i'm surprised i haven't started swimming

one of the most glorious aspects of weight watchers is the ability to eat relatively large sums of sushi and not blow all your points. the delectible cuisine tops my list of favorite foods. i could eat it everyday, and i pretty much do. in fact, i think one of the reasons why i've stuck with the w.w. program is because i have not been forced to tone down my raw fish consumption, like i have had to do with my linguine alfredo face-stuffing habit.

there is a fantastic little sushi restaurant called moshi moshi a couple blocks down from my place of work. the joint has excellent fish, a wide variety of creative rolls, and a very impressive menu of vegetarian options. when i was riding the veggie bandwagon i lived for their yummy yam roll - tempura friend yam and avocado. it was always ever-so-slightly toasty, too. fresh out of the deep frier. perfection.

my lunch today consisted of rich, buttery hamachi sashimi (7 pieces - 2 points) and a centipede roll, in which 8 pieces of avocado maki are topped with maguro and tobiko (5 points). my wasabi was molded into a little leaf. precious.

i'm satisfied and energized. 7 points well spent. $30 well spent.

ok, i realize $30 is a bit steep for lunch at work. looks like i'll be dining in the rest of the week.

hi friends.

hello fellow foodies out there in blogland! how goes it. so, this is me. i'm 24, living in oakland with my adorable boyfriend and tiny dog. a native to the east bay, i grew up drinking really good wine and noshing at chez panisse with my totally rad foodie dad. in fact, the name for this blog is a take on my foodie dad's generic name for your average strip mall steakhouse: mr. happy steak (ie, "i was on a business trip in charlotte and had a late night new york strip at mr. happy steak."). i was born into a family of hardcore carnivores, save my mother who hasn't had red meat since seeing jaws in the 70s. i recently came out of an eight month stint as a vegetarian. the transition wasn't so bad initially, and since i converted for moral and ethical reasons, the proper motivation was there. however when i came down with a nasty case of pneumonia in just four short days, i knew i wasn't getting what i needed out of my food to survive.

of course i felt guilty when i decided to return to my carnivorous existence. visions of sentient beings at the slaughter fluttered through my head. but after those first bites of fresh, succulent maguro sashimi - i was home. not only did i feel better physically and mentally, but i was thrilled at the realization that i could revisit my passion for food snobbery. with the principles of slow food at the heart of my epicurian journey, i plan on using this blog as a vehicle to document my return to the land of happy steaks.

oh, but there's a catch. i've also been a not-so-but-sorta dedicated member of weight watchers for about a year. this is my third or fourth (i stopped counting) attempt at the program. it's a great program. it is. but i just can't help myself most of the time. food just tastes so good. i'm currently down 10 lbs, and am about 20 lbs or so away from goal. it's a battle. let's see how i do.