Andréa's Restaurant & Spicy Mexican Soup

Last night, the whole family (my parents, my dad’s mom, myself, and my cousin Danny) got together for an awesome dinner at Andrea’s restaurant on Thayer St. in Providence, RI. It’s one of my family’s favorite restaurants, and I definitely appreciate it even more now that I’m dating a Greek man!

For starters, we ordered a huge sampler plate and a side of grape leaves. This thing was huge. We get it every time, but I’m always surprised at how big this thing is when it comes to the table.

Needless to say, we did not finish it.

For my entrée I got “the usual” – a lamb gyro with tomatos (no onions!) and a Greek side salad with all sauces and dressings on the side. My mom got the same exact thing as me, my dad got a lamb kebob, and my cousin had spinach and feta ravioli that looked absolutely amazing (definitely going to order that next time!!).

I think I did pretty good calorie-wise last night, even though I did consider it a “splurge meal.” I try to limit myself to one splurge meal (no counting calories) per week. I had one grape leaf, one pita pocket, a strip of lamb, and a few bites of the spanakopita from the appetizer plate, plus my dinner.

Honestly, it’s been really hard the past week and a half. My cousin is visiting from Sweden and everybody’s been indulging a little too much. I’ve been so good the past month… I really don’t want these few days to hold me back from continuing to lose weight. It’s just extra hard to get back on the wagon after falling off a little bit (way harder than getting on the wagon in the first place, I think!).

So, starting today, it’s back to fully counting my calories and no more splurge meals until next week!

To help myself get back on track, I decided it was about time for a little bit of exercise. (What… lounging on a blow-up raft in our swimming pool doesn’t count as exercise??)

The biggest challenge I have with exercising (besides actually kicking my butt into gear) is finding exercises that I can do that put minimal weight on my feet. Here are some great ones I found recently in Health magazine (July/August 2012) and Shape Magazine (May 2012)!

Along with these, I pumped out a solid arm workout including bicep curls, chest press, shoulder press, and skull crushers.

Phew, I’m sore! But I love that feeling Don’t you?

Tonight, I’m headed out to see Moonrise Kingdom with my mom and my cousin. I’ll let you know how it is! I’m not totally excited about it, but apparently it got good reviews, so we’ll see.

For dinner I’m having Spicy Mexican Soup So good!!! This blog post is already wicked long, so let’s add a recipe too!

This soup has been my favorite thing lately for quick and healthy meals. It’s super tasty, really good for you, and has just the right amount of spice. (It’s also perfect to make in large portions and freeze). I know that it’s summer… but I don’t care. I love soup all year ’round!