Cheesy Mexican Rice and Veggies

As usual, all amounts of ingredients are an estimate!  I had this with chili-lime pork steaks and tortilla chips, but it would go great with fajitas or any other mexican dish too!

The food:
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can rotel tomatoes w/ green chilis
3 cups dry brown rice
Water - amount listed on rice package instructions, minus 1/2 cup
Shredded cheese (I prefer colby jack, but any cheese will do!)
1 small red onion
half of a sweet bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange)
Vegetable oil
fresh cilantro (optional)
chipotle powder (optional)
Sour cream (optional)

The Gear:
Large Skillet with lid, knife, cutting board.

The know-how:
1. Heat skillet w/ small amount of vegetable oil
2. Dice the onion and red pepper, saute in skillet until tender
3. Add rice, water, and can of rotel tomatoes to skillet.  Stir in cilantro and chipotle powder. Bring to boil.
4. Reduce heat, and cover with lid - cook according to rice package instructions (usually simmer about 30 minutes)
5. While rice is cooking, open and drain the corn and black beans.  Stir into the rice mixture during last 5-10 minutes of cooking.
6. top with shredded cheese and replace lid until cheese is melted.
7. Serve and enjoy!  Top with a dollop of sour cream if desired!

Easy Avocado Chicken Salad

It's grilling season!  Which at my house means we always have leftover chicken in the fridge - this variation of a typical chicken salad and is a great way to use up those leftovers! It's great on it's own, but like it served on whole wheat toast or crackers.

This is another one of those recipes that came about just by throwing things together, and if you've seen some of the other recipes I've posted, then you know that I don't exactly measure things.  I've done my best to estimate the amounts of things, but feel free to change up the proportions to meet your tastes!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: none

Skill level:  A monkey could do it

The Food

2 small or 1 large avocado

1 large chicken breast, cooked

1/2 cup diced red onion

a handful of cherry or grape tomatoes

juice of half a lime

Salt and Pepper to taste

The Gear

You'll need some fancy equipment for this one: knife, cutting board, mixing bowl, spoon... Very high tech.

The know-how

1. Chop the chicken breast and avocado, and cut the cherry tomatoes in half or quarters.  (If you've never used fresh avocado before, here's a simple video tutorial for an easy way to remove the pit.)

2. Combine all ingredients except the lime in a mixing bowl, stir it together.  

3. Squeeze the juice of half the lime over the mixture.  Stir

4. Best served immediately.  Cover and refrigerate any leftovers. 

Note:  leftovers will quickly begin to brown, but they are still good to eat.  Just like an apple will brown after it's been sliced.  Supposedly, if you save the pit of the avocado and put it in the container, it won't brown as quickly, but I've had limited success with this.  

Enjoy!

Finding Some Balance

In my last post, I officially declared that I was giving up on my 60 Day Running Challenge – at least for now.  I am not a quitter.  And I don’t truly consider this quitting.  I’m not much of a goal oriented person, but I did have a few vague overall goals when I started my running challenge – run every day, make exercise a habit.  But ultimately, my goal is to be healthier.  And exercise and physical fitness is just one aspect of my health.  I am still very determined to change some things in my life to improve my overall health, happiness, and general well-being.  With so many things going on in my life at the moment, I’ve realized that I need to focus more on other areas of my life if I want to be able to successfully start any type of exercise regimen.

If you know me at all, you know that personal organization and time management are not exactly strengths of mine.  I say “personal organization” because strangely enough, I can be very organized when it comes to projects at work or planning an event, yet I can’t manage to organize my life enough to eat breakfast every day or to do laundry regularly (seriously, I wait until I am stuck wearing awful clothes that I hate from the back of my closet, then I wait a few more days, and then I finally wash just a few loads of laundry to get my through another week.)

