The View from My Tassel

I usually don't bore you with pictures of myself doing things other than baking, but my header clearly includes "Teaching" and "Other (Mis)Adventures in Maine" and I do believe that graduation falls into both of those categories. Loosely.

So suck it up and enjoy my (mostly phone picture) slideshow.

Last week I graduated with a Master of Arts in English. In order to recognize masters candidates, my school has a hooding ceremony in which we all get... hooded. And... if you'll remember, my roommate and I have been working diligently towards hotness for hooding. This is us before we got ready for the shindig.


No... we don't usually match. But most times.

I think I achieved hotness:


And then promptly covered the hotness with a formless robe and a hood. Here I am licking my lips and getting ready to be "draped". I had to make the picture awkward, of course.


This post-hood picture reminds me of one taken of me at my kindergarten graduation. Exact. Same. Face.


And now I want to give you a couple of pictures that just prove that I carry on intelligent conversations. With adults.


With PhDs!


And mostly because he'll hate it, here is a shot of me with Evan and his wife Kim.


So there you have it: the view from my tassel.

Forthwith, you may now call me Master Amanda. I think it's appropriate. And it reminds me of David Copperfield in the best androgynous way.

Oscar Workout

I love television, but who doesn't feel like sitting through the Oscars or similar awards shows is a waste of time? Sure... it feels like the right thing to do at the time, but then everyone is winning and you don't know who they are or what their movie was about and you just start attacking yourself: "Why didn't I see Slumdog Millionaire?!"

In order to make our Oscar viewing more rewarding, my roommate and I have made a sport of it. Literally.

Tonight we will be Oscarcising.

It's like a drinking game but with exercise instead of alcohol.

So join the fun! Here is our list of common award show occurrences and the exercises we will perform when we see them.


Movie wins Oscar that neither of us have seen -- 2 pushups (Be nice. We haven't seen any movies and our arm strength is so-so.)

Obama invoked in acceptance speech -- 10 chair dips

Financial crisis referenced -- 1 bridge (to the future)

Winner thanks God -- 30 seconds of the pilates V thing

Maldrobe Warfunction (This is how I literally screamed it to my roommate when we were generating our list. I'm just keepin' it real.) -- jump rope

Host or presenter tells joke that falls flat -- side henge (as found in FITNESS)

Misguided actor, writer, etc. on stage who didn't bother to shave for the event -- 20 jumping jacks

Teleprompter failures -- Sumo twist (also from FITNESS)

Anyone on stage walks the wrong direction after giving their schpeal -- 10 lunges

Music played to end a speech -- 30 second plank pose

Butt bow, ruffle, or other adornment -- Jillian Michael's butt move (I saw it on Rachael Ray... It's hard to explain.)

Winner thanks "Beautiful Wife" or "Wonderful Husband" -- partner ab twist with kettlebell

Winner gives acceptance speech with heavy foreign accent -- facial yoga (hell ya!)

Joke made about celeb followed by a close-up of that celeb looking awkward -- plank rotation

Absent nominee/winner -- run out of the livingroom, up and down both flights of indoor stairs, and back into the livingroom for next move

And... here's the kicker... if anything catastrophic happens during the Oscars (think big: lights falling, someone glamorous falling down the steps, another Adrian Brody kiss, etc.) then we both have to attend one of the more embarrassing classes at the Rec Center this week. My scary class is the Boot Camp one. My roommate lives in fear of aerobics, go figure.

I should also mention that commercials are going to be used for hydration, stretching, relaxation, and so forth.


So that's it! Simple, right?

Okay, I'm going to go move some furniture in preparation for the big event.

I'll let you know how long my roommate and I last. :)

Update: I beasted the Oscars and oscarcised the entire three and a half hour program. The workout was intense in bursts but tons of fun. I gave myself 7 stars on the H4H calendar. Success!

The Morning After

Ugh. I don't know about Big E and the roommate, but I am feeling a bit of a cake hangover today.

Allow me to explain why.

Last night I threw a haphazard yet killer party for my roommate and Big E. Big E fixed my computer (and earned my undying devotion) while we watched a Peanuts Valentine's special and the 2nd installment of the Grey's Anatomy/ Private Practice crossover.

Here's the part that you might care about.

We also cut the cake.

Oh... what cake? I'm sorry. This one.


