As it so often happens, Bess and I are blogging about similar issues. She's all psyched for diving into the stash, and I'm all psyched about diving into the kitchen. I woke up this morning with a resolve to start a new adventure of my own, in my very own kitchen. My eating habits have gone to hell. I have gained weight. I am sluggish and cranky and find it hard to get through the work day. My eating habits are lousy and my exercise habits are worse. And it's been this way for some time, but the older I get, the less I can bounce back from backsliding, or get a response from a half-assed, temporary attempt at a "diet."
And the irony is that I spent a boatload of money on a glamorous gourmet kitchen, where I throw a frozen pizza in my convection oven and open a beer. It's particularly stupid because I LIKE to cook. I love to try new recipes, I love to create in the kitchen. So far this weekend I've made not only the sourdough pancakes, but organic fat-free yogurt, the Mexican chicken casserole (quite good) and fruit bars. I loved doing it. Why don't I do it all the time?
So I woke up this morning, got on the scale, nearly screamed at the number it showed me, and realized that this is just...crazy. I've screwed around with trying to lose weight on my own, with trying to do it without fixing real meals, with not cutting back on the pizza and beer, with half-assed spurts of exercise (which, of course, entitled me to eat whatever I wanted). I've hit rock bottom, er, Fat Bottom. I admit it, I can't pull myself out of this spiral into Flab City without radical changes. So here's my pledge: I do solemnly swear to use the kitchen, and become a Born Again Weight Watcher. I swear to explore new WW recipes, cook real meals, bring healthy snacks to work, and get off my ass and exercise again, and not so I can eat like a construction guy and drink beer, either. And it's going to be fun!
Dinner tonight: Vegetable-Peanut Stir-Fry. I have some shrimp in the freezer left over from another recipe, I'll throw those in. Leftovers will be lunch tomorrow.
Have you checked out Epicurious.com? They have great recipes that you can search based on various criteria, including how healthy they are. They are gourmet recipes from gourmet magazines so they're not always a five-minute adventure and you need to keep things like capers on hand. But still delicious!
ReplyDeleteI have capers on hand at all times! I've used Epicurious for years, it's great.
ReplyDeleteBy the by, about the stir-fry - it's too many veggies to stir-fry efficiently, and the sauce made it gloppy. That isn't stopping Dudley for crying for some of it, though. Not that He Who Poops More Than 4x a Day is allowed to have that many veggies, or fruit bars (he's crying for those too).
ReplyDeleteOn your recommendation, I have the mexican lasagna ingredients on the shopping list! Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteYou go girl. I'm not being quite so vocal about my rededication to WW but that too is actually part of what's going on in my world. I wouldn't say I love cooking, but I like it enough and by golly, I love being slender and hate it that only one suit jacket buttons at the moment.
ReplyDeleteFor me - the big twist in natural inclination is to plan things ahead. But when I saw how small the grocery bill was last week I began to see Other Rewards to this besides butting my blouses again.
btw - if WW still sells the Cook it Quick cookbook, snap it up. The turkey mole recipe alone is worth the price of the book. That one's a bit fiddly but they are serious about quick recipes throughout.
Honey, I'm with you! I've been back on Weight Watchers Core Plan now for two weeks, and I'm finally seeing the results I couldn't get on my own with my sporadic attempts. I have slow but sure results. But I also need to get back on a exercise routine too. That's the part I'm not doing yet, and I need to do it to get permanent results. Good luck, I know you will do it once you get to making some healthy foods.
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