Jamba Juice Eating Plan Results

Well, I finished my Jamba Juice eating plan with fairly good results. I did vary a little because I am a sucker for a bargain. Jamba is currently running a special where if you buy a wrap or salad and a drink off the menu, they cut two dollars off the bill for your "bundle" (see http://www.summerblissisback.com/foodbanner.php). So I would buy a smoothie and a wrap in the morning, have the smoothie for breakfast (under 300 calories) and then eat the wrap for lunch. Price for such breakfast and lunch bundle was about $7.50. I thought it was a deal for two meals. Then I just made sure that my dinner did not exceed my remaining calories goal for the day. I generally had about 800 calories left for dinner. Other than the night I had dinner at my in laws and the day I slipped in some frozen yogurt for lunch, I stuck to the eating plan for the whole week. At the end of the week, I have lost 1 lbs. Not bad, not great.

I must admit that I need more variety in my eating plan. I do not know how Jared ate so many Subway subs. So, it is just me and my Lose It calculator on my iPhone this week. I am sure I will take advantage of the Jamba Juice bundle again this week, but not everyday.

My Jamba Meal Plan

I love the new wraps at Jamba Juice, especially the Greens and Grains wrap. You know how Jared lost a bunch of weight by only eating Subway sandwiches? Well I think that should work with Jamba Juice wraps also. The wraps are only between 450 and 600 calories depending on which one you buy. There is also a couscous salad with diced jicama and currants. Yum. I am also using "Lose It" on my iPhone to track my calories (love free iPhone apps) and I can easily fit two of those wraps (or the salad) into my 1465 daily calories. Isn't that a beautifully simple meal plan. I am trying it out this week with a moderate goal of losing just two pounds. I'll tell you how it goes next week. Wish me luck!

Part II -- Las Vegas Shows

We went to two shows while in Las Vegas. KA, by Cirque du Soleil, was amazing. However, my vote for can't-miss show is the Wayne Brady show. How funny was his show? I was laughing so hard I seriously could not breath. You don't believe? When we exited the show there were paramedics outside providing oxygen masks to persons who were hyperventilating.

He is a comic genius. I do not know how he thinks so quick to come up with the improvisational songs and skits. His show is different every night based on audience participation. The guy standing behind me in the half price tickets line was called on stage as a prop in one of the skits. However, my favorite part actually came when he was sing a song from his album. A large woman up front was standing up and singing along and dancing. So he went down and was singing with her, but she became so excited that she grabbed the mic and started singing and actually knocked him over into the audience. She did not even notice and kept on singing. Wayne Brady thought it was awesome and said it was the best compliment ever.
It is hard to choose between the Cirque du Soleil shows while in Las Vegas. We picked KA because it was playing at the MGM Grand where we were staying. We went with Brad and Julene Ballard. It was so much fun to see them and catch up.


KA is about warring Asian tribes and a prince and princess that become separated. The acrobatics and costumes were fantastic, but I was most fascinated with the stage that could rotate 360 degrees. Sometimes the stage was a ship rising and falling with the tide, or it would convert to a beach, the slope of a mountain or a vertical cliff as the scenes changed.


And I guess the last show we saw was just Las Vegas itself:

The gondoliers at the Venetian.

Restaurants inside the Venetian with painted ceiling.

Treasure Island with Trump Tower in the background.

Rodeo Drive meets Las Vegas with the Wynn and new Encore. These resorts are ultra plush.


The Excalibur with Mandalay Bay in the background.

The view from our room, the hotel New York, New York.

Hotel Paris complete with Eiffel Tower.

Part I: Michael Minas -- Las Vegas

My trip to Las Vegas with Shelley was incredible. The sites, the shows and the food. The best food I had was by far at Michael Minas at the Bellagio. I was having a seriously hard time selecting what to eat, so I finally settled on the "cookbook" tasting menu.

It starts out with a tuna tartare appetizer. I love ahi tuna, so I am easy to please on this dish. The tune was a beautiful rich red and it was diced and formed into a circle. It is served with a raw quail egg on top that looked delicious, but the server could not assure me that it was organic, so I had it removed. The description did not say anything about a quail egg, so that did surprise me. The tuna was served with roasted pine nuts, diced garlic and mint on the side, which the server mixed together table side. I enjoyed the crunch of the pine nuts contrasted with the tender tune squares. I must admit that I was hoping for something special from the mint, but I could not taste it. I have had tuna tartare dishes that I have enjoyed more with light fruity vinaigrettes and crunchy salad greens, but like I said, I am easy to please with tuna tartare and I was pleased with this starter.

The lobster pot pie served next was a successful experiment in decadent comfort food. A golden brown flaky crust topped a ramekin filled with tender lobster, black truffles, fingerling potatoes and a bit of spinach. I was worried the lobster would be tough. How can lobster be properly cooked in a pot pie? Well, ask Michael Minas, he knows how. I used my fork and knife to cut the lobster meat into bite size pieces, but then employed my spoon with each bite to scoop up the light cream sauce infused with the rich flavor of black truffles.

The miso black cod was perfectly cooked. The cut of the fish was tall, and I believe it was poached in the miso broth. The miso broth had long slender baby mushrooms. The menu said it would contain shrimp raviolini, but fortunately it did not. As I cut the cod, the moist white flakes would fall into the miso broth below and create what I thought was an elegantly simple combination of flavors. I would have been content if the meal had ended with the third course, but only because I did not know how good the fourth course would be.

A kobe beef ribeye medallion topped with foie gras?! What a treat. A friend I was dining with was a little hesitant to eat "duck liver." So I told him it was not duck liver, it was "duck caramel." I knew he would enjoy this combination, so I encouraged him to cut a slice of steak and foie gras, but to say in his mind "duck caramel" as he put it in his mouth. "Wow, this is really good," was his reply. And it was. The lightly braised "duck caramel" over rare kobe beef fused together into a melt-in-your-mouth meat opiate.

The dessert trio was very good, but ordinary. The root bear float with sassafras ice cream was a slight sophistication on the original; the coconut cheesecake was cheesecake with a nice flavor and texture, but nothing spectacular; and the chocolate cake with caramel ice cream was delicious, but ordinary. The three desserts were not really paired to accentuate or play on each other's flavors. It was just a sampling of well done, but not spectacular desserts.

The service was fabulous. We were dotted on by our waiter (who cheerfully answered all of our questions and added suggestions) and an array of servers who delivered our dishes with excellent timing and made sure our glasses were full and our needs met.

The restaurant is very expensive, but it was a great dining experience that I would recommend.