As it turns out, the roommate, Big E, and I were no match for the overwhelming sugar-ness of all that red fondant. Not one of us finished a whole piece.

But didn't she cut up well?


And I managed to take a picture of a white chocolate cake truffle in slightly better lighting. Notice how the truffle is enjoying some modern art.


Such a sassy truffle.

All present for last night's celebration of Saint Valentine agreed that the cake was cute and a good effort; however, we also agreed that actually eating the cake was a bit of a struggle. Too much sweet.

I woke up this morning feeling sluggish and well...heavier than I did yesterday.

So, what can one do when suffering from a cake hangover?

Well... two things.

1. Hair of the Dog - I dumped the cake leftovers last night, but there are still quite a few cake truffles (or balls, as I lovingly refer to them) and I think I've had three so far today. Can't promise I won't have more.

2. Indulge on the Savory Side - I've decided on a menu of Celery Soup (one of Pat's Failures of the Week) and Paula Deen's Tuna Burgers.

This should do the trick.

I'm currently ignoring the third option of time at the gym. I don't think shaking the cake around is the best idea right now.

My Meaty Day

This morning I took full advantage of my Tuesday schedule and headed to the gym around 9am. I stretched, A-B-Ced, did all 11 machines in the circuit, and spent an hour on that thing that is near the ellypticals but more like the lovechild of a stepper and an ellyptical.

It was a four star day.

Needless to say, I worked up quite an appetite even before noon.

I had a more simplified version of last night's disaster salad, and then headed to campus with a bag of grapes to listen to a presentation on the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

I saw this video for the first time:

And, I must admit that I very much like it. When the music video dancers came up, I smiled and then realized that I was sitting next to one of my former students. Awkward...

Anyway, after contemplating my self-esteem, I went to the grocery store and stocked up. I have been eyeing The Pioneer Woman's recipes for a few days now. Mainly just reading the recipes and drooling over the pictures.

Today I decided to take the plunge and make Pastor Ryan's Cajun Meatloaf. It is an odd choice to choose, as my first Pioneer Woman recipe, one from her guest blogger, but I've been wanting meatloaf.

Anyway, you can find the full recipe and pictures of every step on Pioneer Woman's blog, but I'd like to point out that at one time I had a skillet full of vegetables to go into this 1lb. meatloaf.

Now that is what I call a promising loaf of meat.

Fast forward an hour or so, and this is what I ended up with.

The meatloaf was tender and juicy and the vegetables gave the loaf a nice variety of textures and flavors. I do think that I need to be a bit more serious with the spices next time, but the meatloaf was certainly a success.

Of course, I made some mashed potatoes for the occasion, but they are nothing that I'm proud of. We'll just leave it at that.

I've just finished eating dinner and I feel incredibly domestic. And a little bit old, I guess. Dinner done by 6:00pm? I think that means I'm old.

To continue the domesticity of the night, I'm looking forward to Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! and then the highly anticipated Biggest Loser.

To recap: I'm fit yet domestic, old, and addicted to reality tv. There are worse things.

High-Maintenance Girls and Why I Hate Them

1. See the picture from my previous post.

2. My phone cannot handle the cold. When it gets cold -- which has happened a few times, let's just be honest -- it refuses to type. Why the chill would I have a hot, Hilton-esque phone with a slide out typer if it's not going to type? WHY?!

3. A high-maintenance girl would not eat the dinner that I made tonight. First, observe:


Holy bad lighting, Batman.

Anyway, the ingredient list for that salad.
- lettuce
- whole grain elbows
- granny smith apple
- turkey sausage
- vidalia vinaigrette

See what I mean?

Let me just say that this salad was fantastic and I will absolutely be making it again.

4. The gym is not the place for full makeup. I don't care if you do look cute with the ponytail and the stretchy pants. The full makeup is a touch much. I look a hot mess at the gym and you should too. Please?

5. I lost one pound this week. It's the dreaded two week slump. It's okay though. I've had one really good week and now one not-so-good week. I know what I need to do. Onward and upward!

6. The bachelorettes are all crying over the same man as he sloppily makes out with all of them. Tacky. Nikki is my current fave. Maybe Melissa. Or Nikki. No, Melissa.

Love Lockdown

Thanks to a friend's shameless display of her plastic shaded sunglasses, I have Love Lockdown playing on a loop in my head. In order to experience this post as I intend for you to, please play the video below while you read. If I get so long-winded that you finish the video, restart it. You get the idea.



