Meal Inspiration: what we’ve been eating

• 0 • Live Well

I post a lot of food photos on my personal Facebook page (you’ll see a lot via Twitter @iamrunningthis as well).

I’m always amazed at the random comments I get from my aquaitances about things I had for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  When I stop doing it for a while, I’ll actually have people say they’ve missed the inspiration!

I love posting these photos, because they sometimes help a friend answer that nagging “what’s for dinner” question, and because they share plant-based food options.

It is fun to see what real people are really eating for dinner.  With that in mind, here are some things we’ve been eating!

Chopped kale salad with cashew cream lemon dressing, topped with apples, raisins, kidney beans, and sunflower seeds.
Cauliflower mac’n’cheese from Mark Bittman’s “Food Matters” cookbook, veganized by using nutritional yeast in place of the small amount of cheese he recommends. Side of hericots verts.

 

“Favorite Veggie Burger” from the Oh She Glows cookbook served on a whole wheat bun with grilled onion and tomato. Side of blueberries and raw broccoli which we dipped in hummus laced with Cholula.
Our first breakfast on our deck this year! Pan seared tofu breakfast sandwiches with avocado and tomato on Ezekiel English muffins with cashew scallion spread, side of strawberries and some strong black coffee.
My loaded oatmeal – strawberries, bananas, maca powder, chia seeds, hemp hearts, cacao nibs, pan roasted hazelnuts.
We bought olive tapenade from the Whole Foods olive bar and made amazing breakfast sandwiches by placing it on grilled Portobello mushroom caps and topping it with grilled tomatoes. Served on Ezekiel English muffins.
Mango tofu from Vegan With a Vengeance, easy black bean salad (black beans, corn, cilantro, and a little bit of flavored vinaigrette), and avocado & cashew cream dill dressing on roasted potato salad.
Sprouted grain tortilla with hummus, carrots, and apples for a light preschooler friendly lunch.
Whole wheat penne with a homemade basil pesto.
Buckwheat soba noodles topped with teriyaki roasted shiitake mushrooms (I used a store bought sauce) served with water sauteed bok Choy and snow peas.

Happy meal planning!

Trying to change your habits? Check out this must read!

• 2 • Live Well

On April 1st, I had the pleasure of seeing Gretchen Rubin, well known blogger and happiness author, speak in Wellesley as part of her book tour for her new book about habits, “Better Than Before; Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives.”

I’ve been devouring the book since then, and am impressed by the brilliance with which Gretchen Rubin tackles the problems surrounding habit formation.

rubin1 rubin2

This book helps people analyze their own temperaments and personalities to decide which strategies for habit formation will work best for them. It is not a one size fits all approach to sticking with your habits.  Rather, there are 21 different strategies for forming and keeping habits that she addresses in the book.  Overwhelmed?  Don’t be.  Also included are some soul-searching questions to help you figure out which strategies will work best for you.

This is a fantastic book about learning to work with your own personality and tendencies to find the best strategies for making good habits stick.

Rubin doesn’t recommend specific habits, although she does go over the categories which seem to have the most positive impact on people’s lives.  One exception?  Making your bed every morning.  The majority of respondents on her blog were amazed at the positive psychological benefit this habit had, with only a minor time investment.

rubin

Habits have so much power to positively influence our lives, and this book really will help you be better than before.  Who doesn’t want that?

 

Why I’ve Renamed Today Mother’s Day – Appreciating Love When It’s Offered 

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Mother’s Day.  Birthdays.  Valentine’s Day.  If any of these holidays has ever felt anti-climactic, you’re not alone.  There’s so much pressure on our loved ones to make us feel special on these days, to somehow cram their love and appreciation for us into finding a perfect card, present, flower arrangement, or brunch reservation, and then walking on eggshells and treating us like royalty for the entire day.

I feel a similar pressure and panic level when it’s Greg’s birthday or Father’s Day.  It’s wonderful to use these holidays as an opportunity to express our love for one another, but also important to remember that what our loved ones do for us on these days is not actually a measure of their love.  Their love is measured by the sum of countless moments, the entirety of a relationship, how they treat us and support us over the course of a year… not whether they made it to a jewelry store one afternoon.

This is why I’ve renamed today Mother’s Day for 2015.

It’s been a fabulous weekend.  Greg’s parents were visiting, so I got a run in Friday night AND went to spin class Saturday morning, followed by a couple fun local events (fun run and a robot fair!) and out to lunch.

