Happy New Years ! 2011 !

Looking forward to the new year . 2011 is my goal year. I am hoping to accomplish alot this year. I will also be keeping up with my blog since I really have been neglecting updating :-( ... But that is going to change as well as alot of other things that pertain to my life.. Hopefully for the better! But for today... my only goal is to have fun with friends and family and enjoy bringing the new year in close with people I love.
                                                          *Anthony

Update!

So I want to apologize to the readers who expected me to update yesterday about my new diet and such. I just was way too busy and by the time I got some time to myself, I just crashed.. So Anyways .. As for my getting into shape strategy.. my current weight is at 225. I Want to lose 20 say within 3 months. I am ultimately aiming for my birthday in January, so we shall see. Today I ate very minimally which is good and bad, but only because school was very demanding and it was very hard to find time to actually eat. Tomorrow I will start my cardio and so forth, and keep posting. But for right now, until I get into the swing of things, there wont be much to say about it! ~~~~~~~~

Moving on~ 

                So today at school my class had a lab all day. A lab is basically a day out of the week where my group from my entire class gets to prepare all the restaurants menu items as well as working on other things such as techniques, etc. I made my own variation of a Panzanella salad to compliment a Chicken dish that my group made. I thought it was a nice touch. I'll post the traditional recipe below, but I will put in parenthesis my own twist or technique that I find works better. Its a quick easy salad, from an old rustic Italian style of cooking. ~~~~~~~~

Panzanella Salad

Ingredients

• 6 cups day old Italian bread, torn into bite-size pieces
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 3/4 cup sliced red onion
• 10 basil leaves, shredded
• 1/2 cup pitted and halved green olives
• 1 cup fresh mozzarella, cut into bite-size pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. (I would just put some olive oil in a sauté' pan and just sauté the bread pieces, I find its a quicker way to do it, also if done right you will end up with a bread cube that has one side that is crispy, and the other that is flavorful and soft.)
2. In a large bowl, toss bread with 1/3 cup olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Lay bread on a baking sheet, and toast in the preheated oven until golden, about 5 to 10 minutes; allow to cool slightly. (Or just see my technique above, remembering to still season your bread crumbs, just in the pan over high heat until they are crispy)
3. While the bread is in the oven, whisk together 1/4 cup of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Gently toss together the bread, tomatoes, onion, basil, olives, and mozzarella cheese. Toss with the vinaigrette and let stand for 20 minutes before serving. (Whisk together olive oil, Salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, pour over bread crumbs in pan. Serve this over a bed of fresh spinach, add some tomatoes, onions, and just serve it!) 

Weight loss plan

So... I have always been somewhat overweight my whole life.. I mean I was never like obese or anything, but I have always been carrying a little extra since I could remember haha. Anyways.. I am going to seriously take a crack at eating healthier and exercising more. I am just tired of how I look. I want to look better and more importantly feel better about myself. Its time to get serious and put my ass into motion. Tomorrow (Monday, October 18th, 2010, I am officially starting my new diet plan. I am eliminating carbs for awhile and eating mostly only proteins and raw foods. I have to lay off the alcohol and start getting better sleep if I want to succeed. I am also going to start an exercise routine tomorrow before school. I will first start out by walking about 1 mile in the morning and then doing some various cardio workouts throughout the day. My hardest goal however is going to be drinking WATER and only WATER. I will have to ultimately eliminate all other liquids from my diet. Phew!
I have alot of work ahead of me, and its going to be tough. But I need to do this if I am to look and feel better about myself!! I Will update my progress every single day starting tomorrow. I will have my current weight and my goal  set tomorrow! Wish me luck! Ill need it......
~Anthony

Finally get it?

Things have actually been on the up and up since my last post. I can feel my attitude towards life in general just overall improving. I am slowly but surely understanding how I can actually live day to day without dealing with drama and being so damn negative. I will have to admit to myself that my mood was in the shitter for alot of reasons but especially since my last relationship ended. I honestly just have to get over it and accept the fact that things are different and will never be the same. Ehh its life right? I really have to stop being such a pussy and just get out there and live without worrying about anyone else.. haha i sound crazy but its the truth right? I mean I dont want to lose who I am.. I have always been the guy that had a great time with anyone I was with and always the guy to be impulsive and creative in any situation.. at least thats what I can get out of my own behaviour..lol. As far as my ex goes... well Shes my ex... did I take the breakup hard ? Yeah, of course.. we both invested a good amount of time in each other and just had a connection... but things change.. people make mistakes.. and life still goes on..just as long as you learn from your mistakes is what matters. I honestly feel like I have changed in alot of ways... I mean given I still can get angry at times and sometimes should really monitor how I react to certain situations... but maybe thats just who I am? I mean we cant all be extremely calm and collected all the time right? Anyways.. its Friday and Im going to see if I can get into anything interesting this weekend. Everyone have a great weekend as well and just remember to live and just be yourself no matter who likes it or not.

                   ~Anthony

Eating live fish? Why?

So today in school I came across a youtube video, showing people eating a live fish as a sashimi dish. They have all the garnishes set on the plate, its all decorated very nicely... then you have a fish that is still alive that people are eating. NOW... don't get me wrong I love Japanese food and sushi and all that but honestly what is the purpose of keeping the fish alive while you and your friends dig in? I mean as a culinary student and just well a regular consumer of fish, this appears to do nothing but put the fish through immense pain and suffering. I researched it just a little bit and found that many popular places mostly in Japan and korea, serve the fish this way to show how fresh it is....OK.. my problem with that is, well your fish will still be extremely fresh if it were killed just moments before serving. Now, I am not a vegetarian or anything like that. I am by all means a meat eater. I don't even get involved with peta stuff.. but to me, watching a life being taken away because your literally eating it alive is just well.... sick. Anyways that was my rant for today. If you want to check the video out yourself, you can find it @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2kEmRFe50c&feature=fvst

If your sensitive to animals rights and all that, I don't suggest watching.. but hey its only fish right?

Ehh. mediocre at best.

SO.....
   I am pretty much in a blah mood. Kinda have been for awhile now. You know how you have one of those days where just everything goes wrong without rhyme or reason? Yea..well thats been the last few days for me. I do have to admit, I can definitely be way to negative for my own good~BUT~ I just have been feeling out of it, more then normal I guess. School has just become blah anymore, I feel like I really need to step up my game with focusing. My grades are good, so its not like I'm failing at all but I just feel like I could be be giving it more effort. I don't want to make any excuses but I do have to say that sometimes at school I realize how many students there actually don't give a damn, suppose it can rub off on you if you linger around that feeling. As far as my more personal life, well...its a little complicated. I am trying to better my self as a whole while working on salvaging a few relationships that I have left. Friends, exes, etc. It is def. taking a toll on my mind, and I can say that its probably more so the reason why I have trouble focusing... that or extreme A.D.D. ... but I honestly don't think I have that.. lol.  I dont know~I need a change! I need more excitement! Maybe I should look into traveling? Money is def. tight... but maybe theres a way I can do it and not risk being uncomfortable? Anyways.. Goodnight.

New Netbook!

Just bought this brand new HP netbook for only $300 from Best Buy. Pretty sweet deal. Its def. no Mac pro book but its still pretty sweet. If your looking for a great deal on netbooks check out http://www.bestbuy.com/