Cute website, and super-cute sign:

I took the pledge, now it’s your turn.

How cute/smart are these?? I don’t bake a lot of cookies (or anything for that matter) but I might if I had this cookie stamping set from Williams Sonoma:

Today I made Ginger-Marinated Grilled Portobello Mushrooms and Quinoa Risotto with Arugula and Parmesan. Took me forever and the mushroom didn’t turn out so well but the risotto was yummy. (The picture is not so great):

Also, I had a horrible craving this afternoon and wanted a huge chunk of cake or mousse or Ben & Jerry’s Brownie ice cream….but, I didn’t give in! To reward myself I started a Jean Jar. Every time I resist something very unhealthy, I will put the value of the unhealthy item into the jar. If I do give in, I have to take the money out. The goal is to buy myself some fancy, and hopefully a size smaller, pair of jeans! Check it out, already made $5 bucks!

Living wide is mostly about experiences. Try and do and see and eat and experience anything and everything as much as possible, as often as possible, and to the absolute.

Skydiving - Sophomore year of college, a week after my first boyfriend and I broke up. I felt I needed to start living up to my motto. This was followed by my first cigarette, my first time smoking hookah, my first drunken escapade and my first random makeout session with a strange boy (not all in the same night!). Wrong order? Perhaps. But the feeling of jumping out of a plane is indescribable and life-altering. In a very, very good way.

Falling in love – By far the coolest, and scariest thing, I’ve ever done..

Kickboxing, Self-Defense – Even though I am still petrified of any encounter in which I may have to remember these moves, I was at my peak physically and felt like an incredibly strong woman during these classes and I miss them.

Raising Lions – What started as a need to get back to myself (aka, living wide) after a break-up from my first but not nearly true love, turned into one of the coolest stories of my life. Not only did I get to help raise lion cubs in South Africa, alone for 3 weeks from family and friends and bf; I also met some amazing people and held some big snakes, got to cuddle with a cheetah as well as the lions and rode an elephant.
Lions are unforgiving and selfish and magnificent. And the fact that these white lions are being decimated is a tragedy. I’m glad I could do a small part.

Adopting Bond - A semi-spontaneous decision that I questioned for a few brief moments before I took him home. I’m eternally grateful that I found him out of all the kitties. He is my greatest achievement.

Can’t wait to add more…

Most of the stuff I ate today did not excite me and was quite bland. I’ll try seasoning things up more tomorrow. But one dish was pretty yummy (even with the dreaded bellpeppers), Sauteed Corn. Wish there was a picture but I was too hungry.
I subbed the prosciutto with turkey bacon and it was delish. I may have also used a teensy bit more olive oil than recommended…..

Also, V8 is really icky.

But this:

Bear (my wonderfully sweet, unselfish boyfriend) spent the weekend helping me come up with a great weekly planner for the diet. Both being excel nerds it was tweaked several times and included fancy formulas:

The article in Marie Claire (found here) that spawned my desire for my first ever attempt at a real diet mentioned that planning would be necessary but man was it a time commitment this weekend.

We spent a lot of time deciding on the dishes and then shopping for them. We also prepped as much as we could (considering my laughable kitchen skills).

So far, I’ve lost 7 pounds. Kidding.

So far I’ve had way more fruits and veggies than I would in a normal day and am craving Chik-Fil-A like you read about. BUT, I’m determined to stick it through. I don’t expect to magically turn into a fruit and veggies gal (I love my chicken and cheese and potatoes) but I am hoping my overall energy level and motivation and mood will be lifted by the healthy lifestyle in addition to the loss of the pounds.