It's been a while since I've blogged about food/recipes, mainly because I'm doing the "eat simply" thing right now and it's working really well. (By "eat simply", I mean a minimal amount of cooking ... more like making salads, or putting some beans on top of a big handful of spinach and heating it in the microwave, which is MMMM, BTW). However, this only goes so far with a husband in the house. Happily for me, mine wants to eat healthy, too, but cottage cheese, tuna, and carrot sticks are not going to keep him happy. So once in a while I have to actually cook something more substantial, while still sticking to my own plan.
On Friday night, I made lime ginger garlic cilantro seitan (you could just as easily do chicken tenders) to serve with lettuce wraps. Nice head of Boston lettuce, some chopped red bell pepper, carrots, red onion, and mango, a little peanut sauce, and the seitan. It made a very delicious and healthy meal, with very little actual cooking involved.
Last night, having Boston lettuce and a few chopped veggies left over, I sauteed a little onion, tossed in a can of chili beans, some cumin, and some frozen corn, set out a little bit of avocado and low-fat cheese, and voila! We had taco salad. Sorry, no pic of that, but it was almost as colorful as the lettuce wraps, and quite good.
It all changes at the end of the week when the in-laws arrive. Don't get me wrong; they eat healthy, too, though slightly differently than we do. But Mama's gonna have to cook, and also, we'll be eating out a lot. I actually made a calendar with our itinerary on it, including which days we're going to eat out where. (I am proud of myself for scheduling the Chinese buffet on a day when I will be working and thus unavailable ... they love those big Chinese buffets, and those are one of the unhealthiest places to eat outside of a fast food restaurant. And if I'm going to "spend" extra calories, it is not going to be on substandard food!). The next step is to sit down and menu plan within an inch of my life. It may seem extreme, but I am busy enough that it's necessary to help keep us all on track, and it will actually make life easier. Can you tell I'm a little worried about this? I don't want to backtrack!
Today was the final day of Week Three of P90X --- Kenpo, which is really fun. I'm really proud for making it through three weeks. It's a tough program. That being said, I've decided I'm probably not working hard enough at it, and I need to pay more attention and push a little harder in the workouts. Not to the point where I could injure myself, but I need to make sure that with each set, I'm working to muscle fatigue. I don't always do this because I can't keep up with those superfit folks on the screen, and need a little more time to complete the sets, so sometimes I just stop when I reach the number you're supposed to do. Or maybe I just need to add more weight. As with anything else, there are ups and downs. This week, I had two workouts that were just really hard, and one that was fantastic. I don't know what makes one day great and the next awful --- them's just the breaks, I guess. Regardless, you just keep slogging away at it. At least, that's what I do. I pushed hard for today's workout, and it felt great. So two excellent workouts in one week, two hard, two average --- not bad.
One of the great things about working out so hard every day is that I really do NOT feel like eating afterwards. I often end up sort of combining lunch and my recovery drink into a healthy smoothie. My current drink is a cup of unsweetened chocolate almond milk, a scoop of protein powder, a cup of plain nonfat yogurt (if I'm having lunch as well as recovery; otherwise, I leave this out), and one serving of fruit (half a banana and some frozen cherries are a favorite combo). Sometimes I add a tablespoon of maple syrup if it needs to be sweeter, or some vanilla extract for extra flavor, and ice if I want a thicker, shake-like consistency. It's really satisfying and I look forward to it after my workouts! Later in the afternoon, I need a snack --- carrot sticks and some peanut butter, or a couple of rice cakes --- and then I eat a good dinner with lots of veggies.
This is a singin' sort of weekend, too. Yesterday I had rehearsal, held auditions for Spotlight on Opera, made a brief recording, then headed back to school for the Celtic Music Festival.
This, incidentally, is the pic for March. I've been lax about posting monthly pics and I want to get back to it, especially since I hope subsequent months will enable me to show off some sexy girly muscles!
Tonight I am singing the mezzo solos for the Mozart Solemn Vespers at the university (often a duty of faculty members --- front the choir). It's spring already, but we've had a little cold snap, so I'm breaking out my red velvet gown just 'cause it's purty and I like it. And it will show off a little bit of aforementioned sexy girly muscles-in-training. Pics to follow!
Don't forget; strength-training is imperative for women's bone density as we get older...the studies have been all over the news...for anyone to discourage it would be ridiculous...not everyone strives for huge muscles or to compete, and that's fine; even a bit of weight-training is a positive...or, for people with chronic diseases (I have had rheumatoid arthritis for 40 years), it's a must (one of my surgeons told me I could never stop lifting)...we are living longer and staying healthy is a must!!
Posted by: Richard | June 30, 2011 at 01:11 AM
My girlfriend is also looking for effective diet tips. Last week, she has started researching diet tips. She found a few articles about natural diet and natural health and healing. I'll tell her about your blog too. Maybe this info can help her.
Posted by: Cleo Pascal | March 18, 2011 at 04:12 AM
Hey Sara, sounds like you're doing good things! Just being mindful of when/what/how much you eat or want to eat will help you identify your patterns and figure out how to circumvent them. Keep up the good work! :)
Posted by: Cindy | March 12, 2011 at 01:35 PM
"One of the great things about working out so hard every day is that I really do NOT feel like eating afterwards" Good start up for you. I have a sister who's been eating three times a day, didn't realize that she got 10 pounds after, now she's been searching some tips on how to loose weight.
Posted by: Jonathan Gibbs | March 11, 2011 at 11:39 PM
Hi, Cindy,
Just checking in with my one-step-at-a-time plan. So far, I am observing a lot of needless eating out of lack of planning or boredom. I'm trying to take a few minutes to just sit still with my eyes closed before giving in to the urge to eat, for instance, right when I get home from work. I'll try a meal plan next week, which I've done in the past, but I know I'll have to make myself go to the store and commit to cooking, without which the meal plan will be useless. Thanks for listening!
Posted by: Sara | March 09, 2011 at 01:04 PM
Oooooooooooh -- blog got a makeover!!!
Beeyooooteeful!
Posted by: H. Skippety | March 07, 2011 at 02:59 PM
Cindy,
We can frequently eat fairly healthy at Buffet Palace south on West Gate. I like their tofu delight and veggie sushi, oh, and miso with tofu. (My guess is that it's not the best tofu, but we don't get there too often). But they also have seaweed salad and I can pick out steamed broccoli from other dishes. Bob likes their regular sushi and tries not to eat anything fried. There is always some fresh fruit for dessert.
I've also eaten at the Chinese Buffet off of north IH-35 and Rundberg. They have a Mongolian-style chef who does a quick stir-fry with any vegetables I gather and will only use what I ask for. Someone told me that they can steam the veggies too, but I've not asked for that yet. They have a much larger selection of plain vegetables than Buffet Palace.
The last place I frequent for fairly healthy fare is Zen. One can build a bowl with brown rice, double veggies, have it steamed (no oil) rather than stir-fried, and add a sauce if you like. It's also very quick!
Posted by: Fran | March 06, 2011 at 06:45 PM