A couple months ago, my mom mentioned that the Kenny Chesney song, “The Woman With You” reminded her of me… At first, I thought it was strange, until she said that it was because of how I’m always on the go and busy with so many things at once.  I didn’t really think anything of it until the next time I heard the song on the radio and realized just how much I can relate to that song these days.  I’ve always loved that song, and I’ve always connected with it, but it really hit home the last time I heard it. 

(For those of you who can’t stand country music and will refuse to play the video and listen to the song, it’s basically about a woman who is feeling run-down from trying to keep up with so many things.)

I should not be feeling this way at 23 years old, single, with no kids, living at home with my parents.  And I know that as I get older and have more responsibilities (kids, a house to maintain, etc.) that this feeling will only get worse if I don’t make some changes in my life NOW.

I’m trying to figure out how to balance the many priorities in my life right now.  A few of the bigger things:

Work.  Not just going to work, but also going to work and having the energy and focus that I need to do my job well.  I have been extremely distracted and unmotivated up until recently; I’m finally getting back into the groove of things and don’t want to let that slip away again.

Sleep.  This seems like a strange thing to have to make a priority, but I have learned that I am one of those people who needs a good 7-8 hours of sleep a night to function well, which is a challenge because I am naturally a night-owl, yet need to get up early(ish) for work in the morning.  Forcing myself to actually go to sleep by 10 is nearly impossible, especially when I am trying to keep up with other things.

Relaxation/happiness/mental health.  Again, this seems like it should be an easy one – shouldn’t it be easy to do the things that make us happy? – Not all the time.  Unfortunately, doing fun things tends to pull me away from other priorities, which I then feel guilty about falling behind on. Thus, as soon as the fun activities end, I am beating myself up about not finishing “important task X” that I didn’t get finished.

Learning to play guitar.  Okay, I’m not actually learning to play guitar.  If you know me, you also know that I am musically challenged and this is never something I would even want to attempt.  But I am working on something very important, and very time consuming that I would prefer not to share with the world yet… So the best analogy I can think of would be learning to play an instrument: this task is difficult, requires daily effort, and I need to finish it by a certain date (say you’re practicing for your first concert/recital).  For the purposes of this blog, I’ll just refer to this other task/goal as learning to play the guitar.  This seems so mysterious, but it’s really not anything that crazy; just not something I want to tell the world just yet.

Health, fitness, and exercise.  While I’m no longer trying to run every day, I do still want to keep up with some sort of physical activity.  This is about balance, remember?

As I mentioned in my post earlier this week, I was feeling very overwhelmed with everything I needed to get done.  I decided to just chalk this week up as a loss as far as productivity is concerned, and instead just relax these past few evenings after work.  I got a massage, did some reading, watched some TV, and made a great dinner I’d been looking forward to for days.  And most importantly, I didn’t worry about all the things that weren’t getting done.  None of them are super critical to be done this week, so I let them go.  

Ordinarily, I’d say this is the worst possible thing to do to improve your productivity, but I think this week it was exactly what I needed.  Did I get anything accomplished this week?  Not really.  Am I still stressed? Yes.  Am I overwhelmed to the point that I feel like the world is ending? No!  I still have all the same things on my to-do list, but it feels much more manageable!  Also, now that I’m not so worried about the world ending, I’ve been able to come up with a rough plan to stay on-task with my “guitar practicing”, maintain some balance, and not lose my mind!

As part of trying to maintain some balance, every week I will:

Cook 1 meal.  I enjoy cooking.  Cooking is my de-stresser.  Also, generally when I cook, I choose something fairly healthy, so I end up feeling good about what I’m eating.  Plus, this helps toward the whole health/fitness side of things. 

Pack lunch once a week.  Again, if I pack a lunch, it’s probably healthier than anything I would buy for lunch.  And it also takes some stress out of my work day, because if I’m having a busy day, I don’t have to find time to run out to pick up something for lunch, then feel bad about eating something unhealthy.  I can take the full hour to just relax, eat, chat with coworkers, blog, or “practice guitar.”  Or I can also just knock out whatever task I’m working on and not have to take a break to go buy something, so I get it finished sooner and feel better about being able to cross something off my to-do list!  It’s a win-win!

