Feeling more confident

OK - I'm thrilled.  Compared to what I did before the 2-year hiatus of movement, this seems so small.  But it is great for me.  I've walked 4x since D and I returned from vacation.  And 2 of those times, this is the BIG thing, have been in the morning before work.

Starting next week, I plan to switch two of my walks to Jari Love's Extremely Ripped - with no weights for the first month.   This program uses compound moves to work the full body and is done at a fast enough pace so that the heart rate remains somewhat elevated.  Perfect for me.

And now it's time to get ready for work.

A Salad A Day - June Eating Challenge

I have an addiction - it's called Pinterest.  I'm not ready to give it up as I think I'm getting so many great ideas and being introduced to blogs (or reintroduced in some cases)  that inspire me in my journey to live an inspired and healthy life.

In this morning's perusal, I saw this image of a fantastic salad and I followed the links straight to the Oh She glows blog which had this big hook!  A good hook  - a challenge to eat a salad a day for the month of June.

I joined the challenge and I can't wait to see all the great ideas for salads.  I know that as much as I like a good salad made with crisp lettuces, I get tired of them very quickly.  My goal for the challenge is to learn to think outside the box when it comes to salad.

Craving vegetables

We're back from vacation and I'm so craving vegetables!  And I'm so over fried food.  I'm working on next week's food plan - and i think it will be something like this:

Tuesday - mason jar salad with leftover rotisserie chicken, edamame, leftover roasted veggies, salad greens

Wednesday - tuna salad (I'm craving it) with iceberg lettuce wraps

Thursday - out for lunch with hubby

Friday - mason jar salad with leftover tuna salad, english peas, corn, carrots and salad greens

I indulged this past week and downloaded a cooking reference (I'm hesitant to call it a cook book, but it does have some good recipes).  Ratio by Michael Ruhlman.   I'm really wanting to cook now.

And he finally explained bread baking in such a way I think I can do it.  It's always been a bit of a disappointment that I've never been able to bake bread very well.  There are three things I've felt I must conquer in the kitchen as a southern woman:  homemade bread, pie crusts and biscuits.  I just about have biscuits down.  Bread is next.  And then pie crusts.  Mmmm - really wanting some quiche.

D and I took one day trip while we were on vacation.  We drove over to Highlands and down to Whitewater Falls.  I haven't been there since my college days.

There was a very short hike put to the falls. It wasn't even that steep of a hike.  But it winded me.  And that's when I decided it was time to reclaim my health.  And I figured out a way to do it - just in time for June's habit - intentionally move 4-5x per week.

I've been kicking and screaming and making every excuse in the book when it comes to my health.  I wish it could just happen with out a little bit of work.  And as Hemingway says "isn't it pretty to think so?"   But it hit me - I don't have to be at work by 8 AM every morning - just Tuesday mornings.  So, I can get up at my usual time, have a cup of coffee with D and get myself woken up.  And then go for a walk or do a short (30 minutes) strength training program (I like Jari Love for this).  This is doable - 4 days a week and on the weekends.  And I'm looking forward to it.   This is good.

Vacation

So, my hubby and I are off for the next week.  Well, starting tomorrow afternoon.  I am so ready for it to start now.  I was thinking... my job has been in limbo since December.  Not like some people's - I had only recently (March-April) actually begun to worry about if I'd have a job.  A few weeks ago, I was assured I would - but the limbo over what I'd be doing is still there.  And I don't like it.  I don't deal with limbo well.

My hubby and I work for the same company and we have a rule we sometimes invoke - we call it the D'ville rule.  And it means that absolutely no shop talk will be permitted.  I'm planning to invoke the D'ville rule at 5pm tomorrow.  And it will stay in effect for at least 3 days.

And I have a feeling that while I'm on vacation, I shan't be posting much here.   Certainly no pictures.

Time to rest

I've been busy!  As mentioned, May's habit is to plan and prepare my food.  And I've done it for this week:

Breakfast - hominy with spinach and hard boiled eggs
Lunch - Asian Salad with mandarin oranges, edamame, asparagus, snow peas, spinach and red leaf lettuce.
Dinners - whatever D prepares, with reasonable portions.

I made up my salad dressing - using the juice from the mandarin oranges, minced (microplaned) ginger and carrot, soy sauce and canola oil.  It's pretty tasty if I say so myself.

Yesterday, D and I discovered a Latino restaurant and grocery that was the real deal.  Oh my - I want to go back for the guacamole and fried plantains.  The couple sitting next to us were enjoying it and I so wanted it - but then, I wanted everything on the menu.  In the grocery, I found something I'd been hoping to see - dried hominy.

I soaked it over night and then it cooked (low simmer) for almost 3 hours this morning.  The end result:

After it had cooled, I took about a third of it and sauteed it with some butter and olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I tossed in three small handfuls of spinach and cooked unti it was wilted.  Then a touch of nutmeg.
This with 2 hard boiled eggs will be breakfast three days this week:

Then I got busy in the salads - tearing a huge bunch of red leaf lettuce, quickly making a soy glazed asparagus, wilted snow peas, edamame seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder, & shredded carrots (I shredded them myself with a handy dandy fancy peeler).  Then the dressing, which I described above.

And I stuffed three mason jars with it.  I can't wait to enjoy lunch tomorrow!

I miss it

I miss my little blog and the random comments.   It's been an interesting 5 months since I've posted.  I made a birthday bucket list and have done pretty much none of it.

I recently read Leo Babauta's  (from Zen Habits) Zen to Done and had a few realizations.  The biggest one was that I set way too many goals for myself.  He suggests one big goal per year.

I decided that the biggest impact goal I could make for myself - and be kind and realistic about it - was to choose to lose 18 lbs (10% ) of my body weight between May and December 17th.

No fads.  No brute force.  Simple little, sustainable changes that I can maintain no matter what life throws at me.  It certainly can be done.

May's change - get back into the habit of planning and preparing most of my food.  And I've discovered some new things lately.  Pinterest for waiting time.  Curvy Yoga (for next month's habit) and Mason Jar Salads - for simplicity and food beauty.  Thanks to Sandrelle for that tip!

I am now starting my weeks with 2-3 nice salads already made.  Breakfast is easy - hard boiled eggs with either refried beans (this will be tweaked to smashed legumes, I think) or hominy.  And dinner is whatever D prepares - watching my portions.  The scales are up and down a bit - but the gain has stopped.  And as I tweak, I expect to see a downward trend.

Spring has helped - I'm craving yummy fresh fruit and vegetables.  I recently made balsamic glazed asparagus and carrots from Summer Tomato.  It was so yummy - I even used the leftovers as part of one of my mason jar salads!

And last weekend I scored the best strawberries ever!

They were small, perfectly ripened and packed with flavor.  I want some more!