Yesterday afternoon, we left the boys with their grandparents and headed off to Marathon Sports to buy me a new Garmin.  Mine has had trouble connecting to satellites all spring, after having intermittent issues during my last half-marathon training.  When it botched my third run in 10 days, Greg said (not for the first time) “We should buy you a new one.”  I agreed (for the first time) and he dropped what he was doing and immediately pulled me into the office to look up the best watch.  He talked me up a model from my initial pick so I can program intervals (a feature I liked on my last watch) and then called our local running store to check availability.

On the way to pick it up yesterday, he stopped and put air in my tires because the light was on.  In a wintry mix of snow and rain.  While I sat in the car drinking tea and waiting to go buy my new watch he’d helped me pick out.

After Greg’s parents left last night, Greg mixed me a specialty drink on request and we watched Fast and the Furious together.

This morning, he let me sleep in and brought me coffee in bed.

When I came downstairs, Greg left for a run and Will insisted that he was going to make me breakfast.  I pulled the bread and cashew cheese out of the refrigerator, and he did EVERYTHING else.

“Mom, what number would you like the toaster on?”

“Would you like your toast cut in triangles?”

“I can clean up, too.”

“I cut one into triangles and left one big.  That way you have choices.”

Mother’s Day weekend will not be better than this.

How could it be?  I feel so special and loved.  It’s even more special, because they’re under no societal obligation to shower me with love like this.  Greg didn’t bring me coffee in bed because it was Mother’s Day.  He did it because he loves me.  Will made me breakfast because he wanted to, because he takes pride in his ability to do something for someone he loves.  My in-laws enjoy the time they spend with Will and Andrew and knew I could use a break.  That’s why they were kind enough to feed them dinner while I went for a run.  They even got up and fed the boys breakfast while I was at spin class so Greg could sleep in a little…. which made him able to get up today and bring ME coffee in bed.  Just on a regular Saturday.

No gift on Mother’s Day could mean more to me than the way Greg dropped everything because he was so excited to find me the perfect Garmin.  He didn’t just give me the go-ahead to make the purchase, he was actively involved in getting me the best Garmin for my needs as quickly as possible.  I’m so touched by the way he supports my running and wants me to have a reliable tool to help me track my mileage and run my intervals.

Take away – I’ll be reading this post to myself on Mother’s Day.  I am sure that Greg and my boys will do things to make me feel appreciated on that day.  I am also sure that the real measure of their love is the sum of all days like today.  It’s countless moments and gifts of their time and attention to things that are important to me, like finding a new Garmin, or tasks they do to make my life easier, like getting me breakfast or letting me sleep in.

If you have a journal, or a blog, consider writing down moments like these, when you feel special and loved on some ordinary day.  It’s something we can look back on when we’re having a tough moment, like a mother visualizing her child’s best moments in the midst of a tantrum.  It reminds us of the truth, that demonstrations of love don’t always fit perfectly onto a calendar… but they’re there.

The secret to doing better at EVERYTHING

• 2 • Live Well

consistency

I’ve discovered the key to life, the universe and everything.  It is not 42.  It’s consistency.

Looking at anyone more successful in an area of their life, I realize it’s because they have more consistency.  If I got up five mornings a week and did 20 minutes of ab work, I’d probably have a six pack too.

The trouble is that we all have to prioritize what we’re consistent at.  There are only so many hours in a day, and we only have so much discipline before something has to give so we can have flex-time for our emotional well being.

I’d love to consistently meal plan, go to spin class, do yoga, run, practice positive parenting, switch out my children’s toys, get them outside, teach them new things, take time for myself, make healthy home-cooked meals, go to bed with a clean house, maintain my friendships, stay on top of my volunteering, and sleep eight hours a night.

It’s just not possible.

Every day is a new chance to do well in some of those categories, but it’s not possible to do well in every category every day.

It can be frustrating not to see results in your running, or positive parenting, or healthy eating.  That’s when it helps to prioritize that specific goal and work harder at it until you see progress.  Once you’ve seen improvements, you can find ways to make it a habit.

I wish the answer to life, the universe and everything were easier.  The answer isn’t kale… it’s kale on a regular basis, and limiting refined sugars on a regular basis.  It’s the sum of all the moments in a day, week, month that we are able to take time to be patient with your young children and practice active listening, or wait for them to struggle with the zipper.  It’s not scheduling one date night with our spouse, it’s being polite to each other every day when we’re living busy, and very different, lives.  It’s not how hard we work out, but how often we work out hard.

It’s not easy.  There are so many books and websites telling us how to eat better, run faster, be more organized… but the trick isn’t really the “how” is it.  The trick is just doing it… consistently.

Ugh.

consistency