Do 1 fitness class.  I’m currently signed up for a Yoga and a Muscle Mix class at my local Y.  I’d like to do both each week, but I will do at least 1 a week for sure.

Go for at least 1 walk or run.  I’d like to keep running at least occasionally since I hope to eventually try another 60 days of running or something similar.  But sometimes just going for a walk is more of a stress reliever.  Running for me is a challenge, so I’m not yet to the point that it’s always an escape from everything else going on in my life, because it’s still one of the things that adds pressure… does that make sense?  Walking on the other hand, can give me a chance to just slow down for once.

Clean or organize something –anything.  As I said, I am disorganized.  In addition to my time management, this disorganization includes my physical surroundings… Clutter is my middle name.  A certain amount of clutter and disorganization is comfortable for me, but lately it’s at a point that I feel like it’s interfering with other things.

“Practice Guitar” – I have a sort of “practice schedule”, so to speak, that I am following and that I will be trying to stick with pretty closely.  Crazy as it may seem, I’m aiming to devote about 10-12 hours a week to this – on top of 55+ hours a week at work or commuting; on top of all these other things I’m trying to do, along with some other stress-causing events that have occurred lately – so you can see where this has had an impact on my usual habits and routines and how I managed to get overwhelmed. 

If you actually read this entire post, wow!  Kudos to you!  Or maybe you just have too much time on your hands?  Either way, I appreciate it, and I hope if any of you are feeling overwhelmed that maybe one teensy bit of this post is applicable to your situation and can help you out!

I have a crazy few weeks ahead of me, but I think I can handle it… wish me luck!

60 Day Running Challenge: Status - Failed

Okay, so far, the one thing I’ve learned from my 60 Day Running Challenge is that working out while traveling is nearly impossible!  Especially if it’s not a “lounge on the beach and relax” vacation where you have endless amounts of time.  During these 60 days, I’ve had one volunteer trip and one business trip… both completely disrupted my workout routine.  Whether it’s a long day of driving or flights get delayed or you lose time with a time zone change, it’s pretty tough to do any exercise on the days traveling to or from your destination… So those days are pretty much a loss from the start.  Then there’s the days leading up to the trip where maybe you are busy doing laundry or packing, or maybe finalizing travel plans… It’s tough to find time to exercise!  Then you’ve got the trip itself… On the volunteer trip, I was basically busy all day and then exhausted in the evenings.  In reality, the volunteering itself was a workout – spending an hour lifting 50 pound bags of dog food or spending 5 hours in the hot sun moving debris from a disaster area are not exactly couch-potato activities! – but that meant I did not stick to my plan to actually run in the evenings.  On the business trip, I was partially at the mercy of my schedule and my co-workers schedules, as well as trying to do some sightseeing.  Again, I did a decent bit of walking, so some might consider that a workout, but I did not do any running.  And traveling was just one of many things that threw a wrench into my plans…

At this point, I’m on Day 45 of my 60 Day Running Challenge and have only actually run for 21 of those 45 days. I had two streaks of 10 days in a row, and one random other day.   I’m at a less than 50% success rate, which is pretty disappointing.  And right now, I’m feeling very overwhelmed with some other things going on in my life, making it even more difficult to find time to run.  I know I always feel better after a run, but I feel like I have to sacrifice time from something else important in order to do it. 

I don’t want to give up, but I do feel that I need to reprioritize a bit until I get a few things under control.  The entire point of my 60 Day Challenge was to make exercise a habit, and I’m not doing that if I’m skipping 2 weeks at a time.  My hope was that by making running (and exercise in general) a daily habit, I would be able to keep at it even when life gets crazy… Unfortunately, life got crazy before I had a chance to develop the habit.  Trying to make your own changes in life when life is trying to make other changes for you is a tricky thing to do. 

