Get thee behind me, pizza!

Is it March already?

Not only is it March, but we're well into March. The kiddos here in Houston are on their spring break, the flowers are starting to bloom, and I've been able to sit outside on some glorious spring days. 

However, I didn't really do too well on my February plan to taking control of what I eat and drink, as part of making 2013 The Year of Health and Wellness. My plan was:

• To use an online tool to track what I eat and drink
• Drink only one caloric beverage a day 
• Eat lunch out only on Fridays, and stick to salads and soups when I do so.
• Plan my meals for the week each Sunday and shop accordingly.

I have rooted out a big culprit in eating unhealthy: my office is always full of food. We host lots of meetings for board members, guests visiting from other teams, our teachers. Every time we do so, we order food, and then the leftovers are put out on the counter for anyone to share.

So while I've been planning my meals and cooking healthy, I've also been eating lots of junk food at work.

In March, my plan is to stick to the four bulleted rules above, and to add one more:

• Don't eat food at work unless it's part of the weekly meal plan (or the occasional cookie - but ONLY ONE, and only if it's a kind I actually like.)

Sometimes we have team lunches and I'll know ahead of time, so I can plan for it. I'm not going to give up those, because I consider them an important part of our team culture. However, I am going to forego the leftover pizza, chips and dips, bagels, etc. I bring healthy snacks each day, but sometimes they go uneatedn. So I'm going to eat those instead of eating leftovers.

So, spring, let's see what you've got for me.

Can-Can't

Oh hey.

What? Where have I been?

Oh... has it been that long?

I realize that I've been a negligent blogger. I also realize that I've been a negligent blog reader, in that there are many of you out there that I like to read about and who(m? Ifbyyes - can you help me here?) I consider friends through the blogosphere. I haven't been commenting on your blogs either.  This is largely due to the fact that, because I've been trying to get control of my time, I don't always open my computer when I get home in the evening. That internetting takes up a lot of time!

And also, I've been busy giving up canned goods.

I'm pretty sure that this is way more than I should be tackling right now. And it wasn't a goal or a plan. It just sort of ... happened.

How does one give up canned goods by accident?

Accidentally, of course.

As you might have read, scientists have recently discovered that canned foods can cause levels of BPA (an endocrine disrupting chemical) in urine to rise. In general, it's not great to disrupt your body's hormones. 

This finding was quite the bummer for me, because I've always thought of canning as the most innocuous form of food processing... on absolutely no authority whatsoever. The packaging is recyclable, it seemed old-fashioned, and the ingredients in canned goods tend to be conspicuously food-like. 

BPA is usually found in plastics. However, those sneaky food companies have been lining their cans with a kind of plastic coating that's got BPA in it. Some brands, like Eden Organics, have been BPA-free for awhile. Others, like Muir Glen, have gone BPA-free (although there may be cans with BPA on the shelves, since the whole point of canned food is that it lasts forever. Check those labels!) 

When I learned all this -- a little late to the party, I know, since a lot of the data came out in 2011 -- I just sort of shrugged and said to myself, well, I've got a slow cooker. Let's see if I can make stewed tomatoes.

The answer is yes (recipe to come). Since then, I've been using my slow cooker each week to make one staple that I usually buy canned - like black beans. I've even learned how to make refried beans, although I'm still perfecting the recipe. 

I store the staples in the freezer until I need them for a recipe. And something I've realized? The canned food I've been buying all these years? It doesn't actually taste like the real thing.  Canned refried beans are nothing like refried beans you make at home (they aren't even the same color!)  Stewed tomatoes from the slow cooker fill your home with a delicious fragrance. While canned tomatoes? No fragrance.

I'm not one of those self-righteous types who is going to swoon upon my fainting couch and declare: henceforth no canned food shall touch my lips. I'm pretty sure that soon I will think: Damn. I want burritos. Give me that Rosarita! But I like knowing that I can live without canned food.

Although, when the zombie apocalypse comes, I'll probably starve to death.

Coming up: The recipe for those stewed tomatoes. And then a recipe for pasta USING those stewed tomatoes.

Welcome, February!

In January, the "Year of Health and Wellness" got off to a good start. My goal was to get control of my time, so that I could be successful on other health goals. While I'm still working on it (I have a particularly busy week ahead), I feel as though I've made some crucial changes:

• Working at the office past six only one night a week.
• Planning target hours when I will be at the office each day.
• Blocking off time every Monday morning to plan the week ahead, and what I must accomplish during the week.

My February tactic is to: take control of my eating and drinking.

To do this, I plan:

• To use an online tool to track what I eat and drink
• Drink only one caloric beverage a day (beverages are my weakness: I can guzzle a glass of lemonade - my favorite beverage - in 5 seconds flat. Add coffee, cocktails, fun juices .... grr)
• Eat lunch out only on Fridays, and stick to salads and soups when I do so.
• Plan my meals for the week each Sunday and shop accordingly.

