laying down the law

Guys. Serious business.

My life has been insane and hectic and spaz-tastic lately. It’s meant a lot of FUN, seriously less frequent blog posts (sorry!) and a somewhat crazy eating schedule. Crazy in when I eat and crazy and in what.

And last night, in my kitchen eating cake at 3 am after going dancing with Steve (which was wonderful) I was like “hmm, perhaps you should pay some attention to your health.”

It’s just been a caloric couple of months, between the bakery job over the summer and starting Americorps, at a place where the food is highly highly abundant but also highly highly unhealthy (I tried to institute a veggies-only-meeting policy but my mean boss likes bringing in baked goods to fatten us up like geese for the slaughter).

And now we enter the holiday season. YARGH!

So I have a plan. Nothing too revolutionary. It began with today’s brunch.

 

Salad and a poached egg! Totally standard for me! Delicious and healthy!

All that I’m trying to do is move more and eat less crap.

Thus, the Move More and Quit Eating Crap Plan

1. Eat good things:
-fresh fruits and veggies
-whole grains
-lean proteins
-low- or nonfat dairy.
2. Don’t eat bad things: things that just make you eat more!
-desserts (I am eating NO ADDED SUGAR for at least a week. This is important. It will essentially be detoxing, as I have been on a stinkin’ sugar high for six months. It ends now!)
-refined grains (this means no more raiding the work pantry for graham crackers)
-alcohol!
3. Move yo’ body. Gym, walk, exerciseTV video (currently obsessed with this robust but not agonizing boot camp one, y’all. She is so encouraging! And I’d like to believe all the squats doing good things for my bootay.)

That is all.

I think a lot of the poor eating is just an issue of preparation. I’m running out the door with, like, an apple and a yogurt and figure I’ll just “find something at work.” NO. THAT DOES NOT WORK.

So. I got SERIOUS about preparing for the week ahead. First, I made some nice whole grain muffins!

I made my recipe for berrylicious granola muffins, only I used plain old oats instead of granola, did 100% fresh cranberries, no dried, and I subbed applesauce for half the oil.

And so as to be kind to the planet while being kind to my body, I baked them in my peppy little countertop oven. I won this in a giveaway from Linda over at One Scoop at a Time and it really is my favorite thing ever.

So that cake I was eating at 3 am was leftover from my cousin’s birthday party on Saturday. Like everyone in the family, my aunt Joanne prepared food as if thinking ahead that, just in case, 50 people sort of just wandered into the living room demanding for food, there would be enough.

There was. We were given many, many, many leftovers. We were not allowed to leave without taking many, many, many leftovers.

However, in addition to cake there was some wholesomeness. For example, some seriously delicious poached salmon!

Hey, you know what I’m trying to eat a lot of? Salad!

One weekday lunch:

 

Avec a muffin and a GIANT DELICIOUS JUICY Costco kiwi. Their produce is really, really good. Yes, carbon footprints are sad but man I love kiwis.

 

Another muffin, another lunch:

   

‘Nother salad, with mushrooms on top (we were sent home with presliced mushrooms. It’s really like having a sous chef), along with ‘nother muffin and for protein and deliciousness purposes, the last of some farmer’s market Greek yogurt with a persimmon for topping. That combo. So glorious.

Continuing with the plant life, the vegetable component of yet another premade lunch:

Some of my leftover beans and greens.

Also, filling in the fruit and dairy categories (with nutritional bonus points for an antioxidant-rich spice):

 

Farmer’s market yogurt (this is the new batch, which is regular calcium-rich rather than Greek-style protein-rich), with farmer’s market apple (this one is Gold Rush, which is delicious. I’ve also been loving on Mutzu, Cameo, and Mountaineers), and some cinnamon.

All together, and did I mention I’d made some muffins?

Multitasking master: while this was going on I also had a big batch of banana oats glurgling away on the back burner.

(Sidebar: so I introduced Steve to the idea of making a big batch in advance, so he made 6 cups of dry oats’ worth… and then ate it in two days. Oatmeal is so good!)

   

I assembled more from my army of tupperware (I seriously do have kind of a ludicrous quantity of reusable containers. But the thing is… I really do reuse them! I basically live for precooking and leftovers!)

  

Et voila. Breakfast for the week.

So yes, feeling good about the No Crap Plan.

I’m going to hit Publish and then go to the gym (Steve gave me a whole bunch of Bruno Mars for my iPod, and I anticipate cardio bliss). Then whole wheat pasta with my mom’s blissful homemade clam sauce and a salad (oh, some more salad!) are on the menu for dinner tonight. Good things.

The only variable in the equation of my life that I continue to slightly fear is the boyfriend layer (Lauren Conrad isn’t the spokesperson of my generation or anything, but it really is the perfect term). Shortly after all the resolutions and the healthy meal cooking, Steve mentioned that he wanted to get to know my sister better and suggested we hang out tonight… with chocolate peanut butter milkshakes. Though actually, that means he and Malindi are probably going to get along really really really well.