So unfortunately, I think this is the end of my “60 Days of Running” – at least for now.  I am not giving up on making exercise a habit though, so keep an eye out for an upcoming post about what I’ll be doing instead!

60 Day Running Challenge: Week 5 (sort of)

If you read my last post, then you know this doesn't really count as week 5 since I basically took about 2 weeks off.  But for the sake of avoiding "repeat" weeks and getting myself all confused about things, I'm still calling last week "Week 5" and will continue to do so.

Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed in myself after last week.  I started out strong, but then had a crappy end of a week in general, which resulting in a crappy end of a week running-wise.

Sunday:  0.99 miles          14:43 minutes       14:48 min/mile pace
Monday: 2.28 miles          32:16 minutes       14:10 min/mile pace
Tuesday: 1.11 miles          13:44 minutes       12:20 min/mile pace
Wednesday: 0.32 miles     5:00 minutes        (On treadmill, - too lazy to calculate pace)    plus 1 hour yoga
Thursday: 0.75 miles         13:28 minutes       17:57 min/mile pace
Friday: 1.28 miles              22:51 minutes      17:50 min/mile pace
Saturday: no run, skipped "muscle mix" class

Now at a glance, if you look strictly at distances, this week doesn't look too awful.  Wednesday would be the worst day if distance is all i'm looking at, but Wednesday was yoga day, which I usually stick to a shorter, lighter run anyway.  I was running late getting to the gym though, so I ended up running after yoga instead of before it - I don't recommend that... Running at 9pm after an hour of relaxation does not go so well, but i still ran for 5 minutes, so I'm okay with it.

Thursday and Friday on the other hand... I have mixed feelings about.  Both days I was just not having a good day.  I was in a bad mood to begin with, plus I got a new phone that is awkward to run with which put me in an even worse mood when it came time to run.  On the one hand, I'm proud of myself for at least putting on the running shoes and heading outside.  On the other hand, I only actually ran for probably less than 3 minutes each day, but I did make myself at least stay out and walk a while longer... I'm disappointed in myself for letting a bad attitude get in the way of sticking with my running plan, but I also know that even attempting to get out and run is a huge improvement over what I would have done before I started this plan.

Saturday morning I was supposed to go to my Muscle Mix class, but since I'd had such a mentally and emotionally exhausting week, I decided not to set an alarm and that I would go if I woke up on time but otherwise I would skip.  Well, I didn't wake up on time.  And then i decided to be lazy all day and basically do nothing all day.  And by mid afternoon I had decided I wasn't going to run at all that day either.  I felt a bit guilty for skipping my run when the previous two days had been basically skipping too, but sometimes you just need a day off where all you do is relax.  So I lounged around all day and then went to a movie with a friend Saturday night.  I did no run, I did not go to the Muscle Mix class, and I basically did nothing productive all day.  And it was wonderful.

Even at the end of the day Saturday, I wasn't too terribly upset with myself for not such a great end to the week.  I definitely felt refreshed after having a day to just relax and felt like I would be able to get this week off to a good start.  Unfortunately, the downside to taking a day off is that there are things that need to get done sooner or later... So Sunday I was playing catch-up all day.  I had a relatively productive day and was able to get caught up on most of the things I needed to get done over the weekend... but I didn't run.  Mid-afternoon I even changed into running clothes, but I just continued with everything else I was working on.  I took a few breaks to read and do a few other things, but I still never went for a run.  I had a lot to get done, but I could have made the time for a short run if I had really made an effort.  But I didn't.  I made one excuse after another.  First I was too busy right then and decided I would run when I reached a good stopping point.  Then it was too soon after lunch.  Then I was too hungry and ready for dinner.  Excuses.  And that is why I am most disappointed in myself.  Not only did I have a couple lazy "runs" (let's be honest, Thursday and Friday were walks), and then took a day off, but I had no good reason not to run Sunday, and I ended up skipping two days in a row because I was making excuses.

