1 Step Back, 2 Steps Forward

So, the good news -- over the last two weeks, I've lost a total of two pounds. This is progress.

However, it's not all that impressive when you consider that this week I managed to lose a little over 5 pounds, which means that last week was not exactly helping me reach my weight loss goals. Maybe it was one of the managers at work wanting to thank me for working overtime two Sundays in a row by taking me to an Indian buffet for lunch, where a spicy, heady combination of deep fried carbs and lamb sucker-punched both my colon and my calorie count; maybe it was taking one of my coworkers to The Hukilau for lunch, where I gave in to temptation and had a loco moco, which is that wonderful meal consisting of two fried eggs on top of two hamburger patties, which are in turn on top of steamed white rice, with brown gravy smothering the whole lot, and with macaroni salad on the side; maybe it was when we went to Effie's for dinner after work one day, and a slice of cheesecake that must have weighed over a pound accidentally fell into my mouth after my dinner of pasta and cream sauce; however, my belief is that I still managed to lose weight anyway, and that my scale somehow got messed up. All three times I weighed myself, to make sure there wasn't a hardware malfunction, although in retrospect there certainly must have been.

It could happen.

Anyway, after I got the unfortunate reading we did our best to get back into the healthy eating frame of mind, which is all just a really long-winded way of getting to my main point, which is: we had a really good dinner at the Fish Market.

We've been meaning to increase the amount of fish on our diet anyway, since many types of fish are high in omega-3 acids and relatively low in fat and calories, and because people say it's healthy and stuff. Or something. It's also entirely possible I harbor some deep resentment toward Nemo, but I don't want to go there.

Anyway, Fish Market. After a shorter-than-expected wait in the crowded lobby, we get seated and try out an appetizer that Lucie had read about, a Fireball -- this is a sushi roll of sorts, with a mushroom cap stuffed with spicy tuna, then covered in tempura and fried golden brown. It tastes as good as it sounds. We also get the ahi poke, which is heavier on the sesame flavor than what I'm used to with poke but also downright delicious. It comes with fried wonton strips, and served over limu (seaweed) salad, slightly tangy and vinegary and very subtly sweet, and something which I learned to appreciate from our trips to Hawai'i.

Just about the time we finish our appetizers, our main dishes arrive. Lucie goes with the mesquite grilled salmon, with sautéed veggies. I choose something that one of my fellow foodie coworkers has suggested, the seafood salad with avocado -- it's a large bed of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, hard boiled egg, haricot vert, what looks like an entire sliced avocado, dressed very lightly in a basil vinaigrette, and with your seafood of choice in the center -- in my case, crab.

There's a lot of crab, too -- easily half a pound, probably more, with many jumbo lump pieces scattered throughout. Sweet, fresh in flavor, and the perfect accompaniment to the salad, it takes that was already a good salad and raises it up to "one of the better salads I've had" status, only a little below the 13 Dolla' Salad from Wok Star on Maui (both in economic value and awesome tastiness.)

It's such a good salad, in fact, that we both decide that later this year, once it's warm and we're in the mood for a nice cool salad for dinner, we're coming back and having it again. I might opt for the lobster instead of the crab -- they also offer shrimp or tuna variants -- but that seems a bit extravagant for a salad. Delicious, certainly, but extravagant.

And we all know just how freakin' low-key and humble I am.

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1 Big Fat Whiny Dude, at Lunch

So as I sit here, eating my black bean gardenburger with sauteed mushrooms and sugar-free NOS energy drink, unable to lift my arms above shoulder height without pain because Lucie and I had one of our sessions with our personal trainer last night, I totally appreciate the fact that because of this freakin' diet and because of the weekly sessions with the perky and athletic and far too happy twentysomething chick who tries to kill us with exercise, that since I've started my diet I've lost 70 pounds and 8 inches of waistline.

This, in spite of gaining ten pounds on our Hawaiian vacation -- thanks in no small part to those sugary tropical drinks at sunset -- and basically plateauing during the Thanksgiving and Christmas shutdowns where I sat around all day instead of working; so all things considered, I'm totally stoked at the progress.  Heck, even without those things taken into consideration it's still pretty impressive.

So, groovy.

But, as I sit here, eating my black bean gardenburger with sauteed mushrooms and sugar-free NOS energy drink, unable to lift my arms above shoulder height without pain because Lucie and I had one of our sessions with our personal trainer last night, I SO totally want a cheeseburger.  I'm talking a huge, greasy, red meat bonanza; a half pound, minimum, of ground cow on toasted bun; a cholesterol-laden unhealthy monster patty made of 100% beef and 98% yum, smothered in melted cheese that's a color not found in nature.

I want Five Guys.  I want The Counter.  I want St. John's.  Heck, I even want Red Robin.

Dieting is worth it, they say.

Well, THEY can suck it.  Gimme a cheeseburger.

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