A co-worker of mine has expressed admiration/disbelief that I have successfully avoided sugar for so long. I told her honestly, it's become a habit. I used to drink a lot of soda. Seriously, a shitload of soda-sometimes 6-12 cans a day. In college it was regular Mountain Dew, later it was Diet Coke. It was a terrible, expensive habit. I broke it almost 3 years ago. I haven't had a single soda in 3 years. I don't even think about it anymore. It's becoming that way with sugar. Do I still want it, sometimes. Certain times of the month are worse. I had that near miss with the eggnog fudge the other day. I'm not perfect, but I've become habituated to avoiding sugar. A plate of cookies sat next to me all day on Friday and I didn't even flinch. Tonight I made these for the kids.
Chocolate crackles.
This shit is not paleo. It's not "clean". It's sugar and flour laden nirvana. Or it would be if I ate this stuff, and I don't. The recipe came along with my sock knitting club packet. It's the Cookie A sock club (seriously, her name is Cookie) and you get 2 patterns and 2 recipes every other month. Making these got me two things: The deep admiration of my children, and an entry into a drawing for a membership to next year's club. The coolest thing? I made these things from scratch. I had to put my hands in the dough and form the balls and roll them in powdered sugar. And I didn't taste a thing. Not one tiny taste. I simply didn't want to. I was more concerned with getting done with them so I could work on my real focus for the evening.
Happiness is a hand knitted sock.
It's funny how things shift. I've been eating a mostly paleo diet for just shy of 2 years. I go on and off the wagon, and I am fond of saying "I'm paleo except for beer." Paleo, Primal, Clean...whatever you want to call it-it's a habit I'm actively cultivating at this point in my life. I am focusing on caring for my body by feeding it well, and I'm trying to learn to love my body for what it is. It's the vehicle that carries me through life, and it is deserving of my respect. I created 3 humans with this body. I've run 2 marathons, something like 15 half marathons, completed a triathlon (that totally sucked, but I did it), and run 5 Ragnars. Do I want to change the shape of my body? Sure. I want it to be stronger, to build up my lean muscle mass to protect my bones as I age. I want to be fit and healthy, so I can remain active and youthful as long as possible. What I need to remember is that I have to love myself at every stage. There will be successes and setbacks. That's life. But the ultimate goal is the same: Cultivate good habits, and pass them on to my kids.
And with that, on to the menu!
In an effort to make 6 cups of veggies per day a habit, I made a Kai Jiao with spinach, tomato, and mushrooms this morning. It was huge. I ate it all.
And then I had to lie down.
Holy shit was that a lot of food. An intimidating amount of food. And I'm supposed to eat like this every day?!? PS, I had a banana before going to the gym this morning.
Snack was pretty basic.
I didn't get my kale chips made in time.
Lunch was leftover Rogan Josh. I forgot to photograph it before I started, and it looks a little cruddy all mixed together like this. Sorry.
Still pretty fucking delicious, though.
Lunch checked in at around a cup of veggies, in the form of cauliflower rice, so I'm up to 2 cups of veggies at this point. When at the grocery store yesterday I picked up some Pink Lady apples on the recommendation of a friend. I'm very particular about my apples. I pretty much only eat them in the fall when they're in season and then mostly Honeycrisp and SweeTango. They are all that apples should be. I will say, though, the Pink Lady was pretty damn good.
It might be a beauty school drop out.
Dinner was a new recipe tonight. Vietnamese lettuce cups from Nom Nom Paleo. They were really, really delicious. Fantastic, in fact. Per the husband they were also extremely simple to make. Just a little chopping of herbs and veggies. Two of my three kids even liked it. That's a win.
So very pretty.
With dinner, I was up to around 3 cups of veggies. So I failed at 6 cups today. Part of it is the season. In the summer/fall I eat raw veg like crazy. I find it hard to eat raw veg in the winter, it just makes me feel cold. I need to get some kale chips made and roast a shitload of broccoli tomorrow night so I have that stuff at the ready. I need to reestablish the habit of eating lots of veg. I also have some broccoli soup to make.
I may have a few prunes later. I know, I lead a crazy life.
Tomorrow is a rest day, and I'm pretty sure I'll be stiff as a board by tomorrow night. I wasn't sore this morning at all, which is generally a bad sign. Delayed onset muscle soreness...it's coming.
Would it be weird if I went to bed at 8?
I'm the same with the raw veg in the winter. It's cold and doesn't make you feel satisfied because it's cold and doesn't comfort you. I end up eating too much when I eat a ton of veggies because it just doesn't do.
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