This year I got to try a lot of great restaurants. My daughter moved to Napa and I get to eat in a lot of great places when I visit her. I'm not a big wine fan (puts me to sleep) but I'm a big fan of food. Everytime I go I try a different restaurant. But there's always one place I make sure to go to and That's Tyler Florence's Rotisserie and Wine.
It reminds me of the beautiful french countryside (although I've never been to France) but with southern food (although I never go to the south). But this is what it would be like if you were French and ate in Atlanta I'm sure-only with a celebrity chef-who is never there I'm sure.
As a commoner I usually only go out for lunch. First of all lunch is always cheaper. Second of all if you eat a big meal earlier in the day and nothing else the rest of the day you probably won't gain weight. So when I go to Tyler's I eat a really great steak sandwich of some sort and then you always get to eat these great sides-I love the mac and cheese and the really good potatoes of some sort.
Now I have some inside news that this restaurant recently failed health inspections-I don't know how because I always judge a restaurant by the cleanliness of the bathroom and Tyler's restaurants are impeccably clean and beautiful. Maybe they should spend less time cleaning those bathrooms come to think of it.
So for best restaurant that the Commoner went to this year I suggest Tyler Florence's Rotisserie and Wine in Napa Valley
The commoner has fought a life long battle against genetics. What this means is that I always have to be aware of what I'm eating-and it's not just for vanity reasons but health reasons as well.
I've been pretty successful but frankly a lot of those years were spent as a competitive cyclist so those were the easy years. I often warn my friends that the danger of weight gain is not after the birth of a baby but rather during those years of soccer, dance, basketball, etc. Those years and a love of french fries at Sharks Ice led to a 25 pound weight gain.
I lost 10 of those pounds on Atkins but they came back. I liked that diet because you could eat a lot of bacon and whip cream (no not together). But on this diet the pounds came back at the first loaf of bread.
Then I lost 15 pounds on my ice cream diet. That diet was very successful for me and I kept those pounds off. I can eat fat and sugar and it doesn't stick on me -carbs and sodium are my villains. Those pounds stayed off-but then I kind of got tired of Ben and Jerry's every single day-yes you can get tired of Ben and Jerrys.
10 pounds that would never come off. Oh well. But I have a friend Rosemary from hockey-who lives in LA and told me about the 17 day diet. A few months later for no apparent reason I tried it. Afterall who knows dieting better than people from LA and 17 days? I can do that.
And you know what I did! In 17 days I lost my last 10 pounds. Not only did I lose weight but so did countless others who asked about this diet. It's so easy to follow and after the first 3 days when you go through withdrawal (stay away from people and food for those days). I survived on a lot of chicken and salad-volumes of chicken actually.
It's been almost a year and the weight is still off. I still follow many of the principals-I drink green tea every day, eat eggs in the morning, eat Greek yogurt every day, and always eat red grapes. And drink TONS of water-plus I stay away from carbs and sodium laden processed foods and eat LOTS of chocolate.
So as you go into that dreaded New Year's Resolution-the commoner suggest you give the 17 Day Diet a try -and stick with it through those first three days!