Now that I've taken care of that, what can I say about today?

Well, I feel as if my life - and therefore my blog - has been carrying on like a three ring circus.

RING 1:
Maine winter.

RING 2:
H4H Project.

RING 3:
Current Obsessions, to include cupcakes and teaching.

So, allow me to hit each of the rings with dispatch.

Maine winter: This morning, our door frame was leaking quite steadily both on the inside and the outside of our door. Now, because we have another door down a set of 5 or 6 steps that actually goes to the outside, the landings on either side of the door are carpeted. Our apartment now smells a little bit musty, as you might imagine. Anyway, our landlord's response to this incessant dripping was to send a maintenance man up onto our roof with a snow shovel. I'm still trying to figure out how that helped.

H4H: I went shopping today. I didn't really mean to, but I needed to get out of Orono and Bangor was the best option. Must say that I look damn good. I bought one shirt, one dress, and a pair of unbelievable (in a bad way) earrings for a total of $15. This afternoon, I played racquetball and won.

Obsessions: The Cookies and Cream cupcakes were tasty, but not entirely successful due to the hue. And I think that Winter Oreos might be sneakily Double Stuffed. I'm a little embarrassed. And... I haven't prepared for tomorrow's class despite the fact that I had nothing to do today.

Keep your love locked down, your love locked down. Keepin' your love locked down, your love locked down...

Oh, and Grey's Anatomy comes on in a few minutes and I'm pitifully excited about that.

Now keep your love locked down, your love locked down. Now keep your love locked down, you lose.

Sing with me!

Inauguration Day!

This post has precious little to do with Obama's inauguration, but I will say that I watched alllll of it. It was just about as magical as I expected it would be. More on that later.

Now... for the good stuff.

Lately I've been feeling quite like DJ Tanner. And, though I have in the past seen people where they aren't (remember Steve showing up at Disneyland???), I've been recreating a different episode.

The H for H project has me recalling DJ's ill-fated "diet" for Kimmy's big pool party. Remember this? (I implore you, please stop the video around 1:45. The poster has attached laugh tracks in all the wrong places and it really made me crazy listening to them.)



While I am eating and I have not collapsed at the gym, I did for a minute think that I might this afternoon. Pass out. Not eat. Sorry... my reference is off.

Anyway, I was overly aggressive playing racquetball today and then the elliptical kicked my butt at only 23 minutes. Parallels? I think so. We'll see. I'll keep a watch on this.

In other news, I made cupcakes today while I watched Inauguration coverage on tv. I have a grad student meeting tomorrow and no one wants to come to those meetings anymore. I've decided that I will lure people with cupcakes.

Today I made Cookies and Cream cupcakes with a thin layer of chocolate ganache and a swirl of buttercream icing.

As you might notice, I am poor and cheap and bought the winter Oreos on sale at IGA. I figured the red cream would be interesting, but I didn't anticipate it turning the batter slightly... fleshy.



No big deal. They came out of the oven pretty normal in hue. I then daintily dunked them in chocolate ganache. (Then my roommate and I enjoyed some strawberries with the leftover chocolate. It's how we celebrated our nation.)



After letting the ganache set up for a bit in the fridge, I iced the cupcakes with buttercream icing sans vanilla. I didn't want the off-white affect that vanilla gives. I need to get some clear vanilla for just this reason.



Since the cupcakes still looked naked, I gave them each a patriotic star and voila!



So, yes, they do look inaugural when all is said and done, but the wrappers have snowflakes on them. And they are pink inside.

I don't know. The best thing I can say for them is that they are probably delicious. It's true: I have not tasted the first one. I'll find out tomorrow what the grad students think of them.

Happy Inauguration Day!

The Before Pic

or... What Ugly Looks Like

Now, I'm all about self love, but I take some ugly pictures.

Anyway, I decided that I did in fact need a "before" picture to keep me honest. However, when I staged the "before" pic with zero makeup, bad lighting, deplorable posture, poorly chosen angle, and required lack of smile, I realized that this picture would really be upsetting. And it is.



Ugh. Now that is out of the way... I want to leave you with a picture of what I actually look like when I try. This is what I wore for the first day of classes. Not bad, right?




Okay, now remember the second picture and not the first. Please. I beg you.

Ah well. At least the first "H" is secured for tonight.

H for H (Weigh-in #2)

The Humiliation for Hotness Project is really off to a great start.

