A Day Off Adds Up to Three Pounds On

Remember yesterday when I proudly proclaimed that I was taking a day off just to prove it wouldn't kill me? Technically I was right, It didn't kill me.  But it did add three pounds back to my body.

Was it worth it?  Not really.  I guess if I really look at it there are some silver linings in my mistakes.  So here is how it went down.

After my morning ritual of hot water with lemon I decided I needed a treat for breakfast.  Breakfast food is by far my biggest weakness.  I could eat breakfast for every meal and be perfectly content.  I do have a handful of amazing little diners and cafes near me that serve top notch breakfast dishes.  I was really craving pancakes but my favorite pancake place, Silverado Cafe, was closed for the 4th of July.  So, not wanting to waste any more time searching for a place that would be open on America's birthday, I decided to head to Denny's.

I normally turn my nose up at Denny's but I do love their Grand Slamwich.  I figured that I had made good strides for almost two months so a nice cheesy, greasy, breakfast sandwich was going to be my reward.  In the past, when I was eating a lot more, I wasn't always full after eating a Grand Slamwich and the side of hash browns that come with it.  So I decided I should probably order some pancake puppies too.  For those of you unfamiliar with pancake puppies they are golf ball-sized deep fried pancake spheres served with maple flavored syrup.

When the food arrived it looked and smelled amazing.  I took a bite of my slamwich and it didn't taste as good as I had remembered.  I took a bite of a pancake puppie and it didn't really do it for me either.  Something was off.  I took another bite of the slamwich and I realized that I really wasn't as big of a fan of this sandwich as I remembered.  Same with the pancake puppies.  The euphoria I expected from eating something so deliciously bad for me never came.  I started to feel a little queasy and realized plain and simple that this wasn't a mean I was going to finish. 

After spending $16 with tip and feeling a food coma begin to wash over me I came to the following conclusion.  I do not want to eat another Grand Slamwich.  I now know that I do not need it and it doesn't make me happy.  I now have one less temptation to tae me away from my goal.

The Denny's fiasco ruined my appetite for most of the afternoon, which meant I didn't eat anything else, I just drank water.  In fact I did manage to drink my recommended 64 ounces of water before 5:00 p.m.  Earlier in the day I had made plans to meet my parents at Disneyland to watch the 4th of July fireworks.  The plan was to meet in Downtown Disney at 6:30 p.m., have dinner and then catch the fireworks at 9:30 p.m. 

As a seasoned Disney Parks fanatic, I know that a trip to Disneyland means at least 3 to 5 miles of walking.  That's a respectable amount of exercise, and definitely more than I normally get on a Monday.  I should have decided to eat a sensible salad for dinner and let the exercise help wipe out the Denny's mistake. But instead I was still looking for that treat that I failed to achieve at breakfast and Disneyland was going to fix it for me. 

God might have been sending me a message because we headed to Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue first.  They debuted some new desserts on July 1st and I thought that barbecue and a fancy new ice cream sundae might do the trick.  As luck would have it, Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue wasn't taking any more walk up guests last night.  Since we didn't have a priority seating time --that's Disney speak for a reservation-- we decided to walk to Hungry Bear in Critter Country.

Hungry Bear reimagineered --more Disney speak-- their menu last March and it has become my favorite place to eat in the park.  Yes, ever more favorite that the uber exclusive Club 33.  There are two amazing sandwiches at Hungry Bear, the Fried Green Tomato sandwich and the Chili Cheeseburger.  To top it off, both are served with perfectly seasoned and exceptionally crunchy sweet potato fries. 

I decided to order the Fried Green Tomato Sandwich and it was heavenly.  And even though I could have ordered the healthier slaw I went with the best sweet potato fries I have ever had.  So there I sat, with mom and dad, on the banks of Rivers of America eating a first rate sandwich and enjoying the salty and sweet orange fleshed fries.  I didn't feel sick while eating this meal and I didn't go into a food coma.  I had a good boost of energy to last me through the rest of the evening. 

My parents, who had the salad I should have ordered, decided that they wanted dessert. We had heard about this new cupcake they were selling on Main Street for the new Mickey's Soundsational Parade.  It is a multi-colored cupcake with multi-colored frosting.  My mom got that and offered to split it with me.  I didn't want half but I figured a bite couldn't hurt.  It ended up being just an average cupcake.  The novelty of tie dyed food was interesting but didn't add much in terms of flavor.  The honey lemon cupcake at Hungry Bear is better (Do you see how much I love this restaurant?).  Here's what the cupcake looks like.


Mickey's Soundsational Cupcake sold exclusively at Blue Ribbon Bakery, Main Street, USA, Disneyland.

 Anyway, we ended up standing in the middle of Main Street for 90 minutes waiting for the fireworks to begin.  It was tiring but the show was worth the wait.  As soon as the light came back on we headed for the exit and then mom and dad went to their house and I went to mine. 

Fast forward to the Tuesday weigh in and I ended up gaining 3.1 pounds.  Not good but I know I can shed it in a week.  Due to this minor setback I will restart the Accelerate portion of the diet and eat nothing but lean protein, vegetables and two servings for fruit for the next 17 days.  If I can jump start my metabolism and cleanse my body I'll be back on track again.