210 baby (fine, 210.5. jeez!)

So I awoke this morning to find that had reached (or very nearly reached) my goal of weighing 210 lbs. I'm almost exactly 30lbs down from 240 (forgive me if I'm insulting your math skills. and I didn't get a scale till recently so i don't have any evidence of when i was morbidly obese. haha.)

Pleasantly surprised? yes i was. It was a long and arduous journey, but i got here. And i couldn't have done it without the men's health handed to me by the accommodating flight steward (I'm kidding, okay?). But there was a lot of brown rice and broccoli involved (considering i don't eat pasta). yay for complex carbs!
And as for the naysayers to my eating chicken in class: I have back to back classes and i need to eat, okay? more eats = higher metabolic rate = more burned calories! I don't get it: when a girl eats straight up meat in class it cool, because she's on atkins. but when I do it, I'm a meathead. I just cant win!

Below are some of the basic (very basic, i know) home cooked foods that got me through even the toughest times (because I've obviously gone through hard times. those who pay my tuition must be trying their hardest not to kill me right now. I love you padre!):

The notorious men's fitness, accompanying my dinnerage for the day.

mmmm, salmon, brown rice and broccoli

215... getting there

chicken and brown rice (brown rice and broccoli? again?)

Chicken getting ready to be taken to Tuesday/Thursday classes

accompanying Manwich that also follows me to class.

Meat and... big surprise! brown rice!! and broccoli!!

Dessert! cottage cheese + Strawberries. (don't worry, its usually Reese's white chocolate peanut butter cups. I only show you what i want you to see.

Manwich Construction!

Chicken and... yes, you guessed it, Broccoli!!

Victory (or very close to it)
Curse you gravity! couldn't you let up for a bit? just 1/2 a pound! do i need to go and run now just to make weight?? what a cruel world!

Now I'm not saying this is all i eat. I am a white chocolate fiend and I'll tear into some whenever i have the chance (that includes white chocolate cookies. Curse you BU pub!). and lets not forget the occasional lion bar. Food is good, so indulge yourselves. But remember, you are what you eat, and if you're trying to shed unwanted lbs, you have to do the Heisman on that chocolate tart every now and then.

I also know that water weight is a huge factor and I'll most likely fluctuate between 208 and 213, but that's fine with me. I'm a happy bunny. Now I just need to get a few more calories in to make sure i stay in the 200 range. Crossfit will burn a lot of calories, both the good and bad ones.

as for those tagged in this note, you are people who either experienced my in-class chicken eating, constant bitching/whining about calories, fit rec-ing, or are just very good friends i'd like to share the inner workings of my life with. then again, the last category encompasses you all, seeing as i would care enough to let you in on aforementioned chickening/fit-rec-ing. yay for friends! now maybe I'll be able to go skydiving with Sachit/Kevin!

(Nigerian) food for thought

It was a regular day in the life. Only this morning, I was making pancakes. (I hardly ever make pancakes.) I mixed the ingredients and heated the skillet, anticipating the deliciousness soon to follow. Ah, pancakes; a culinary delicacy full of soft, fluffy goodness. Suddenly, a voice goes off in my head, speaking in the most broken English I have heard since daddy showkey. “look at your head like pancake! (LUK AT YA HED LIKE KPAN KEK). “you have obviously forgotten where you came from.”

As I pondered this exclamation, I realized that, sure enough, Nigeria, despite its constant civil strife, has changed a lot since we were in primary school. and this change extended into our eating habits. Nowadays, we wake up, make some pancakes and toast, drink some OJ and, if we’re feeling adventurous, have an omelette on the side. For lunch, our options are limitless. We can go out and have some Nando’s chicken, sweet sensation, or maybe some st elmo’s pizza (2 for 1 super Tuesday comes only once a week after all). We can grab some dessert at chocolat royale if we’re still feeling a tad peckish. And this is just the guys in naij. The folks in the UK are having tea and crumpets, with pudding and tart on the side. Walkers Crisps are spot on when watching those footie matches aint they fam? Throw some Strongbow in there and you’re all set. Don’t even get me started on those residing in our very own US of A. Starbucks franchises are on display like litter on the streets of Ajegunle. McDonalds, Burger king and the like are thriving amidst the depression, with ever cheaper meal options showing up on the menu each day. Wendy’s 3conomic burgers are looking mighty fine right now, aren’t they? The options are limitless. In the midst of this maelstrom of delectable edibles, we seem to have abandoned that which gave us sustenance till we reached this point. Allow me to take you back, way back, to some of the Breakfasts, lunches, snacks and beverages that have played an iconic role (some still do) in our Nigerian existences:

Breakfasts
PAP and AKARA
NASCO corn flakes with HOT water and Peak evaporated milk (none of that kellogs stuff yo. Lol)
Bread dipped in tea (bournvita or milo, take your pick)
Bread and Butter (jam? What’s that?)
boiled/fried egg (eat with bread, akara or yam)

Lunches and Dinners
Eba (add soups as necessary)
Peppersoup (and meats/fish as you see fit)
Pounded yam
Amala
RICE (be it white, fried, jollofed, it was always there. Add chicken/meat/fish as necessary)
Beans
YAM (boiled, fried, pounded, Porridged… eaten with oil, stew, soup, options were limitless)
Plantain (almost as multifaceted as yam. Boiled, fried, porridged, frittered… Plantain is always welcome as a side dish or dish in itself.)
DODO (such a specialized form of plantain it has to be set in a category of its own. Lol)
Moin-Moin (nuff sed)

Beverages
OGOGORO
Legend Extra stout
Gulder
Star beer

Snacks/Small meals
Soaked garri and groundnut
Chocomilo
Sunshine Coconut chips
NASCO WAFERS (for those primary school break times before we had enough allowance to buy Mr Biggs.)
FAN ice cream (more easily attainable with meager allowance- N20 in those good days. Always good after school.)
Chin-Chin (one of our best fried snacks IMO)
Robot/Sprint Chewing gum (Chin-gum…)
CORNED BEEF and SARDINE sandwitches. (how could you forget Titus? Don’t lie and say momsie never made mass sandwiches when you had to bring something in for the feast on the last day of class)

I know I have omitted a lot, so feel free to throw in whatever gastronomical wonders that graced our plates back in the day.