I know this week is going to be a tough week to stay on track, because I'll be doing some traveling for work.  There are two days that I pretty much know I won't run because of the time spent flying, dealing with security, and the time zone changes.  I know tonight will be tough because I will be busy trying to get all the last minute things figured out and packing finished and everything.  And when I get back, I will be tired from the jet lag and the late flight... Not to mention the days that I'm actually working out of town, I'll have to eat out, and some of what I do will be dependent on co-workers and how things go during the day, so it may be a bit more challenging to find time to run since I won't be sticking to my usual schedule.

Last time I got completely off track when I took a last minute road trip.  I think it's understandable that it's harder to work out when you're traveling, but I shouldn't have let it get me completely off track for two weeks when the trip was only 3 days.  This time I'm determined to do better, but I know it will still be a challenge... Wish me luck!

60 Day Running Challenge: Back on track! (Week 4 update)

A few weeks back, I started a 60 Day running challenge with 4 basic rules… I lasted 10 days.  Then I hit a few Road Blocks and had a hard time getting started back up again. Now I'm getting back on track!

Here's my progress so far: 

Week 1: Ran 7 days.  A total of 7.53 miles… Awesome first week!

Week 2: Ran 3 days.  A total of 2.52 miles… Not so awesome…

Week 3: What week 3? 

Week 4: Started up again!

     Sunday: still not running again…

     Monday:  0.81 miles  11:31 min  14:14 min/mile

     Tuesday: Lazy and skipped a day

     Wednesday:  .83 miles  15:00 min (on a treadmill) followed by a 1 hour Yoga class!

     Thursday:  1.98 miles  31:28 min 15:55 min/mile  (day 1 of Couch to 5k!)

     Friday: 1.16 miles  16:20 min   14:02 min/mile

     Saturday: .75 miles   12 minutes   (on treadmill)  followed by a 1 hour pump class!

This means in Week 4, even though I missed two days, I still ran a total of 5.53 miles, ran for about an hour and a half, plus two fitness classes… That’s 209 fitness minutes in one week! 

A few things I’m doing differently now to try to stay on track:

• Run at a more consistent time – Wednesdays are different because of my yoga class, and weekends are a bit more inconsistent, but I still try to plan out when I’m going to run ahead of time… If I have it scheduled into my day, it’s harder to skip!
• Variety! – I’m still going to run every day.  But I’ve also added yoga and strength training!  Since I’m doing other exercise, I run less on my yoga and strength class days.  I use these as sort of my “taking a break” days and try to run at an easy pace for no more than 15 minutes before class.  Plus, a treadmill is slightly lower impact than the cement and asphalt I usually run on, so it gives my body a little bit of a break from running. 
• Vary the distance/intensity – The first time around, I was basically just running as long as I could or as long as I felt like each day… Since I was really motivated in the beginning, this means I was probably running a bit more than I should have to get started.  After about a week, I was dealing with shin splints, which made the idea of running a bit less exciting… just one of many factors that led to taking two weeks off.  This time, I’m adding in 2-3 Couch to 5K runs a week (which last for 30 minutes and follow a run-walk interval).  These are longer runs, but they force me to take regular walking breaks, rather than just walking once my body absolutely needs it.  As the name of the program suggests, it’s great for beginners, so it’s not too physically demanding, while still getting a good workout in.  As I move forward, the walking intervals will get shorter and the running intervals get longer.  On my non-C25K days, and my non-class days, I still have to run, but it can be whatever length and intensity I feel like that day – or whatever I have time for!  If I’m feeling great but only have a few minutes, maybe I run for 10 minutes but give it all I’ve got.  If I’ve got a lot of time but not feeling up to a full blown C25K run, maybe I’ll run for 5-10 minutes but also do a really long walk… Doesn’t matter as long as I run!

