Progress and regress. A little of both today.

Folks be gettin' crazy, ya'll...

Whew, today has been a super charged day on the interwebs! This whole NC thing has people in an uproar on either side. (Disclaimer: I'm mentioning this, but not opening it up for discussion, so comment in disagreement if you will, but your comments will be ignored by me.) I happen to fall on the side of liberty and justice for all. It's this whole Libertarian thing I have going on (clause 1.3 to make it easy for you).  I'm politically active and politically aware of what goes on around me, but I'm not politically belligerent when it comes to discussing my beliefs. The universal energy is churning in our day and time, and I'm just not sure how well the human psyche can handle it. Mine included. With that, people be getting cah-razy on my Facebook wall today. I wish I felt like sharing it here, but I shall keep that gem of delicious arrogance, bigotry, and intolerance to myself and the lovely folks on my friends list.

Regardless, this issue has taken up a lot of my thought-time today, and I'm turning to far more enjoyable things this evening, including a FREE MEAL!!  Not free as in $, but free as in I can choose what I eat and include carbs and stuff. Oh I cannot wait. Actually, I've been waiting for several days, so I'm ready. I see carbs, butter, and deliciousness in my future. I get two free meals per week, and while they shouldn't be "Girls Gone Wild" crazy, I still eat like I normally would pre-RFL.  But before I tell you what I'm having, I wanted to update you on my progress thus far.

Tomorrow will be Day 8 of RFL, which makes today the official end of my first week. Yay, me! Like I've said before, I lost about 5 lbs in the two weeks previous to starting, so I don't assume this is mostly water weight. I believe it is fat and water. Today I saw a friend I haven't seen in a few weeks, and she made the comment, "Where are you!?" Meaning, where had my belly gone! While I'm not seeing a ton of difference when in my skivvies, it made me happy to know that someone was able to notice. Thanks for the fantastic day (and compliment), Lora!  So, on to my stats...

Day 7, RFL (week 1 of 12)

 Cat 3, 113g protein/day
Height, 5'9"
Weight (this morning): 221.8 (-7.4 total) 

 So that is my grand number, 7.4 total pounds lost in one week. While I don't expect to maintain this rate, it would be ever so lovely if I did! I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but this is supposed to be a 12 week program for me.  Okay, so onto the food porn...

Dessert first!

These divine bites of heaven are called Carmelitas and were a Pinterest recipe that I found a few months ago, and I've made them before. Taken directly from the blog Lulu the Baker, these are so, so, so good. Butter, brown sugar, caramel, chocolate, oats. Soft, creamy, with a slight oatmeal cookie texture.  What is there not to love?  Mine look exactly like these. Never fails either.

Dinnah-time!

Mmmm, baked spaghetti. This can either go very right or very wrong, and most baked spaghetti is dry and gross. This recipe includes cream cheese (or in this case, Neufchatel) and two jars of sauce, so I'm banking on it being on the saucy side.  Photo and recipe are from the blog Life as a Lofthouse. I'm subbing arribiata in my recipe, because I like it spaghetti spicy.  I haven't even browned the beef, and I feel like I can smell it baking. EDITED: Use at least 1 3/4 jars of sauce (I highly recommend the arribiata), and if you like it spicy, add 1 tsp red pepper flakes (and get that metabolism revved with spice!) This. Stuff. Is. Amazing.

Okay, so I'm as passionate about my free meal as I am making new meals that fit into the diet plan, no doubt there. But I want to share a variety of things I'm doing so that in the case anyone else feels inspired to try this diet, they will not feel deprived. You can have these things, just in moderation, which is usually a good rule anyway. 

Alright folks, have a good one, and to all my LGBT friends out there, keep your chin up. I love and value you, and there will be a day when all people have the same value in the eyes of government.