Tea Time

Happy Friday! Aren't we all happy that it's Friday? ^_^

I've been spending the past two weeks brushing up on the TV show The Mentalist. Is there anyone else who watches it? For the uninitiated, it's yet another crime show whose title character is a former (fake) psychic who is a consultant for a team of detectives. It's not my favorite TV show, but I watch anyway because of this:

Yes, Simon Baker. I mean, when you watched The Devil Wears Prada, didn't you gasp when Anne Hathaway's character met the handsome bigshot writer? (And I may have been one of the few who hoped Andy would leave her boyfriend for Christian.) Look at that. How can a girl tear her eyes away from the screen when Simon Baker is on it?

If you noticed I've been eating chocolate often lately, I have two squares (or 100 calories) while watching a couple of episodes of The Mentalist. Yes, I know, I typically discourage snacking while watching TV or a movie, but I break off a 100 calorie-sized piece and keep the rest of the bar in the fridge, to keep myself from wolfing down the entire chocolate bar mindlessly. That, and I've been exercising regularly for four years, and I know my metabolism is already well-tuned.

But, the show has also turned me back to a healthy habit. Mr. Baker's character, named Patrick Jane, is shown to be drinking tea in every episode, as the picture above illustrates. I guess my daily viewing of the show hit my subconscious, and I also found myself going to the pantry at work to make myself a cup of tea. I'm the one who keeps on reminding Manang to replenish the tea supply.

If you recall Week 1 of the BelleToday program, we discussed the virtues of tea for weight loss. So, as I added my daily tea consumption to my regular exercise and general avoidance of eating out, I noticed that I started to look slimmer—which actually freaked me out, because sickly thin isn't a good look for me. I don't weigh myself anymore, and I just depend on the mirror and my clothes to tell me whether I need to lay off chocolate, ice cream, and fried chicken.

This the tea brand that we have here at work—it's cheap, it's local, and in my opinion, it doesn't taste at all bad. I already like it without adding milk or sugar, so that eliminates a source of unnecessary calories, while I still get the antioxidants and slight caffeine buzz from tea.

In fact, just while I was writing this entry, I went to make myself a cup of tea! And whenever I'm at a Chinese restaurant, I just opt for the house oolong tea and tap water instead of ordering beverages. They're free anyway.

Have a great weekend, Belles!

Wednesday
Breakfast: Apple tart, coffee with low-fat milk
Lunch: Daing na bangus, salted egg and tomatoes, brown rice
Snacks (throughout the afternoon): Green tea, chocolate soy milk, roasted macadamia nuts
Dinner: Stir-fried beef with ampalaya, brown rice
Dessert: Vosges Chocolate Mo's Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar

Thursday
Breakfast: Whole wheat pan de sal with peanut butter, coffee with low-fat milk
Morning snack: Macadamia nuts
Lunch (at Pancake House, where I totally broke my 100-peso lunch challenge): House Special Set (Panchicken, spaghetti, taco, garlic bread); fruit and oats pancake with frozen yogurt
Dinner: Chicken sopas, fried lumpia, brown rice
Dessert: Vosges Chocolate Mo's Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar (the last piece)