Let’s hope week 5 is as awesome as week 4!  So far, I’ve run both days, and a total of 3.27 miles!  

Road Blocks

If you’ve been following this blog at all, then you know I’ve been trying to make some positive changes in my life, including Meatless May and a 60 Day Running Challenge.  Well about a week and a half ago, I had to make a slight detour on the road to change (cheesy, I know, but I couldn’t help myself.)  I made a very sudden decision to go on a volunteer trip over Memorial Day weekend… Needless to say, I did not exactly stay on track with my goals.

As far as Meatless May goes, I was able to continue with not eating meat, but I wasn’t exactly cooking delicious healthy meals during the trip… Food provided for volunteers in some areas meant cheese pizza; convenience microwave food in the hotel was popcorn and easy-mac; and food on the road was taco bell bean burritos and subway veggie sandwich…  Not to mention, there were a lot of peanut butter sandwiches.  I did manage to stay vegetarian though, and even was still able to make a few healthy eating choices (I brought an entire bag of apples!), so I’d say for a last minute road trip, it was pretty successful!  This was probably more accurately described as a speed bump than a road block.

My 60 day running challenge, on the other hand, took a detour, got lost, and had no GPS signal with an out-dated map.  My last run was May 21^st (nearly two weeks ago!)  The Wednesday and Thursday leading up to the trip were pretty jam-packed with last minute preparations, leaving little time for anything else, so I ended up not running.  Friday, I was on the road from the minute I left work until about 2am, so once again, I didn’t run.  Saturday and Sunday were full of volunteering, and the volunteer work was pretty physically demanding, so I don’t feel too bad about not running on these days, but I probably could have managed a short run in the evenings if I’d really wanted to. Monday we volunteered in the morning, followed by another long drive home, which meant I didn’t run.

While I was kinda disappointed that I didn’t run while I was gone, I was okay with it, because it was for a good cause, and two of the days I did still get some exercise just by the volunteer work I was doing.  I told myself that I would start running again after work Tuesday and would just add the missed days onto the end of my 60 days to make up for them…  Then Tuesday after work I was still exhausted from my trip, so I told myself I’d start Wednesday… Now here I am, an entire week after getting back from my trip, and I still have not run again!  Some days I was making excuses (like still being really tired) and other days I simply forgot! 

This is exactly why I started this challenge!  When I first started, running was something I had to consciously plan on and make time for.  Even though I was barely a week into the challenge, it was already becoming a bit more routine… After 60 days, I think it will just be something that I’ll automatically want to do and won’t feel like it’s such a chore.  The first few days, I had pretty decent reasons for not running, but then it became excuses, and then it just got to where I didn’t even remember that I was supposed to be running. 

Well, now I remember, and I don’t have a single reason not to run (though I’m sure I could think of some excuses if I tried), so tonight I will be starting my running again.  I’m still going to count my first week and all of my missed days as part of my “60 Days,” and when I get to the end, I’ll at least add on the missed days.  Honestly, I am not as excited about running as I was when I first started, and I am not really looking forward to running tonight, but I’m hoping after a couple days I will be back on track!

Meatless May: Complete!

It’s officially June, and Meatless May is over!  Ultimately, my goal for Meatless May had less to do with not eating meat and more to do with being healthier, trying new foods, and eating more fruits and vegetables.  While I did go the entire month without eating meat, I felt like I was much more successful during the first couple weeks, and as life got busy, I started cooking less, and eating more convenience foods that were not as healthy (but still meatless!)

I did not and still do not have any intention of becoming vegetarian.  In fact, this weekend I ate meat at both lunch and dinner both days.  However, there are plenty of great foods I discovered and habits I developed during Meatless May that I will be doing my best to continue with:

Smoothies – I’ve finally realized just how quick and easy smoothies truly are – it helps that we recently got a new blender that is super easy to clean – and have been eating/drinking them much more frequently.  They’ve become a pretty typical weekend breakfast food for me, and even the occasional weekday morning.  On nights that I don’t really feel like cooking, it hasn’t been uncommon for me to make a smoothie along with a small sandwich or leftover veggies instead of picking up fast food or making grilled cheese, or grabbing something random (and probably unhealthy) from the freezer.