If you'll remember, my roommate and I began the H for H on January 12th, the first day of the semester. Since then, I've been eating moderately well - much the same as my usual diet but with more guilt and, you know, humiliation - and exercising fairly regularly.

To be extremely specific, in the last 8 days, I've spent 7.5 hours at the gym. And I think I skipped two days in there because of snow and laziness.

And, so far, the project has paid off. My muscles are sore and I've lost a total of three pounds. I'll let you smart ones do the math.

Let's just say that if I continued to lose weight at this rate through the remaining 16 weeks of the project, I would be underweight. Ha! Imagine it!

So bring on Week 2, I'm ready for it. Armed with fibrous cereal and celery, I am a fat-killing machine.

Perhaps I should take a really busted looking "before" picture before I start achieving hotness...

H for H Day 1

I weighed in today as scheduled. I won't tell you how much I weighed this morning, but I will tell you that I lost 1.5 pounds today. (1)

Now, now, I know I didn't really lose 1.5 pounds in a matter of hours. So... I've created a new rule for the H for H project. For myself, at least. My roommate doesn't have to comply with my craziness. Anyway... the new rule is that I can only weigh myself once a week. On Monday. In the morning. (5)

This way I won't get excited or let down by the daily fluctuation. And maybe it will increase the excitement over the big Monday reveals. I'll keep you posted!(2)

Oh, Monday Monday...

As it turns out, Mondays are going to be long days for me this semester. Between classes, office hours, and exercise, I'm not going to be getting home until 7ish each Monday.

And I hope I don't have to remind you that The Bachelor comes on Monday nights at 9pm. It's stupid and catty and lame, but The Bachelor is a great way to spend a Monday night in Maine. Where can I find 25 bachelorettes clambering for my roses? ...Just wondering.

And while I'm on the abc talk, I highly recommend True Beauty. It's ridiculous. And, I don't really want to say much more than that. The girl with the fauxhawk is my current favorite, but I'm sure that's not surprising.

Also, we spent a good part of the day in the single digits. On my way home, the Bangor Savings Bank informed me that the temperature was nine degrees. Nine. And it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

Additionally, my classes went well. 101 was... 101. Night class was fun. I'm beginning to really love the Education department. The courses in that department are unbelievably practical.

Alternately, my racquetball performance was not so good. I got tired quickly and I am not pleased. I need to get back into playing regularly now that I'm getting back to school. And I should also probably eat more deliberately before I play. What is one supposed to eat before working out?

As a final note, I'd like to draw your attention to the awkwardness of this posting. It's horrific. Here's my lame excuse at explanation: I began about 5 different blogs in my head today. However, now that it comes to blogging, I am failing. Here's the deal... I'm going to watch The Bachelor and True Beauty and maybe I'll try again later.

Resolutions yadda yadda yadda

"You just yadda-ed over the best part!"
- Jerry to Elaine over coffee


I don't do resolutions. I feel like good decisions are good ideas any day of the year. The calendar shouldn't force me to create goals that will only (honestly) last a month. I'd rather make a 'resolution' on March 30th or June 2nd. Even November 15th! Let's get crazy!

That said, my roommate and I are reviving our Humiliation for Hotness project on Monday, January 12th.

The Humiliation for Hotness project is just what it sounds like. My roommate and I track both our daily exercise and what we call our 'indiscretions', the food we eat but shouldn't.


By posting this information in our hallway, we guarantee ourselves the continual reinforcement of both our failures and successes. The end result, of course, is hotness.

Now, how, you might ask, is this not a resolution?

We sidestep the resolution qualifier because we are continuing an already established project. Tricky, right?

I think so.

So, bring on the health! And you just wait. Since this isn't a resolution, my roommate and I will be humiliating each other well into the month of May.

Coffee Conclusions

I need no overcoat. I’ve got my love to keep me warm.

And by “love” I mean a Starbucks Grande Soy Caramel Macchiato.

Yes, a grande. I hope this drink alone causes me to visibly gain weight.

At least I won’t have to double-cup like Twiggy at the condiment counter. If I ever become so temperature sensitive as to complain about both the chill in the room – that no one else feels – and the mild heat of my coffee cup – that everyone else enjoys – please reintroduce me to the cheeseburger.

Please also remind me that even though I paid a meal-sized fee for it, the fancy coffee in my hand is, in fact, not a meal.

