J. Alexanders

OMG, have you been? It's outstanding. I am seriously obsessed with this place. A few of my old roomies make fun of me b/c there was a time that this was the only restaurant I would want to eat at. In Chicago when there are clearly amazing restaurants and new ones opening every day, I just loved J's.

Kate took me to dinner last night for my birthday (it's very over, haha) and I went a different route for dinner at J's. My go-to is the veggie burger with israeli couscous, but I was craving a baked potato. I was talking about baked potatos so much that I convinced Kate to get one. haha.

I decided to try their soup of the day which was gumbo and of course ordered a baked potato with all the fixins on the side. I tend to use all the fixings on my b potato when I ask for them on the side b.c it's a better portion size. When it comes with everything already on the potato, they just scoop them up and throw them on. You have no idea how much butter, s.cream, cheese, etc they actually give you.

Dinner was a 10! A few tricks I tried for dinner are:
-They put croissants down right in front of us prior to our entrees arrival. Kate and I both picked at one and didn't even finish it. Next time I may ask them not to bring them. :).
-In my gumbo I asked them to include very little rice in the soup. I didn't want the calories and the soup was so delish that I didn't need the rice.
-I skipped a glass of wine. I wasn't really in the mood to drink and I went for water instead.
-I skipped carrot cake. J's by far my friends has the best carrot cake in the city. I know I know...Hub's is good too, but I still love J's more!

I had plans on going to the gym this am, but got up in the middle of the night and decided I wanted to sleep instead. I really like working out in the am, but I wanted to give me body a rest. My legs are super sore. I did some yoga when I woke up, but nothing crazy.

Meal Plan:
Breakfast - 2 pieces of 45 calorie toast with laughing cow and a soy sausage
Snack - Key lime yogurt (100 cals from Aldi) and a 1/3 cup of granola
Lunch - Fit & Active southwestern pocket, salad
Snack - pretzels and hummus

Tonight for dinner, I am meeting one of my fave boys, Nate. We are going to Sunda and I plan on eating light. Maybe one roll of sushi, miso soup and edamame? That sounds delish already.

Wish me luck! I am weighing in tomorrow am. I hope it goes well.

XO!
PK