One More Pound!

I would say I’m an emotional eater or I was an emotional eater or I’m somewhere in between. 

I’ll get back to that.

As many of you know I have been working out with a personal trainer in Hercules for six months now. I would say I’m sooo close to me my goal weight that I can taste it! Literally just one more pound and I’m there!

You know how they say when you go to college you gain the “Freshman 15” - well luckily I didn’t gain it all in my freshman year but gradually over the whole college experience. Then when I graduated I gained another 5 pounds. So in the last seven years I have gained 20 pounds! 

It was bad... I kept outgrowing my clothes, I got a muffin top and worst of all I started to get a double chin!

I tried working out at home - I failed at that. I tried working out at the popular 24hr Fitness - I failed at that (more because I was so annoyed that it felt like a nightclub that I got discouraged). I tried an all women gym - I failed at that. I agreed to let Jabi train me - that was a disaster (still love you babe)! I tried dieting - FAILED! 

Don’t get me wrong I would loose a few pounds here and there but it would always come back.

Then FINALLY, Jabi referred me to his eastbay personal trainer and it was literally one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

This is a short list of some of the ways my life has changed by working out with a trainer at Aloha Fitness:

1. I was taught how to eat for my body type, not diet.
2. I was able to loose the 20 pounds and then some.
3. I not only lost body fat, I gained lean muscle. 
4. I can run now!
5. I fit under the athletic body type and I’ve never been athletic before.

Overall I’m a healthy and fit person and I thank not just my trainer but also the people who work out there. Everyone has the same goals so you don’t feel like people are judging you. My trainer always pushed me and challenged me in my workouts - every-single-time! All I had to do was eat right and go hard at the gym. If I did anything else different, I would have just been wasting my time and money. 

Back to the emotional eating. One of the reasons I felt like I had gained so much weight was because I considered myself to be an emotional eater. 

Since admitting to my ‘problem’ I have learned to restrain from retreating to food for comfort. BUT - Jabi has been gone for a couple of days now visiting family in Mexico and I find myself craving food as comfort because I miss him :(

Jabi come back already! If I don’t get down to me goal weight by the time you get back I’m blaming it on you! :P

I’ll post before and after pics once I see the official weight on the scale in the gym ;)

(If you are interested more in Aloha Health and Fitness, check out their website www.eastbaytrainer.com)

El Huarache Azteca

Jabi and I had dinner in El Huarache Azteca, a Mexican restaurant in Oakland, its a chill environment that serves delicious City of Mexico style food! I'll say more on the food later. 

Anyway - we're having dinner and a lady approaches our table holding a bucket of single long stemmed red roses and she asks, "A flower for your girlfriend?"  The pressure is automatically on Jabi, I wonder what he'll say and right away he responds with, "No, thanks."  The lady walks away and he looks at me, totally nonchalant, and says, "You're dad's a florist babe." 

Then within the next fifteen minutes a mariachi band comes in asking the guests if they would like to request a song. It's like Jabi has been granted a second opportunity, but when they come around to our table - Jabi turns them down! Then he looks at me and says, "I only have my card tonight." (In this case, mariachi bands are paid in cash and there is a fee for each song.) 

I couldn't help but chuckle because lets say he had bought me the rose, at first I would have been all like "awww" but then later I would have just felt like he wasted his money because my dad IS a florist and my home is always filled with roses, so flowers don't have the same effect on me as they would to other people. Lets also say he would have paid for a song, I would have turned beet red from the attention towards our table, especially since I wasn't liquored up the experience wouldn't have been as enjoyable. Entertaining regardless, but definitely not much fun. 

He knows me too well.

But who says guys always have to get their ladies flowers and dedicate songs to them? I'm just saying - occasionally its cool but if you don't do it at all then you need to change it up. Besides Jabi has gotten me plenty of flowers over the years ;) 

Back to the food - I have been craving this place for months and we finally got a chance to go. This place has an extensive menu but I wanted to go mainly for the Torta Cubana! A torta is a Mexican style hot pressed sandwich, this one was filled with beans, egg, cheese, sausage, chorizo, breaded steak, ham, lettuce, tomato, avocado. IT. WAS. SUBLIME! It doesn't come with any side dish so we decided to order appetizer #20, which came with two mini sopes (thick corn tortilla cup filled with refried beans, lettuce, cheese and sour cream), two mini huaraches, and two mini pambazos (grilled white bread filled with chorizo, potatoes, lettuce, cheese and sour cream). Let me just say - the huaraches - were exploding with Mexican flavors. The huaraches are handmade tortillas filled with beans in the center and on top was a layer of sour cream, cotija cheese, pickeled nopales (cactus), and a green sauce. Muah! (Kissing the tips of my fingers)   

Mmmm! 

Torta Cubana - I had to take this half home it was so big!

If you are ever on International Boulevard and 38th Street in Oakland - stop by and enjoy some delicious food :) or check ‘em out at elhuaracheaztec.com

Me likez the foodz!

Arriba! 

-Melda