And the answer is...

So, my roommate and I revived an old debate about a week ago.

Our discussion went something like this:


A: "Well, you know, you can't balance without your big toe. If it's cut off, you'll just fall over."

B: "No... that's the pinky toe. You can't walk without it."

A: "I think you're mistaken."

B: "I think you are."


Alright, alright. I hope it was better the first time around, because - though we might struggle - my roommate and I should be more effective communicators by this point. We'll assume that my rendition just sucks.

Anyway, about a week before Halloween this year, I most likely broke my big toe. I say "most likely" because there was no x-ray or physician opinion. However, both a Master of Zoology and pre-med student deemed it broken. It swelled, turned red, then blue, then black, swelled again, and is now mostly better but sore-ish at times.

This morning, I might have broken the pinky toe of that very same blessed foot. This time the coffee table turned against me. This tiny toe is behaving exactly like it's big sister to the right. It swelled and turned a couple of pretty colors. Since it's quite painful, I've buddy-taped it in the most hilarious way.

But, the silver lining to all this is that I think I've gotten to the root of our Big Toe v. Pinky debate. Though the broken big toe was painful and certainly nothing I want to repeat, this struggling pinky toe is killer!

Pain shot through my toe and up into my leg when I raised my right foot to put my pants on this morning. Same thing happened when I - like an idiot who just won't learn - raised my right foot to put on my sneaker. Apparently, that stupid pinky toe is in a large way responsible for my balance. Ughflurgajibit.

Of course.

So I couldn't play racquetball today as scheduled. Instead I drank black coffee - for the first time in a long time - and rambled at my racquetball partner. Despite her requests, I did not flash my newly broken toe.

What I did do was buy first aid tape after my night class.

It is one glamorous life I lead.

Sealed for Freshness

Unsurprisingly, winter has come to Maine. And in a big way, actually. It's not terribly cold here yet, but the sun is gone by 4pm. Apparently this lack of sun is quite affecting.

In an effort to control my own mood more than the weather does this winter, I've been trying to take advantage of the daylight hours and stay relatively active. The active bit manifests itself in the seemingly continual racquetball games I've been playing of late.

I really do enjoy playing, and I'm actually starting to act more like an opponent than a tag-along little sister that nobody wants around. So, I consider this a success. Now that I've demonstrated that the racquetball thing is not a passing fad in my life, I bought my very own racquet. It's glorious and sparkly and pinkish. Makes sense, right?

Anyway, the racquet is exciting and will no doubt dramatically change my game, but the balls are what I want to dwell on for a minute.

When my roommate relented and agreed to play a game this weekend, I excitedly pulled out my brand new tube of balls to find this:























The racquetball balls were sealed for freshness. Really? They're rubber balls. Fresh? I don't get it.

So, of course this made me all contemplative. And I haven't been able to stop thinking about this seal for days.

And just tonight it dawned on me. I've been bemoaning my seemingly isolated place in Orono, Maine probably since I arrived here last August. I've complained about the lack of people "like me" and the sad choice on the local radio stations. I alternately whined about and enjoyed the snowy walk to and from campus in the months between November and April. I've counted the days until I board planes out of the state. And I've taken day trips just to get out of Orono.

But what if I'm just currently sealed for freshness?

This could perhaps revolutionize the rest of my time in Maine. There are many reasons why I could stand to learn a little bit about my self at this point in my life. However...there are three balls in my tube. So, I think, if I can stretch this analogy just a bit further, that means that I don't have to be alone in my fresh world. This is also good news.

And finally, when I did open that tube of balls and pull out the one on top, by God, that rubber ball smell was gloriously clear and sharp. Reminded me off a new doll. Suddenly the seal made a lot of sense.

I won't say that I quit...

but I'm not continuing the Five Bite Diet. As predicted, it was fun at the start, but today (Day 2) was just too much.

My buzz started to wear off when I couldn't even finish a small thing of yogurt for breakfast. For lunch, I created a mixture of salmon, salsa, and cheese to maximize the protein of a five bite lunch. Even then...I was still hungry.

So, I considered it a lesson learned, and had a bit more of my salmon concoction. Oh well! :)

And...since my roommate and I have 5 spotty bananas that we aren't going to eat as is, I tried a new Banana Oat Muffin recipe I found online. To really mix things up, I baked the muffins in the new super sweet flower shaped cupcake tin my mom sent me this week.


