In Which I Return To Virtue

Because I have decided to lose 9 pounds by our Florida vacation in May, I am back to being virtuous even though there are donuts from my son's class party and these little chocolate covered toffee things my daughter likes and a 5 gallon drum of crack-laced Goldfish and so on.

Trader Joe's is my primary source of groceries. I went grocery shopping on Saturday and obtained an enormous amount of delicious and reasonably priced foodstuffs. When I was a kid I had these fantasies where I'd grow up and eat Easy Cheese directly from the container for dinner and follow it up with a half-gallon of ice cream and, I don't know, gin. Just because I could, I guess. But the fact is that while I enjoyed that in college for a brief stint, in general I feel so good when I eat well. I feel happy and healthy and in control and the fleeting deliciousness of half a bag of Doritos never comes close to the high of the impressed look on my husband's face when I demand that he poke me in the obliques. (That sounds naughty, doesn't it?)

For breakfast today I had a Dannon Light and Fit cherry vanilla yogurt into which I stirred 1 sliced banana and 1/4 cup of Trader Joe's Organic Morning Lite cereal. I had a glass of V8 and a glass of water with this. I always like to eat my meals on actual china, sitting at the table, reading a book or listening to music. I love food and even with two small children, I try and take the time to enjoy my meals. So my yogurt gets dumped into a bowl and I set everything on a place mat. I like taking time for myself. Anyway, breakfast was:

293 calories
1 gram of fat
9 grams of protein.

Went to the gym and did 30 minutes of weights, 10 minutes on the Stairmaster at 72 steps per minute, and 30 minutes on the elliptical at a burn rate of 800 calories per hour. Took some time in the sauna, then had a Pure Protein chocolate peanut butter bar. I had about 50 ounces of water during and after my workout. The protein bar contained:

190 calories
6 grams of fat
20 grams of protein.

Lunch was a magnificent salad, made entirely of ingredients from my beloved TJ's. 2 cups organic heirloom lettuce, 1/4 cup shredded organic pea shoots, three breaded chicken tenderloins (in the frozen section), 1/2 red pepper, 7 stalks blanched asparagus, 1/2 of an avocado, 1/4 serving Crunchy Curls, and 1 serving Parmesan ranch dressing. Is it not beautiful?




395 calories

15.5 grams of fat
23.65 grams of protein



I feel amazing and focused and back on track It's wonderful. When I treat myself well in this way I feel clean inside. I'm not sure how else to describe it.

In Which I Am Annoyingly Indecisive

I am bad at making decisions. I am a waffler. And when those decisions involve sizable outlays of cash, I am even more indecisive. Mr. Marzipan and I both enjoy photography and have decided to go ahead and treat ourselves to a beginner DSLR now that the kids are old enough to be taught to fear death and dismemberment if they break the camera or touch it or look at it for too long with great intensity. Also because our current camera is suffering from a lingering malaise where it will intermittently not work/take shitty pictures/refuse to be on speaking terms with the computer.

We went to the camera store yesterday where I was highly overstimulated and made rodent-style squeaky noises and bounced a little on my toes. Mr. Marzipan eventually became tired of trying to prevent the children from doing the kind of damage that would wipe out our retirement funds. He took them to Trader Joe's while I beheld a Nikon display with the big starry eyes one generally associates with anime characters.

The nice man there took out a few models for me to play with, as though I don't haunt his store like the ghost of Ansel Adams. After a moment I set down the D5000 and cradled the D90 in my hands. "Pretty," I breathed, pushing buttons and listening to it whir in a soothing fashion.

"It has an 800 volt capacitron with a 550 gigahertz quantronium adjustificator," the man assured me. Something like that, anyway.

"Ah," I said, nodding sagely, sizing up the macro lenses.

We shared a moment of understanding before I handed the camera back. "Well, I'll be back once I decide," I promised him. For the third time. I wandered over to Trader Joe's where my son was drinking decaf and my daughter was stalking a kid who was hiding the Pirate Bear, so that she could then retrieve it and turn it in for a lollipop.

"Have we made a decision yet?" inquired my husband, eating the little chicken samples they had available at the sample station.

"Um," I said.

"I see."

My daughter returned with the Pirate Bear, looking triumphant. "I found him! And I'm getting two lollipops. One for each of us," she clarified, as her brother had begun to look mutinous.

We finished our shopping and then went to my parents' house for dinner. (Tacos.) The highlight of the evening was watching Mr. Marzipan and my parents play Outdoor Challenge on Wii. My mother is like a savant at Mole Stomper.

If I had a better camera, I'd've taken pictures to show you.