"The Eat Clean Diet" Day tripping lots of pictures!!!

[Erica]

Late last week I picked up the book The eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno, as recommended by our very own Maren here is her blog post revealing the secret to her success. I've lost 32.5 pounds with WW & I'm thrilled, but I'm still looking become more fit, I still have more fat than I think is healthy, around my middle. So after seeing Maren's vacation photos & reading her post I really wanted to read the book & give it a try. The book is a really quick read. It's a little choppy in the way it is written, I feel like it cold have been sectioned together better. But the concepts are very simple & not very different from what I'm used to. Following this I'm drinking even more water, eating more protein & eating more frequently throughout the day. I'm avoiding sugar more now & trying to cut back on the cheese as it is not a part of this program. The other end of it is strength training which I have not squeezed into my routine. I really like the concept of clean eating & I feel like this could really help me reach my goals. Thanks Maren for sharing, I'm very grateful!

Since we are on vacation I'm away from the gym even more than usual. Scott & I ran a couple times though, so that was good.


So the weather forecast showed 10 days of rain so we figured we had better hit the beach on Sunday, the only nice day. Scott & I had worked late the night before, so we got up got ready & I packed to food while he packed the car. Then we picked up the kids form their grandparents house & hit the road. We're just over an hour away from the beach. It was overcast & the water was freezing, the sun did come out & it turned out to be a great day, but still too clod for me to ga past my calves! The kids didn't care, they were in the water a lot. Scott even forced himself to get all the way in! Buurrrr! I was happy to feel normal in a bathing suit, I have not felt like I've looked ok in one in a very long time! I had packed lunch which we ate as soon as we got to the beach. For me it was a salad of mixed baby greens with tuna fish, red peppers, tomatoes, a little feta cheese & lemon juice. Very yummy & satisfying. For snacks I had an apple, almonds & cherries. We went to a seafood place for dinner, I ordered a cup of Rhode Island clam chowder it has no cream! a small caesar salad no croutons & dressing on the side. For my entree I ordered an appetizer the steamed muscles in a spicy, garlic, tomato sauce. It was so good & I felt like I made such great choices. I even avoided getting a glass of wine, which I considered doing. We said no thanks to the dessert menu.

We got a good night's sleep & headed out Monday morning (yesterday) to catch the train into the city. This is out first time going to the city without a group or friends. I had a list of places that we wanted to go to & many food spots that I wanted to sample. I looked like much of my focus was food, looking at that list! I found a great website chowhound if you are ever looking for something good or for something specific, many reviews & posts that are that sort of thing. A couple things that I had in mind were I wanted to vist a famous chocolate shop & taste something. I read that Jacque Torres had the best chocolate chip cookies in the city & they had awesome coffee for only $1.50. Also you can by their chocolates by the piece $1.50 each. Also they have hot chocolate & wicked hot chocolate (spicy) hot or frozen. So we got off the train at Grand Central station, yes that is an apple in my & Olivia's hands!

There we asked at the tourist booth how to get to Jacque Torres chocolate shop. We were instructed to get on the subway where to get off & get back on again. This was our very first time using the sub. We ended up wandering around for over an hour through Chinatown, dvd, dvd, dvd, movie, movie,movie, movie, handbag, handbag handbag is all I have to say! Finally we reached the court where Bernard Madoff was being sentenced news crews everywhere!!! Then we happened upon a deli where we saw people coming out with awesome looking salads, so decided we needed real food before we find the chocolate shop anyway. So we stopped at civic deli they had a counter kinda like a at subway but it was for salad. You first pick a container of salad I choose a large spinach, you hand it to the guy & tell him what to add, I had grilled chicken, avocado, tomatoes, peppers & balsamic vinegar. We took our lunch & ate in the park. We stuck up a conversation & got directions to Jacque Torres & were pretty close at this point. We each picked a chocolate & split the enormous chocolate chip cookie 4 ways. Scott & I shared an iced coffee & we decided to pass up he frozen hot chocolate. I had 80% chocolate, Scott had the wicked with ancho chili, Miranda had peanut butter & Olivia had pineapple. Everyone enjoyed the chocolates, the cookie was one of the best that I've ever had. We would certainly visit again!

We went to The Natural Museum of History not long before closing so we only saw a couple exhibits, but they let us in for free! I was thrilled about that!

Scott really wanted to go to Katz Deli for the pastrami on rye. So we went & split the sandwich 4 ways! Can you believe that they get $14.95 for a sandwich & pickles? Miranda (the 11 yo) said that that is the kind of sandwich that you crave when you are pregnant! She's a hoot!

Olivia loving it!
We did best after we bought a good map book because the subway map that we had sucked!!! Scott & I were both getting frustrated because we were trying to follow a map that didn't even have all the street names on it. Notice this became a walking food tour? We kinda planned it but geeze it seem to really revolve around food! So the next course was gelato of course!

Scott & I shared a small, 1 scoop of mascarpone & 1 of dark chocolate. OMG is all I have to say!!! I didn't eat much because I'm pretty sure I'm lactose intolerant these days & I didn't want to have all the fat & sugar that I'm sure it is loaded with, but it sure tasted good!!! I'd certainly want to visit there again for sure!!! But sine we shared & had small bits & tastes of things we were really hungry by dinner time! I had a few places written down & it turned when the hunger pangs began, that we weren't too far from Josie's!!! I'm so glad we ended up there! It was great & super healthy, I felt like it was the perfect ending to a kinda crazy day! We hopped back on the train & got home really late! What a day!!!

[Rachel]

Wow, it looks like you had sooo much fun! And yummy food too! You look so great. Your daughters are beautiful, the picture of your youngest eating the sandwich is too cute!!

[EmilyRose]

What a great trip! You made such fantastic choices along the way - - give yourself a pat on the back, girl! You look absolutely fantastic. =) It would have been interesting to slap a pedometer on and see how many miles you all walked! I'm sure you burned all those goodies off. LOL

[Mrs. Ballou]

I love NYC! It's one of my most favorite places in the world. Great pictures! :) You look fantastic! :)

[Carrie]

Don't you just love the city!?! We are planning on going next weekend and I can't wait. It does end up being a food tour, but at least you walk a lot of it off!

[Alison]

Sounds like such a FUN trip!!! I am so happy for you feeling great. Enjoy your time!