Cute, right? This tin is going to make some spectacular cupcakes. I'm seeing some nice colored petals with yellow centers. I'll post those cupcakes when they happen, of course.

In other news, I couldn't be more pleased to have reached the weekend. I've been dragging since the comp exam, so I'm hoping to catch up on both rest and work over the next couple of days.

My plan for the night is to stay on this couch, watch a movie, and perhaps even eat something!

Five Bites (Day 1)

I'm pleased to report that I survived the first day of my Five Bite diet. And, surprisingly, I'm not hungry.

Here -- because you can't pretend you aren't interested -- is my lunch. One egg + a bit of salsa & shredded cheddar cheese.














This is lupper. (Between lunch and supper, duh.) No real explanation necessary.


And this is dinner. I took one bite before I took the picture, but you can imagine what that bite looked like. In the end, the bites were too big and I cut off part of the last one. So, I ended up eating almost a full piece of pizza. And before you get judge-y, I made this pizza myself earlier this week with a ton of spinach and mushrooms and a whole wheat crust.















My observations so far:

- I don't need much more than five bites per meal, if any more at all.

- When I decided I was "hungry" and needed a snack, I moved on from that feeling by doing something else. Therefore, the snacking "hungry" is not a true hunger, and should probably be ignored.

- It is VERY hard for me to decide what to eat at any particular meal when I know that I can only have five bites total. Should I have a banana? That's quite a commitment... What about some yogurt? Again... a lot to sign on for.

- My groceries are going to last so much longer at this five bite pace. I'm going to need to start prioritizing based on expiration dates soon!

So, I'm still enjoying the new-ness of the Five Bite diet. However, I'm pleasantly surprised to be learning things about my own eating habits at the same time.

Onward and upward!

Five Bites

There is nothing more exciting than a new diet. For some reason, I absolutely love starting diets. Starting is fun! Starting is exciting! Starting is distracting! And new! (And not schoolwork!)

I've started more diets than I care to admit, and I actually do know what works. However, I'm not returning to what works today. Today I'm starting a new diet. :)

My roommate and I were talking about how we were going to revolutionize our lives after the comprehensive exam was done, and part of our discussion included brainstorming diets. I googled "fun diets" and if you want a laugh, go ahead and try that. According to the interweb, there is probably no such thing as a fun diet. What these sites don't account for is that ALL diets are fun the first few days. Still...I didn't want to do something ridiculous like cut out carbs. Or stop cooking. Or eat from boxes. Or restrict myself to things than can be juiced. The search continued.

In discussing all this with my mother, she mentioned the Five Bite diet. Usually the Five Bite diet is followed by people who have had weight loss surgery and lost a considerable amount, if not all, of their stomachs. I've always believed that if one could hold him or herself to the post-weight loss diet guidelines, then these diets wouldn't be as frequent. However, you can imagine how hard it would be to dramatically reduce consumption to the Five Bite diet if, in fact, five bites do not create a feeling of fullness.

So...a fun diet! Right?

I think so.

Allow me to explain. Each meal is limited to only five bites. Five bites of anything, but only five bites. Because five bites only gives so much food and nutrition, the Five Bite diet grants 4 meals a day rather than the All-American big three.

I'm sure you can already guess my first problem: A cupcake is a glorious seven bites. At least how I bite it.

But, this will only help me stick to the test-to-make-sure-it-isn't-offensive cupcake that I share with my roommate. At only three bites, the half cupcake will leave me two bites to use on...chicken or broccoli, or I don't know, I'll have to work on that.

Having finished the last of my Gifford's trial flavor (Peanut Butter Cookie Dough) last night, the Five Bite diet commenced this morning.

Let's just observe how much five bites of Count Chocula will give you:















That is not much cereal. And, yes, I know that Count Chocula is not the best cereal, but I was feeling very nostalgic the other day when I saw it in the grocery store for about a dollar. Yay, IGA! Anyway, I used soy milk, so at least I got a tiny punch of protein.

So far I'm feeling good. The cereal was wonderfully tasty and a clear reduction from my usual bowl.

I'll let you know how long the new diet buzz lasts. I know it can't be long...

Update: In my blog perusals today, I found out that yesterday was National Organization for Women's Love Your Body Day. Ha...apparently I missed out on that. What a perfect precursor to an absurdly restrictive diet!