The last one is something that I've done pretty consistently over time, but I think I can make it work even better by planning out snacks and beverages as well as the main meals.

I wanted to get control of my time before I tackled anything related to eating, because when I'm not using my time wisely, I do things like eating take-away while I drive between schools for work or forgetting to pack snacks in my lunch.

The meal plan this week? 

(I usually cook two main dishes per week, and divide them up between dinners and lunches).

Main dishes: Dak Bokkeum (Korean stewed chicken over rice), Senegalese Peanut and Sweet Potato Stew

Breakfasts: English muffin with egg and vegetarian sausage

Snacks: Greek yogurt, apples, bananas, trail mix (1/4 c. portions or smaller), baby carrots

What are you cooking this week?

 

Time On My Side

My pants were falling off today.

I noticed yesterday that I was able to tighten my belt more than I have been for awhile. So I weighed myself, and I'd lost four pounds. Hence, the pants falling off.

This was pretty interesting, because even though I declared 2013 to be the year of health and wellness, January is not about eating better or exercising more. My first move in 2013 is to get control of my time. I established target hours for being in the office, cut back evening work to one night a week, and have been attempting (mostly unsuccessfully) to wake up earlier. 

Getting control of my time, however, means that I've had time to go for walks and to cook healthy food. When I feel out of control of my time, I watch too much TV, eat late at night, and eat too much take-away. I'm also less green - I throw things away instead of recycling, and I don't eat the organic and unprocessed foods I prefer.

So it looks like this step has been a step in the direction of health. What about wellness?

I'm definitely feeling more "well" - more happy and content. I'm sleeping better and have more energy when I'm awake. 

Getting control of my time, however, has meant, making hard choices about where I actually spend my time. My work is very intense, so I sometimes feel guilty walking out the door when others are still at the office.

The truth is, however, that if I want to do this work for the long term (my work is in ed reform), then I have to make sure that I have a very satisfying, well-rounded life. 

My next step is to commit to spending time each weekend planning for the week ahead: menus, shopping lists, target work hours, and priorities for the week.

How is 2013 starting out for you?

Getting Control of My Time...

I've declared 2013 the year of health and wellness, and to begin, January is the month to get control of my time.

I'm trying to take small steps forward so that I can create sustainable change in my life.

I've started to think about what holds me back from feeling in control of my time. This summer, I got a promotion and switched teams in my company. My new job is very intense. There's a lot to do, and I work with a ton of people that I love. That means that there's a definite temptation to stay at work late, hanging out with all of the fun people who also have a lot to do.

The downside of this is that staying late means that I don't have time for the things that sustain my mental health: writing, exercising, and cooking.

My first step in getting control of my time, then, is to plan target hours for being at the office. I've been looking at all the things that I must accomplish at work, approximating how long they should take, and then planning when I want to be at work.

So far, it's been successful -- I've been able to find some time to blog (of course!), and I've done at least some exercise every day this week (I'm super out of shape, so I'm trying to start slow so that I don't hurt myself). Because of this, I'm already feeling more energized and mentally healthy.

Of course, doing something for a week and a half is not too hard. Sustainability is essential. That's why I'm trying to create one change at a time.

How are things going with your New Year's changes?

This is the year ...

... of health and wellness!

"The Farm"

Last year, I followed the lead of my bloggie (and happy to say, also real-life) friend Sara from Feeding the Soil and chose a theme for the year. The theme was "This is the year I find a home." I set a vision for what I wanted to be true for my new home, and on July 1st I moved to "The Farm," a rental on a half-acre (but still in the city!) with a porch, a garden, and lots of room to spread out.  I've also come to the terms with the fact that I don't really want to be someone who settles down in one place for all eternity. I always felt there was something wrong with me because I get queasy at the idea of living in one place "forever." But that's just the way that I am, and there's nothing wrong with that. I've been in Houston almost 10 years, but I don't feel the need to claim that I'll always stay here ... or that I'm definitively aiming to go anywhere else.

Since last year's theme was a big success, I thought that this year I would do the same thing, and dedicate this year to a theme (rather than a series of resolutions or goals).

So...

2013 is the year of health and wellness.

I don't just mean the usual New Year's goals, like losing weight or exercising more - although I want to do those things. I want to achieve more whole body/mind health in the new year. Last year, I really let those things slide - what with moving, changing jobs, etc.

I know that if I make the typical New Year's attempt to turn everything around at once, I'm not going to create a sustainable change. So I'm going to take a series of steps.

Number one, to address the root of the problem, in January, I want to get control of my time.

Why start a year of health and wellness with time? Why not start with eating healthier or exercising? For me, using time well is the root of health. I'm simply not a happy person if I don't have time to do the things I love - like reading, writing, and walking. Over the last year, I've stopped doing these things on a regular basis as I've tried to figure out a schedule in my new job that works for me.

I'll fill you in on how it's going soon. Happy new year!