A little over a year ago I wrote piece about my weight loss journey and how I was about to begin the project of writing a low-cal cookbook… then life happened. I was new to the tiny Caribbean town of Rincon, Puerto Rico and instead of working on the book, I worked on enjoying life. 2012 was filled with tons of fun in the sun (and water), great comida criolla, and perhaps one too many Medallas.

Since that post in October 2011 I’ve gained back about 11 of the 110 pounds I’d lost and, for me, that’s just not acceptable. I worked far too hard to shed that weight to allow it to creep back on. One of the things that I would remind myself during workouts was that I didn’t want to become a statistic. (I read somewhere that if you can stick with a workout routine for 6 months straight without any breaks the routine was more likely to stick – so thus for the first 6 months of working out, I refused to miss a workout… and guess what! It actually worked. I still workout at least three or four times a week.) Anyway, in the same way I didn’t want to become a statistic to not keeping a workout regime, I don’t want to be a statistic with my weight loss. For so many people who have shed a hundred pounds, a large percentage have gained at least a bit of that weight back. I don’t want that to happen and it’s solely up to me to nip that in the bud!

Mise en place!!!

The grilled chicken tenderloin recipe that I posted earlier this week, as well as this salad/vinaigrette are a part of my attempt to eat healthier in this New Year and into the future. I’m back to counting calories and back to restricting my alcohol intake a bit (comes with the calorie counting and I know my liver will thank me)! I hope you guys had an amazing holiday season! Did anyone else reflect on where they’ve been and where they’d like to progress towards during the turn of the New Year? What were your New Years resolutions for 2013?!?

Recipes in this post:

• Lemon-Feta Vinaigrette

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