Friday, February 22, 2008

Dieting...for tiny people?

The juice diet went well.. as you will see in Betty's blog, over our 3 day trip to Moab we each gained 4 pounds... nothing for either of us.. we both need it, but we felt pretty nasty. Also, being in marathon training, we have wanted to get on to a good diet schedule and take care of ourselves to the maximum. So we've been planning on doing a juice diet to detox/ flush out the bod. What a better time to start then now.. so we got back and called it quits on solid foods for 3 days.

A couple months ago a friend and I did a lemon-detox diet (later found out it's not very good for you, should've known on my own) in which you drink a combination of lemon juice, water, cayenne pepper and pure maple syrup. Each has it's own function in the detox. The main flushing power comes from the stomach relaxing herbal tea to drink every night, and upon rising the 1 liter of warm sea salt water. That was a challenge to wake up in my cold apartment, and think of downing that, just so about 30 minutes later it would come rushing out of me!
Basically the tea loosens up everything, and then in the morning the sea salt water is the same consistency of your insides so it just runs right through..
I never had anything look like that luckily..
I'll tell you this... it works.. it cleans you out, and I felt pretty good, but since then I have struggled to have regular movements (if you know what I mean). And even with this juice diet, 100% natrual juice, water and fresh fruits only, for 3 days.. I didn't move much down there.
I know it should have worked because Betty definitely had success (again, if you know what I mean). I hope I haven't ruined myself, but I was atleast really hydrated and got lots of vitamins and didn't eat anything nasty.



Yesterday was my first day at work on the diet and I swear to you everything never looked so good. Chicken fingers, salmon, chicken Bryan (goat cheese, lemon butter with sundried tomatoes on a chicken breast), also a big group called in to reserve for 25 people and ordered about 15 appetizers that they wanted on the tables when the walked in, but never showed up, so they were for the 8 servers working!... it was tempting, but I didn't want to ruin everything I had just done for 3 days.
This is what we ended up eating to get back into it... This is Betty's and my favorite food. It's called a tomato caprese (cu-pray-zay) salad... just roma tomatoes, fresh milk mozzarella cheese (go to costco it's the cheapest there) basil, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar. It's very Italian, very light and very fresh. So good.

We're back on regular food now, just taking it easy to not load up too fast on a bunch of junk.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Dinner #2

We found ourselves in Springville at the Walmart and I had heard about a place called the "Art City Trolley" and often drove by and saw the old trolley cart out front. Earlier that day I asked my sister Marisa where we should go... she said that "the best places are always a hole in the wall." This trolley looks pretty rugged and beat up... not that cool vintage look, it just looks worn down... so we chose to eat there.
You have to pull around to the back for the parking and we noticed a bunch of really nice cars and nowhere to park. My mind slowly changed... walked in and completely changed... really cool place with an awesome atmosphere. We waited about 5 minutes until a table opened up and we enjoyed good old American cooking. Well... we started with chips and dip (HUGE) and then each got excellent homemade hamburgers.

This isn't good.. Betty and I are on a juice diet and we're really hungry. I don't want anymore carrot juice!

Betty being from Mexico of course wants everything very spicy, so she ordered hers "flamin' hot". It's funny when heat can actually get to her. Too often "it's not spicy enough"... but this was plenty. I've only seen her mom not able to handle spice one time, she took a huge bite out of a pepper and we had to supply her with relief bread and drinks for a few minutes. Betty struggled to eat their spicy... so if you have the choice, go regular.
The atmosphere was really laid back, good service, great prices, and pretty good food. We enjoyed it and will be back some time. I'm possibly thinking to serve there after the summer?! It seems like a "pre-mission" restaurant, everyone was in high school I think.

Sorry it's late...


Round two of the date night was extremely fun. We were planning to send out some valentines cards, so we went to Walmart one night and I got a turtleneck, Betty a sweater (too small of course) and some shirt paint bottles. We brought them home and painted adorable designs of valentines/ hearts, etc. Then a few days later returned for a photo-shoot.
Betty could go on for hours about the photo-shoot. I remember when we were dating I asked her if she would ever go to a car dealership with me and pretend that we were married and test drive cars, etc. She told me she would never be able to keep a straight face, but proved herself completely wrong during our excellent photographing session.
The lady was crazy... she was taking her job way too seriously. We signed up for just this promotional package that costs $12.00 and you get about 35 pictures of all different sizes.. but she was set on us getting a bunch more. So we took 10 poses, mimicking those displayed on the wall (ex: staring off into the distance together, Betty laying down with her hair everywhere, other sexy poses). It took her about an hour to take 10 pictures cause she couldn't get anything "perfect".
The whole time Betty is saying "Oh yeah... this is gonna be a great shot!" and photo lady was eating it up the entire time. I had the hardest time not laughing...
Her husband, who works at Walmart as well as he began his lunch break came into the studio and would not stop staring at me with the most evil straight face. All he was thinking was "Who is this kid and what is he wearing?" He didn't say anything except "Hunny, hurry up, he's holding her." (We had just gotten the grand idea for a piggy back shot!)

What is she grabbing?

The pictures will be up soon, you should receive yours in the mail if you send us your address. I'll also put up the picture that I took with my buddies freshman year that inspired the outing.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The beginning....

Betty and I have a weekly date night. Thanks to my lighter work schedule, we have been able to go out on weekend nights. I love going out to eat and trying new places, and I decided to start writing a weekly journal of different restaurants that we choose along with a report/ recommendations, etc.

#1- Diego's Taco Shop- recently relocated in Provo across the street is now serving Taco lovers at 300 North and something really small West.

Including the name "Taco" in the title... Betty and I both went for the taco's. They offer a wide wide variety of taco's with different meats and styles... I chose the two fish tacos and Betty the carne-asada, al-pastor and carnitas. With no idea where to order, we stood until an extremely friendly man Diego, the owner, greeted us and we ordered. The restaurant had just emptied out when we arrived, but a large group of college students had exited happily into the freezing temperatures. We waited about five minutes as Diego talked with us about how we met, etc. and afterwards brought us our overflowing styrofoam plates. Every bite was delicious and packed with authenticity. Betty may have had reflections of the streets of Mexico as she enjoyed every crumb on the plate.


We will happily return for a second round. We spent a total of $15 including a generous tip and walked away excited to go back. It was a great experience and we recommend it to all who find themselves anywhere in Provo. It's simple, it's cheap and it's excellent!