Update on Life

Today has been a very eventful, yet still very chill week. Here's the recap:

-I had Jamaican cuisine for the first time on Thursday! Liz and I ate escoveitch fish accompanied with mashed cassava and fried plantains. Definitely a night to be remembered. The way it happened was quite a story too. My friend Jarrod (a Jamaican) and his mother (Faith) found out that my dad's side of the family is almost 100% Italiano. In order to see who's cuisine was better, we had a rotating cook-off. On Tuesday I cooked stuffed shells with homemade sauce. Not a bad choice for Italian cuisine; it didn't have the traditional approach of just spaghetti noodles and sauce. But honestly, the two flavors (Mediterranean and Caribbean) can't really be judged together. Their food was phenomenal: it gave me a whole new range of flavors and spices I had never even thought of using together.
Truly, it was an amazing day. We walked into Jarrod's place with reggae blasting on the speakers, wine in glasses, and fish frying. A great experience with some of my favorite things: Jamaicans, Liz, food, and wine. Not a bad way to welcome in the weekend.

(side note): I learned Jamaican speak: "What gon bad a'mahnin, can't come good a'evenin' ". Basically, it means that if was bad to begin with, it will be bad later too, so it's best to just leave it alone.

-If Jamaican wasn't the topper, I just came back from an Indian restaurant for the first time in my life. Man, I never knew what I was missing. While eating, I never asked what anything was, I just put things on my plate from the buffet line, sat down and ate. I could've eaten beetles and it wouldn't have mattered. They use spices that make everything taste spicy, yet flavorful. It was great! But it was no escoveitch.

-I recently weighed myself. Not to say that I have been upset recently about my weight. I'm too confident in myself for any of that to bother me too much. However, I had realized about 6 months ago that I couldn't eat the junk that had been propelling me forward in High School (ie:potato chips, pop tarts, M&M's etc.). I immediately changed my diet. I only eat when hungry, I stop eating when I'm not hungry, and I eat good food. I used to hate vegetables even up to a year ago. I couldn't stand them at all! Now, I crave a good salad. I need to run. I have to drink water instead of soda. Period.
Once I saw the way Liz was living, I jumped on her bandwagon and became "Mr. Ryan (whose-future-wife-s-the-supreme-know-it-all-of-a-healthy-diet)". She has helped me rethink the decisions I make when I get hungry. I noticed that I used to just go for junk to hold me over when I was hungry. Now, I'll wait for a meal or snack on a carrot, or broccoli, or whatever is freshest. I even surprised myself when I looked at what I had in my grocery cart today:
_Veggies (all fresh and organic): carrots, red bell peppers, broccoli, fresh greens
_Fruit (all fresh and organic): bananas, lemons, apple
_Ginger for snacking
_bottle of red wine (good for the heart in moderation)
_gluten & preservative-free Larabars for breakfast
_chicken (super lean, no skin, and did I mention ORGANIC!)
Wow! I haven't eaten this healthy in...forever! I don't need a nutritionist, I have a Liz.
To get back to my point:
weight before running, eating healthy, and being more active: 178 lbs.
weight after making a healthy change: 162 lbs.
I lost 16 pounds by making a change! I'm starting to look lanky like I used to! I can't wait till this is all done.

(expect another piece on For Whom the Bell Tolls in another day or two).