Thanks to some west coast inspiration from Carole, last night I made a traditional southern new year’s dish. Ok, it was a day “late,” but abundance and wealth as well as greens and legumes could never actually come too late…With black eyed peas representing abundance and collard greens (which I mixed with kale) representing the green of money, this dish turned out delish! Since I made it without any meat, and didn’t want to add tomatoes as most vegan versions suggest, I mixed a lot of recipes together and simply sauteed onions and garlic, added the cooked peas and torn greens, and spiced it up with crushed red pepper, hot sauce and some vinegar. Having gone to the farmer’s market in the morning, I made a gorgeous tomato salad out of different colored heirloom tomatoes and some fresh basil from my garden, drizzled with olive oil and sea salt. A green salad, kicked up with some kalamata olives from the same farmer’s market and just a few tiny grilled potatoes (also an array of colors–white, red and purple) rounded out my meal, while Mitch added some chicken which he roasted on the grill with all kinds of herbs from our garden.
This was the meal that would get me back into MY normal eating habits, which was very welcomed by yesterday! Up about 3 pounds (not really so horrible) from the holidays, all of them put on between Christmas and New Years but I defer to my quote from last week about how we should all be more concerned about what we eat between New Years and Christmas, not the opposite. Makes a lot of sense. It was fun to enjoy the holidays and indulge in some foods that I would never otherwise eat. For instance, who really makes or eats chocolate covered potato chips? They should be illegal, but somehow (thanks, Jimmy) they showed up in my house this weekend and how could I not enjoy a few of those? And what about that bread (well thankfully we only bought half a loaf) from the farmer’s market called “Ode to Hippie?” With cranberries, nuts, hemp seeds and just a little chocolate, it was ridiculously delicious and probably not even that fattening, but…who eats chocolate IN their bread? Having to have some as soon as we got in the car to leave the market, I guess the answer is ME!
That bread was my last “holiday” indulgence before resuming some normalcy in eating, at lunch, with some Gardein “wings” while attempting to watch the Dophin’s last game of the season. I say attempting because it was so boring and way too pitiful to watch. Sleep called. That was probably a good thing as it kept me from snacking and/or drinking my way through that disaster. By the time I woke up, the slaughtering had ended and it was time to start preparing the spread of healthy and colorful dinner foods.
Now that I am back on the healthful eating track, I am sure that I will not only lose the few pounds gained, but more importantly regain my usual spunk! I was a slug all weekend. Today it is time to get back on the workout path. Thankfully I return to Tamarac Fitness Center this morning for an 8:30 class, and have my two mid-day classes at Bally. Tomorrow I have a busy client morning, and will definitely be out running with my first client. We did do an outdoor workout on Friday and Saturday morning my legs were pretty sore, after not running with her for over a week. I mention this to remind YOU that if you have slowed your roll these past few weeks, you may want to get back into your fitness groove a little slowly. It is sad, but a fact, that our muscles start to lose strength and power in just a few days. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Tomorrow night we will be back to our Tuesday night classes at TFC and…the new season of Biggest Loser premiers, too–this season, couples.
Losing my gained pounds, getting back into my work groove and Biggest Loser will all serve to inspire me to get right back on track with healthy eating and daily exercise. What will inspire you? The time is NOW.
Thanks, Derek, for sending me the link about Forks Over Knives. Watching endless episodes of The Twilight Zone this weekend, there was an excellent one (I have seen it before) about an “alien” who comes to bring a gift to humans. Because people are so frightened by him, they kill him and the gift, which turns out to be the cure for cancer. The episode is a favorite of mine because it’s message is about how we respond (negatively, violently and more) to the things and people we are afraid of because they are different. Honestly, I believe a plant-based diet just might be the cure we are searching for, but many people find it so different, they can’t embrace the possibility. Perhaps this film, Forks Over Knives, due out in March, will help more of us to understand how much control we DO have over our health. Here’s the link Derek sent. There will be special showing in several cities across the country, Dr. Campbell of THE CHINA STUDY, doing questions and answers at some of them! Of course, this stuff NEVER comes to Florida. We just get great weather and lots of crazy people 🙂 Anyway check it out. Maybe when it comes out, some of us that are local will go see it together.
http://www.forksoverknives.com/