HI...My Name is Renee...it has been 20 minutes Since My Last Shrimp Roll...

Addiction is a mo' fo.I swear today I feel like Pookie in the crack house.  Y'all remember New Jack City when Pookie talked about his addiction? 

"It be callin' me man!  It be callin' me and I gotta go to it man.  I need some help man, help me." 

The irony is that I literally live right across the street from "The Carter," the fabled building in the movie.  (It's really called Graham Court.)  I felt bad for Pookie because the truth was he didn't wanna be a crackhead...that was just the long and short of it.  An addiction will have you doing just about anything to get it.  Food is no different.  "Anybody wanna buy a turkey?"

Man that turkey looked good!  I was doing SO well last night and this morning, but by the time I hit early afternoon; I was crashing.  You know when every food commercial in the world comes on. 

I had eaten ALL SIX of them damn cookies and I was feeling darn right carnivorous.  I lasted till 6:38pm on 6 cookies, a spring roll and water.

Without knowing quite how, I was inside of White Castle ordering 5 cheese burgers and a small order of clam strips.  Just my luck, the little ninny behind the counter rather upset over something keyed in the wrong items.  I walked out with fries instead of strips.  I HATE their fries.

Now I am back in the house.  I am suppose to go to a reading, right up the block, but I am exhausted.  I walked all over Harlem today (literally) and I just wanna sleep before my radio show.  Shall we try again tomorrow?  The score?  Me: 1, Demonic Fat: 2.

But stay tuned fat...I'm coming for ya!

TODAY'S REDEMPTION is DRUNKEN CHICKEN

(Maybe if I get drunk enough, I'll forget today...yeah, right!)

Drunken Chicken

4 servings

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts OR 4 split fryer breasts - skinned.

1 Tablespoons Butter

1/2 small onion, minced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 Tablespoon parsley

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar Twin

1 Tablespoon mustard

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup red wine

4 Tablespoons Gin

Preparation Method:

1 - Melt the butter and sauté the chicken until browned. Transfer to ovenproof dish. Cook onion until soft. Purée the remaining ingredients together then add to pan, heat through, pour over chicken and cover dish.

2 - Bake at 350ºF 15-20 minutes for boneless breasts and 30-40 minutes for bone-in split breasts.

EXTRA! EXTRA! The Cookie Monster Eats Something Other Than A Cookie!!!

What a difference a day makes.  I swear a chick was WAY dedicated last evening upon finishing the first blog!  As I told you last night, I was starting the Cookie diet today.  My curiosity got the best of me and YOU KNOW I opened a pack!

They advertised it on GMA and I was excited!  This girl who they featured lost 13 dress sizes!  In six months!WHAT!?! 

Y'all know I'm gonna keep it real with y'all right?  Well I will tell you a chick felt like a prisoner looking at the prospect of parole!  The thing is you eat these 6 cookies during the course of the day.  No specific time, just whenever you get hungry.  Then you come home and have yourself a sensible dinner(i.e. a salad with maybe a 4 oz. piece of chicken).  I ran right out to GNC and purchased a starter box. 

Honey listen, I walked in there and let me tell you, the sales people see a fat person in GNC and they start running around you like you were spouting blood coming in the ER!  No way you could possibly navigate your way around the store alone.

I got home and had two of the cookies.  The taste is just below ok, but my greedy ass is thinking - girl this is a damn cookie!  So the fact that he put this formula in a cookie blows me away and causes me to stick with it...until about 3 am.  Child listen...whatever is in the cookie makes you crave fluids...you drink water.  You DO know as a big person sometimes we confuse the signal that say "I'm thirsty" for "I am hungry,"right? 

I made my way to the kitchen and looked at 2 spring rolls I failed to consume 2 nights ago.  When you have food addiction, you will mentally spar with yourself for your right to eat what you're longing for.  I reasoned with myself..."it's nothing but veggies!...you shouldn't be wasteful!...

Do you remember the old school excuse? "There are kids starving in Africa!" or "I'll just have one...I know I already had one, but I need to remove the temptation!"  I ate 2 spring rolls and took my fat ass back to bed.  DAMN! 