Quinoa – I’ve only cooked with quinoa a few times this month, but I am definitely looking forward to trying new recipes with it and using it as a way to get a filling, protein-rich meal without excessive amounts of meat. 

Veggies can be a main dish! – people typically think of vegetables as being a side dish to go along with meat… why can’t it be the other way around?  I mean really, look at chicken-fried-rice for example – the focus of the meal is the rice, and it’s often loaded up with veggies along with the chicken; if I had to guess, I’d say that a typical serving is probably less than 25% chicken.  So when I want to eat ribs, corn, and green beans, why can’t I eat primarily green beans and corn, with just a small serving of ribs?

Avocado – I’ve always like avocado and guacamole, but never realized just how much avocado can “beef up” a meatless meal.  A veggie sub from subway or Jimmy Johns is wimpy and not filling in my opinion (it may be because I don’t like tomatoes, so I feel like it doesn’t have much substance), but adding the avocado spread is just enough to make it more substantial.  And of course, avocado is AMAZING with any type of Mexican food, such as my black bean and corn salad or stuffed peppers!

Veggie burgers! – if you’ve read any of my previous posts about Meatless May, then you know I have a new love of veggie burgers.  While I haven’t made any from scratch yet, I absolutely love the Morningstar ones and will be continuing to keep them in my freezer at all times (seriously, I went grocery shopping on May 31^st, and bought 5 boxes even though Meatless May was ending.)  To me, they are a great alternative to so many unhealthy convenience foods… Craving frozen pizza or pizza rolls?  Eat one of the tomato basil pizza burgers topped with a touch of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.  When you would normally heat up a frozen processed chicken patty for convenience, grab any other veggie burger for something just as fast, with more variety, and much healthier!

Apples – Apples have always been my favorite fruit, but during Meatless May, I ate one just about every day, and some days would easily eat 2 or 3.  Apples are amazing.  Whole apples, sliced apples, plain apples, apples with peanut butter, gala apples, granny smith apples; if it’s an apple, I want to eat it!  The end of Meatless May will not be the end of my apple obsession.

Less junk food – as far as snacking goes, during Meatless May I didn’t tend to crave a lot of junk food.  When I wanted a snack (even if it was the “mindless snacking” when I wasn’t actually hungry), I just sort of gravitated to options like fresh fruit, carrots, yogurt, or nuts.  I attribute this to a few things.  First, I feel like the less I eat junk food, the less I want it.  If I start my day with a smoothie, and eat an apple for a morning snack, and then have quinoa and veggies for lunch, by the time the afternoon rolls around, potato chips don’t even cross my mind.  Secondly, I knew there would be days that my vegetarian meals might not be as filling as I would like, so I had some filling healthy snack options available for when this happened.  Since I had a jar of almonds in my desk, they were a much more logical snack option than getting crap from the vending machine.  Thirdly, I was also making a conscious effort to eat less processed crap and junk food.  Since the entire point of Meatless May was to build healthier eating habits, I figured it would sort of counter intuitive to eat a bunch of garbage along with all the healthy things.

While I’ve made a few healthy changes in the past month, I still have a long way to go.  I’m not great about taking the time to pack my lunch, meaning I end up making bad food choices for lunch more often than I’d like.  And while I do eat less junk food, there are some things, like ice cream, that I will never completely give up… I could probably work on some of my portion sizes with these things though. 

There may be a few more follow-up posts, but for the most part, Meatless May is over!  I’m not sure if I’ll do any other “challenges” this extreme or not, but I’m definitely planning on continuing with my new healthier habits as well as building some new ones.  But who knows, maybe next month I’ll try “Junk-free July!”