Being Good and Garlic!

10 years ago I was very overweight. I was over 200 lbs and not at all living even a hint of a healthy lifestyle. We were driving up to Oregon for a family reunion and I was wearing shorts. I got out of the car and my sisters ever so kindly said, "Mmm... I feel like eating some cottage cheese." They were referring to my legs. Everything changed after that.

My mom had been mentioning the Atkins Diet and I thought it sounded crazy, restrictive, and not healthy (as do most people when they hear about what it entails). I kind of brushed it off initially, but after my sisters so gently made clear just how fat I had gotten, something clicked and I was willing to try anything. So we started the Atkins Diet and the weight literally began to melt off... 50 lbs of it to be exact. It changed my life.

Ever since then I have been living a lower-carb lifestyle and try to exercise regularly, which has allowed me to maintain the same size for the last 10 years. I have my ups and then my downs, but I generally stay at around a size 10. Well, I want to be smaller! So I've decided to step it up and go back to the very low-carb lifestyle.

I figure my body has now been accustomed to this size for so long that I could get away with losing lot of weight before plateauing. I'm hoping for 20 to 30 lbs and hopefully down to a size 7 if not smaller. I also am starting a new exercise routine with a friend to help the process out. Hopefully in a few months I'll be a whole new person. I'm already seeing results in only a week and a half. That's what I love about low-carb. The fat literally melts off.

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Yesterday was my good friend Mandy's birthday. I surprised her with dinner at The Stinking Rose. I've been wanting to go there forever and let me tell you it was WORTH the wait. Big time. The food was absolutely amazing. Everything is infused with garlic and Mandy and I are both garlic lovers. It was perfect.

The only downsize: I'm still burping up garlic as I type this. LOL.

Whatever. Like I said, totally worth it. If you're in the Beverly Hills or San Francisco area, please check this place out. It's pricey (I literally dropped $100 on food for both of us and valet), but you won't regret it...

And yes, if you are wondering, I did cheat and have some of their ciabatta bread with Bagna Calda. lol