What I Ate Wednesday

Another bit of randomness....

This must have been a weekend, since I never have time for croissants and burger lunches on weekdays. The chili cheese fries were a new thing, but I have been wanting green chili lately, so I thought I'd try it. Dinner was sorta odd, too, but I *really* wanted beets.

Breakfast: Croissant (with butter and strawberry jam), tea

Lunch out shopping: Bacon burger and chili-cheese fries

Tea: chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven, tea

Dinner: Chicken Korma,  onion bhaji, chutney and sliced beets and arugula. Another couple of cookies

Book Day

Hello snow, not so nice to see you on this Mother's Day morning!

I've ditched all my previous plans for the day and am going to spend my day reading. Three of my ebook holds came available all at once, so I have a (virtual) pile of books to curl up with. I just hope we don't end up with too much damage from a heavy snowfall this time of year.

Reflections From the Recliner

When it comes to aging, the negatives seem to get all the attention. At least in this culture. I hear about other cultures that respect and appreciate age, but all I know for sure is what I've experienced.  I learn more each day about those negatives, but I am also aware of the positives. 

I can almost hear the 'What is she on about? What positives?' 

But I really do like a lot of things about the age I am now. I like the fact that I take things slower now. I think more, talk less. I ponder more and act more deliberately. I take more of a long view of things, mainly because I've seen more things. I am less 'up and down', and more steady which makes me calmer - and I hope more calming to others. 

The 'less up and down' is the part that I think applies most in the context of food and eating. In my late teens, 20s and most of my 30s I jumped from one 'plan' to another in a quest to lose weight and 'eat healthy'.  Every plan was extreme and unfailingly accompanied by an equal and opposite binge. Up and down, indeed. 

After I stopped dieting, I continued the quest for the 'perfect diet' (diet in this context being the original meaning of the word rather than a weight loss diet). I had learned that everything I had done the previous 20+ years to 'eat healthy' had been utterly and completely wrong, so of course I  threw myself down the 'Real Food' rabbit hole.  

Don't misunderstand. I don't mean I've abandoned 'Real Food'. And for what it's worth, I only use the word 'real' because that's the commonly used phrase these days. I dislike like it. To me it's just food. And why would I settle for less for myself or my family?

I only abandoned the rabbit hole and the quest for 'perfection'. I buy bread once in a while.  And sometimes it's not sourdough - heck, sometimes it's white bread. Sometimes we buy pizza instead of making it from scratch with soaked dough, homemade sauce from backyard tomatoes, full fat organic cheese, and nitrate free blah, blah, blah. I even buy milk from the store now instead of driving an hour each way to the farm to get it. Scandalous, I know, but there it is. 

Those extreme approaches to food (and fitness) of the past have been cast aside. I hope for good. Life now is more about balance and sustainability.  There are no more diets: so there are no more obsessions; no more binges; and no more feelings of guilt. I cook because I like to and because I like caring for my family and myself. I eat 'real' food because  it tastes good and I enjoy it and there's no point eating food I don't like. I don't 'work out' - I do things I enjoy so it's easy to stay active. And I dropped that whole 'sleep is for the weak' attitude, too. 

Good food that I like, activities I enjoy and a Sunday afternoon snooze. Too bad it took so long to figure it out. 

 

 

What I Ate Wednesday

I've seen a number of food related blogs doing this. Since blogging for me is rather random, there doesn't seem to be much likelihood I'd ever make this a regular thing. But just for fun, here's my Saturday, without pics.

Breakfast:
Tea, soft boiled egg, toast with butter and marmalade, fizzy orange juice

Lunch:
Pizza, Honest Tea, (and several samples in the store while shopping)

Tea:
Chocolate croissant, tea

Dinner:
Grilled sausages, baked potato with butter, broccoli, dark chocolate

Hope Springs

I'm feeling particularly good today. The sun is shining, trees are budding, and I after weeks of feeling like I am continually running just to stay three steps behind, I feel like I'm only one or two steps behind. Always look on the bright side, huh?

Last week I put two work projects behind me. This week I have two more deadlines coming up, but once I get through those I'll have a chance to get back to the other 147 (or how ever many there are). One thing at a time. When I have so much to do, I try to focus on one thing at a time. Finish that one, and move on to the next one. 

At home, I did some serious cleaning over the weekend, which although it's not fun, it always makes me feel better. We also did some gardening - which is more fun. We also had a 'stay-in' date which was the best part of all. And there is still time today to fill with something enjoyable. I'm sure I can think of something. 

Shouldn't It Be Nice?

Most of the time I'm a big fan of 'effort'. Success means a whole lot more to me when I have to work at it and I'm not all that impressed by achievements that come easily. 

Except, apparently, when it comes to what I am trying to achieve with my eating.

 I don't mean that I think eating should be 'work'- in fact I believe just the opposite. My goal is that eating should be as natural for the adult me as it was for the child me. Before it became about weights and measures, morality and guilt. Numbers and nutrients. 

It's difficult to do in a world where I am constantly bombarded by messages full of 'shoulds' - how much I should or should not eat. What foods I should swap with other, more acceptable foods. Acceptable, of course, varying depending on who is offering the advice. How much guilt I should feel. Whether I should rate myself as 'good' or 'bad' depending on what I ate or didn't eat, how many hours I sat, or stood or walked, or whether that even counts if I don't do 'Insanity' or some other 'workout'. 

Difficult, but not impossible. Maybe I just need to put in a little effort.