Willpower Doesn't Exist In My Dictionary

I suck at New Years resolutions. I'll freely admit, I have very little will-power (case in point, new WIP alert added to the 6+ current projects). What I suck at even MORE is dieting. I love good food and wine way to much to give thought to eliminating it.

However, in the last couple months I have become somewhat self-concious of my body. This is a new thing in my world; I've never minded a couple extra pounds and a softness to my belly - in fact I loved it! That's what a woman should look like! But it seems that as of late, my jeans are getting tighter and tighter and I have started to intentionally wear very loose clothing. I don't like this. But I am fundalmentally against dieting. What's a girl to do?

So I set a New Years Resolution. No, it's not "Lose 10 pounds" or "Excerise every day". My goal is to wear a swimsuit on my family vacation this July and not be self-concious of it. Hell, for extra kicks, I'll go one step further and say "and publish a photo of myself in the said bathing suit on this website". This is an ambigious resolution because I can either 1) accept the way nature is running it's course or 2) get my butt in high gear and do something.

So yesterday, I came home, and before popping the wine cork or picking up the knitting, I did 45 minutes of Tae Bo and 20 minutes of yoga. I loved it. I then cooked one of my favorite, super healthy recipes and ate it while stretching on the ground... WITH my coveted glass of wine. I felt happy, content, and not deprived at all. There may be hope for me yet!

Chili-Lime Shrimp Over Greens

1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. lime juice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon (or more depending on your heat preference) Chili powder
1/2 teaspoon (or more depending on your heat preference) Red Pepper Flakes
4 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 lb frozen, uncooked shrimp
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 cup salad mix (recommended: one with arugula in it)
3 radishes
1 carrot
about 15 cherry tomatos

Combine the first 8 items (through the olive oil) in a medium bowl, mix to blend. Reserve about 2 T. marinade in a small jar or bowl.

Defrost and peel shrimp, add to bowl of marinade. Mix to cover, and marinate about 15 minutes room temp. or up to 1 hour in the fridge.

Add about 1/2 c. marinade from shrimp to a small sauce pan (big enough to fit all shrimp in one layer). Bring to boil.

Add shrimp in one layer and cook through (they are done in the photo above). They will be white-ish in color and have curled up tightly. Drain excess liquid from pan (it's ok if a little remains).

Shred carrot, chop radishes, and 1/2 tomatos before adding to salad greens. Add rice wine vinegar to reserved marinade and blend. Pour over salad and toss.

Top salad with shrimp. Enjoy with a glass of Sav. Blanc.

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Finally I leave you with Viva... a representative view of a night at our house

"I find that doing yoga poses over a stack of housing magazines helps bring calmness to the soul"

"I call this one the 'Show Horse'"

She really sits like this in my lap. No cats were harmed in the creation of this photograph.

Off to drink my low-sodium V8.....