Diet Update

Well, it's been a full week on the 2-week boot camp jump start version of the Mediterranean diet - and I have lost an amazing 9.5 pounds!!! I know that most of it is water loss, but I can already feel myself being smaller. The diet has given me some excellent recipes! The flavors are all so well blended and the dishes are filled with lots of good tastes. I would love to be able to enjoy a glass of wine with each dinner, but for these first 2 weeks, that is restricted. That's OK - I can live without wine for a little while. The cravings for capuccino's and other sweets has gone completely away. I think that was the purpose of this 2 week severe restriction on certain things. Next week we will begin the maintenance phase where we can slowly incorporate back into our diet certain things like dairy, wine, and fruit. Even though I have LOTS more weight to lose, I am going to go on the maintenance plan for a few weeks and see what happens on that. If I continue losing weight, I may just stay on that. But if the weight doesn't seem to decrease, I will do another 2 weeks on boot camp. By alternating the different phases of the diet, I hope to continue losing weight without feeling deprived. I realize it's going to take a lot of time to lose the weight that I slowly accumulated over the years, but I am confident that I can do it. And with such wonderful recipes, how can I go wrong?

Here is one of my favorite recipes:

Broiled Chicken

1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 T. chopped parsley
1 T. chopped herbs like sage, oregano, or thyme
1/4 c. olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 T. red wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Add 2 chicken legs and thighs and coat the chicken with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Preheat the broiler.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and place it on a broiler pan. Broil it for 30 minutes. Turn it over and broil for an additional 20 minutes.

Remove the skin and squeeze another 1/2 lemon onto it before serving.