Dinner at Cabanas was the Fiesta Chicken. The chicken was dusted with
chipotle spices, grilled and topped with a fresh Black Bean & Corn
Salsa, served with a side of roasted potatoes. I will warn you that
the salsa does have small pieces of jalopeno in it, so it definitely
kicks the dish up a notch. If you like spicy, tingling to the lips
food this one is a keeper. If you don't like it hot, avoid at all
costs, I went through two glasses of water.

Well, at least not yet. Yes, I love to fish and I love to eat fish.
Thank you to Cori from Lake County General Health District for
providing a great article on what fish to eat and what fish not to
eat. I always thought the orange roughy was ok, but now I know because
of it's long life-span it contains a great deal amount of mercury.
Great information!

I am very excited to say I exceeded my goals for this path month.
Since the initial weigh in I have lost a total of 9.8 pounds.
Unfortunately, these are the easy pounds to lose. All I did was alter
my eating habits, but now for the hard part, adding exercise. I feel
it is important to concentrate on one area before moving on, it can be
a challenge to tackle every part of weight loss all at once. This
month I know I probably won't be able to maintain this type of weight
loss, but my plan is to begin exercising and building more muscle.

This was a good week, I was able to eat correctly and work out. I
participated in a biathlon on Thursday night, through the B Fit 4 Life
Challenge in Lake County. We shot a paintball gun, walked a half a
mile in showshoes, shot again, walked another half mile, and shot one
more time. It was fun and a great night to do a little exercising. I
strongly recommend that if anyone is looking for an interesting work
out for the lower posture, snowshoeing at Chapin is a great way to get
moving.

How quickly a month can come and go. This was a demanding month for
work, school and family, but pulled it out. I know I have accomplished
my goal of at least a pound a week weight loss. Good luck to the rest!

I enjoyed another well prepared meal at Cabanas. I had the Hang Ten
Tilapia with roasted potatos and vegetables.The Tilapia was light and
flaky with an excellent garnish of baby spinach, red onion and plum
tomatoes. The original recipe was suppose to include gulf shrimp and
can't recall if the new lighten up menu had that on it. The vegetables
were a little on the rubbery side but tasted ok. I of course, also
chose to drink a glass of water with lemon. I do not drink carbornated
beverages unless I need a little ginger ale to calm an upset stomach.

We have all experienced those weeks where you are away on business or
just away from home. I attended a business meeting for the past two
days and it was nice to be offered healthy food for the buffet. I did
fairly well, ate lots of green vegetables and grilled chicken. But
yes, had to indulge in the deserts, the hot rice pudding was just so
good. So now I am home and time to buckle down, drink more water, eat
less fats, and exercise just a tad bit more.

All of my morning was spent either in an airport or in the air. It
definitely keeps you out of the frig. But really, it's a day of
fasting so flying made Ash Wednesday a little easier. Now I have two
days of meetings, just need to watch out for the carbs and pick lots
of fruits and vegetables.

Yes, for many this is the day to pig out before the Lenten season
begins. I went to Cabanas for lunch and had the Chicken Scaloppine.
The menu had roasted potatoes but I opted for no potatoes and extra
vegetables. The chicken was well cooked but the vegetables were mushy
and not well drained. The vegetables were swimming in water and the
light lemon and garlic sauce was non existent. The vegetables included
broccoli, white onions and a couple of mushrooms. I would not choose
this meal again but do want to note that the pesto parmesan filet I
had last week was superb. This meal was a bit of a let down and with
all menus, not everything is perfect! Oh, I did treat myself to a
serving of dark chocolate with raspberry.

Yes, I did, I had that piece of birthday cake with ice cream, but the
pieces were only about 3x2 inches a piece. Every now and then you have
to give in to a little bit of indulgence. Oh yeah, dinner was mixed
greens with olive oil italian dressing with broccoli...so I actually
was still under calorie.

These are the times when you just want to sit around all day and
snack. It's cold and you can't go outside to do much of anything. The
weather makes you want to head South for some warmth. Spring is just
around the corner and how I yearn to start working in my garden. In
the next couple of weeks I will begin starting my seeds inside the
house, that always makes me feel better knowing that soon I can be
outside digging and getting dirty. What a great way to spend a day!

I enjoyed the first meal provided by Cabanas. I had the Pesto Parmesan
Filet. I swapped out the potato for extra vegetables. I had water with
lemon, no salad. The filet was cooked to perfection. Many kudos to the
chef for an excellently prepared meal. The filet was cooked Medium and
was succulent and tender, the light Pesto Parmesan cream sauce wasn't
heavy and just added a little extra flavor to the filet. The one
improvement was that if you have broccoli or any other vegetable, ask
them to steam them instead of having them boiled. It is always
recommended to steam over boil as boiling loses nutrients in the food
and can often cause the vegetable to be overcooked. I prefer a
vegetable that is a little more aldente. All in all it was an
excellent meal and I walked away satisfied...that is not hungry.

Some days, I hate eating a meal, so I graze. A little here a little
there, but it is healthy grazing. I enjoy my raisin bran in the
morning, a yogurt for a morning snack, pistachios, some dried
apricots, an apple and a huge salad with spinach for dinner. I know
this might not sound appetizing to many of you, but some days you just
feel like eating light and healthy, this was my day!

Nothing worked! It was one of those days on Friday when nothing would
satisfy, I must of drank 10 glasses of water to get over that hungry
feeling and though I felt full, it just didn't cut it. It was cold and
snowy and I just wanted my comfort foods. Homemade Slovenian dumpling
soup for lunch and dinner was a salad with chicken baked in golden
mushroom soup with mashed potatos and peas. Desert...butterscotch
pudding with bananas and popcorn for a night time snack. Oh well, not
every day can be perfect!