maybe i worked out, maybe not (last week was sick, so no exercise at all...)

was a good boy this week with Cheesecake Factory, Sunday being our first trip to a *really* heavy-cal restaurant since we started this.  both ate half of the plates and saved the rest for a lunch, AND only ate 1/3 of the cheesecake (and all the whip cream), saving the rest of that for yesterday, a day i intentionally didn't have a drink or afternoon snack in order to make sure i hate the calorie space for it.

2 nights ago, i got inspired to pan-sear some halibut from Wegmans, but made some changes:

• before starting all this, I started a small pot of rotini boiling, timing everything so the pasta would be done 'round when the fish was ready to be pulled
  
• in addition, i had a bag of fresh baby spinach leaves ready...
  
  
• pour 1-2 tbsp olive oil into the pan and heat on medium-high 'til it starts shimmering
• semi-coat both sides of halibut with searing-flour (a combination of flower, light salt, and white-pepper
• here, i also added no-salt lemon and herb mix, same i used in a recipe a while ago
  
• follow the directions to pan-cook it - 5 minutes, bottom-side up, then flip and 2-3 minutes top-side up
• now here's where i got different.  instead of the basting oil, i made my own with
  
• 1/4 cup white wine (a dry pinot grigio from tuscany will do...)
  
• 1 tbsp margarine
• rosemary and garlic from the spice rack
• the wine boils faster, so be careful and be quick about it - push the fish to the side of the pan, pour those ingredients in and stir, spooning it onto the fish to baste
  
• remove the fish and plate it (covering with foil) but keep the heat on...
  
  
• pour the drained pasta into the frying pan
• add half a bag or more of the spinach leaves (remember, they shrink quickly when cooked)
• add a little more wine and butter
• stir fry quickly, letting the spinach and pasta absorb the rest of the pan juices 'til the spinach is cooked
• serve with the fish
  

thus, the pan-searing of the fish, AND a florentine side, all in one pan...maybe 650-700 calories each, depending on the size of the fish and how much of the wine you drink while cooking. :)

why am i not worried 'bout not journaling so daily anymore?  as of this morning, contingency is met: 15 pounds down since January 15th.  I am now at my weight from 2002.

Still 5 pounds to goal, but the discipline is sticking...and a co-worker (who's new and doesn't really know me) today asked why have I been "shrinking" :)