Chinese New Year - Sri Lanka Style

This past weekend was the Chinese New Year celebration, so Thursday and Friday were public holidays here in the Sling.  I took off to Sri Lanka for the long weekend with 5 friends (Kelly, Kristen, Alison, Kat and Chris) and we had an amazing time!

We landed around 2am on Thursday morning (after flying BUSINESS!) and hopped in a van - ahem, the rattiest stinkin' van to exist with only three real seats in the back and no a/c - to our hotel in Colombo to catch some z's before our 7:30am (much nicer) van pickup.  The first stop after Colombo (there's not much to see there other than weird - but way cool - hotels with private butlers who constantly ask to give you head massages, though you know the only person he wants to touch is Kristen) was the Pinawala Elephant Orphanage.  Baby elephants are the cutest freaking thing you ever saw.  Although I will say that when Kelly showed me the picture of the blind grandfather elephant with a hard on (I was off in wonderland and missed it) I nearly had a heart attack and got a whole new meaning of the word "elephantiasis".  Jesus I never want to see that again. After purchasing some paper products made from elephant dung, we were off to Kandy.

In Kandy we saw a pretty sweet cultural dance show, complete with men walking on hot coals just after rubbing fire all over their entire bodies (mouths included).  At this point we're basically one full day into the trip and already Kelly and I just want some western food - cheese and tomato sandwiches with french fries for dinner!

From Kandy we left for Unawatuna, stayed on the beach, and had a fabulous time.  Can't really complain - the views were spectacular, the people friendly and smiling, the food came out hot and the beers came out cold.  I've had just about enough rice and curry to last me a long time, to say the least.  It's the food of Sri Lanka and they are damn proud of it!  My goal is to replicate the curry we had at The Lucky Tuna restaurant on Unawatuna Beach.  It had quite a bit of coconut milk, but there was a sort of sweet and spicy zing to it - I kept tasting nutmeg.  So weird.  Be on the lookout for future attempted rice and curry blog posts (whether it's a success is a totally different story).

View of the ocean from Lucky Tuna Restaurant - Unawatuna, Sri Lanka

Ali and Kristen, enjoying some Coronas on the beach.

We took a day trip to Galle Fort as well, did quite a bit of shopping, ate...wait for it...rice and curry, drank some Sri Lankan tea, and watched the sunset.

Good times had by all!

And now, only because I promised...the results from last Tuesday's weigh-in.  Ugh, I just want to cry.  How much weight has Sarah gained?  Do I really have to say it?  135.5.  Dear God ONE THIRTY FIVE POINT FIVE!  It wasn't very long ago I was hanging out at 130 and feeling wonderful!  Now I just feel fat and sassy.
So, I've got some new rules and some new challenges:

1. Change weigh-in day to Friday for a pick-me-up, and so that I can use all of my extra points from the start and be a good girl for the rest of the week!
2. Start measuring inches lost in addition to pounds, every other week or so.
3. Remove all junk food from house!  NOW.
4. Post Smugglette pictures every other week or so, when measuring, so that all of you readers can keep up with my progress.  If putting pictures of myself in a bikini for all the world to see isn't motivation, I don't know what is!
5. No clothing purchases until goal has been achieved.  This is going to be the hardest part.  I am a shopping fanatic!

First round of Smugglettes:

So when am I supposed to reach this goal?  Giving myself plenty of time for ups and downs, I'm setting my 27th birthday, May 14, as goal day.  Bring it!

Busy Weeks Call for Shorter Blogs!

I don't have much time tonight...we're leaving tomorrow for a weekend dive trip to Tioman and Aur, Malaysia!  But I need to report my Crunch Attack progress, and throw in some new recipe ideas!

So...Week 1 of Crunch Attack went well.  I'm not as crunchalicious as I thought I would be, but that will change in time.  Somehow managed to misplace my measuring thingie, so I'll report next week about my waist n' hips n' thighs :)

Weds:
50 crunches (30 center, 10 right side, 10 left side)
10 leg lifts
6 sun salutations (this was meant to be an arm workout)

Fri:
30 crunches (10x10x10)
10 tap n' rolls (these are tough and even tougher to explain...)