Well here goes nothing!  I emerge from my California King bed (just a mattress on the floor, I wanted this bed to make me feel smaller!) and I take my liquid B12 shot right in my stomach.  (Oh yeah, desperation will push one to do many things.)  I took my 2 morning pills, the appetite suppressant then the vitamin.  I am going to the gym.  I joined Planet Fitness at the end of September to kill any excuses.  Lucille Roberts was okay, but women are way too catty to take turns working out.  You have to "sign up" for a machine, then wait.  On top of that, they close way too early.  So this was my excuse for not going and I was basically tithing my $20 a month.  Now at Planet Fitness, 5 days a week they are 24 hours, and Saturday and Sunday they are 7am-7pm.

After I finish this blog, I am going to the gym.  I reallydo like it.  Once there, I do what I must.  Put on my Zune and I am gone, in a zone.  I LOVE to dance.  *Do what you love...do it til' you satisfied!  So still eating my second cookie and drinking this water. Back in the saddle again!

Disclaimer - * I don't mean eat!  Go out and save your life!

Love & Light,

Renee Michele

An Abnormal Entity...

I swear this journey has been the HARDEST thing I ever had to put up with. Ever since I became a mom, I have had a weight problem. I have been various weights between 437 and 229 pounds. Sometimes it was due to eating, other reasons were medical.

My weight has been consistent in goal to consume me. At times it seemed to take on a life of its own. I remember being 437 pounds, living in one of the most beautiful and exclusive neighborhoods in Brooklyn and not being able to move. My son lived with my mother at the time; I felt like I couldn't be a good mother to him. I'd make the journey to Queens Village from Park Slope on Friday evenings. The 2 train to the LIRR to Queens Village and a cab to mom's. At 437, that round trip was straight torture. It would take me the ENTIRE weekend to recuperate. It did not help that Park Slope was filled to the absolute brim with my favorite restaurants and they ALL delivered. My son spent a large portion of his weekends being babysat by the 65 inch television in our sublet apartment as I slept and prepared for the journey back to my mothers house come Sunday. I was miserable.

It was the same summer my grandma died. Save for my son, she was the person I loved more than anything and weight had kept me from her. I shut down shop and moved back to my mother's house.

After moving back to my mom's, it became apparent that I could not continue like this. I had heard about a procedure that was just gaining notoriety called gastric bypass. Anyone who knows me knows that once I become focus, there is NO stopping me. I saw a doctor in Brooklyn who told me I'd need to pass a counseling session visit and a dietitian visit. Being the hustler that I am I finagled both appointments and had both practitioners give me a note clearing me for surgery (one I even wrote the note for and just had her sign). I was scheduled for surgery with 3 weeks of my first visit.

On November 2nd, 2004 I had the life-changing surgery. By my birthday of the next year, I was full-figured modeling, turning heads on any street I walked on. I never knew the weight was more than the eating. PCOS (Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome) attacks the body with imbalance. Your testosterone spikes and causes you to have side effects like facial hair growth, infertility and weight gain. Before I knew it, by September of 2005 I was back up 80 pounds. I was at 308 pounds when I decided I had to fight to get my health back.

So here I am at 279 pounds. I see a weight loss doctor since April 17th, 2009. I am down 29 pounds. I decided to blog the weight loss so you can journey WITH me, not AFTER me. I am not holding anything back. You will see my success and my failures. We are gonna work together and exorcise the demon of weight.

I also started the cookie diet, (http://www.cookiedietonline.com/). I will keep you posted. As of today's date, I am 279 pounds, 5'7 feet tall. Lets do this together. I will post recipes and the like...lets share and evict this tenant that's taken residence in our frames. All in the apartment and don't pay rent.

Love Ya,

Renee Michele

TODAY'S RECIPE

Grilled Marinated Shrimp

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Cook Time: 10 Minutes Ready In: 2 Hours 40 Minutes

Servings: 2

"This makes the best shrimp! Remove from skewers and serve on a bed of pasta with sauce for a great meal."

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon chopped fresh

parsley

1/3 lemon, juiced

2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon tomato paste 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

11 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined

with tails attached

skewers



Directions:

You have scaled this recipe's ingredients to yield a new amount (2). The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield (6).

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together olive oil, parsley, lemon juice, hot sauce, garlic, tomato paste, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Reserve a small amount for basting later. Pour remaining marinade into a large resealable plastic bag with shrimp. Seal, and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

2. Preheat grill for medium-low heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard marinade.

3. Lightly oil grill grate. Cook shrimp for 5 minutes per side, or until opaque, basting frequently with reserved marinade.