Sun:
50 crunches (30x10x10)
Mon:
2 center planks (30 sec. each); 2 side planks (30 sec. each side)
15 center crunches
30 cycle kicks (also tough to explain)

Week 1 Lessons Learned:
Any sort of ab workout or push-up attempt after spin class is ROUGH

So this week I'm not upping the anty - just continuing the effort.  Go me ;)

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I've been slacking on the new recipes and cooking lately, so this week I decided to try something new!

BBQ Chicken with Sauteed Veggies - 4 Points

From Cooking Light

 I got this BBQ Chicken recipe from CookingLight.com (a great website with tons of fabulous recipes!).  Here I served it with sauteed veggies, but it would go quite well with potatoes, cole slaw, or a salad.  I included a side of baked beans (1/2 cup = 2 Points) for some added protein and yummy flavor!

For the veggies:
Heat a skillet over medium heat; spray with olive oil spray.  Add your favorite chopped veggies, sprinkle with Kosher salt, and cook until desired doneness.
This week I chose onion, zucchini, and carrots.  Dee-lish!

Fun Ideas and a New Challenge!

I've spent the past couple months pondering a new direction for Smuggling Budgies, now that the Smugglette has been unleashed into the wild.  Each week I'll dig into a new food topic, something fun and exciting (like roasted chicken!) and throw quick meal ideas out into the open.  Sound like a plan?

So, as mentioned above, this week's item:  Roasted Chicken
I absolutely friggin' love these things.  How could you not love them???  Unless of course you are cursed with that strange affliction that my friends Heath and Brittany suffer from - they can't eat anything on the bone.  That means no bone-in chicken, no bone-in steak, no wings!  Seriously, it's devastating.  But even for them these meal ideas are possibilities.  If you suffer from "I can't eat bone-in foods" syndrome, simply ask a friend or loved one to remove the chicken from the bone prior to your entering the kitchen or dining room.  You will not know it was ever actually attached to an animal.  And perfecto!

If you live in the US, my personal favorite roasted chickens are Tyson brand, which can be purchased at your local supermarket (and comes in varieties!).  If you reside in Singapore, swing by your neighborhood Cold Storage and grab either a honey or black pepper chicken from the deli.
So what do you do next?  Well, let's see...

How about a big salad of your favorite veggies, some roasted chicken, and your salad dressing of choice?  Here is my personal favorite:

Yummy Salad with Roasted Chicken Breast - 7.5 Points

This is a large salad with 3 servings of veggies.  It is incredibly filling and tasty!  Great for salad-lovers :) 

• 2 cups romaine lettuce, torn or sliced
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cucumber, halved and sliced
• shredded carrots
• Pepperidge Farm Seasoned Croutons, 12 pieces
• 1 roasted chicken breast, skin removed and chopped
• 2 Tbsp Homemade Hidden Valley Ranch

Combine all ingredients on large plate.  Mix well with dressing, or dip individual bites, and enjoy!

What to do with the rest of your roasted chicken???
You could make a Roasted Chicken and Bow Tie Pasta Salad, which happens to be delicious, and will feed you for days.  Recipe = 6 Points per serving; yields 6 servings (remember to remove the skin).
Heat up a chicken breast or thigh, and serve along side veggies of your choice and steamed rice or cauliflower puree.
Slice the chicken into thin pieces and make a delicious sandwich!

All of these meals and ideas are super-quick and super-tasty (falling into the new 15-Minute Meals category) - perfect for staying on track when you're busy.

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So what's this challenge I keep referring to???
A fellow blogger has recently started a Crunch Attack challenge with her readers.  So...I'm following suit!  Click here to explore the challenge in more detail and join in on the fun!  Basically, I will do crunches (or ab workouts) and/or pushups at least 3 days each week, and then I will increase my repetitions as the weeks progress.
I will keep a log of my exercises and report back each week - and I'll even throw in some body measurements!  Week 1 started Tuesday...I will set some goals for myself next Tuesday after I've determined just what I can do!  I would love it if y'all did this challenge with me - the more support we've got, the easier this life change can be!

Good night, and go buy some chicken!