One thing I know is I have the most success when I have all aspects of wellness going strong simultaneously. Another thing I know is that is extremely hard to do.
What I'm talking about is having my eating and exercise "A game" on both at the same time. The reason it's so hard for me is because it's a lot of balls to be juggling. I'm one of those people who don't like to do things that I'm not good at and when it comes to things I'm good at, I overdo it.
So the last couple of months I have the exercise part of my wellness goals down pat - those balls are being juggled just fine. I'm working with Jim to make sure I get to class, I have my workout clothes clean and ready to go, I know where my water bottle is - I'm nailing it.
The eating part? Not so much. Some of the eating balls are up in the air, but others are flying all over the place and several of them are on the ground collecting dust.
My biggest obstacle right now is I don't want to go grocery shopping because I don't know what to fix for meals. Finding recipes with less than five ingredients, that take less than
45 minutes to make and that all four of us will like is nearly
impossible. I'm not good at it, so I don't even want to try.
As the working day started to come to an end yesterday, I started thinking about evening responsibilities: dinner, homework, laundry, etc.
What was I going to make for dinner?Oh my gosh you guys - I just wanted to cry my eyes out. I realized that this has been a huge cloud over me lately. I haven't been cooking, I haven't been grocery shopping. It seems like whatever I do make, Gracie won't eat. Jim would be happy with cereal, but I don't want that. I want to make a healthy warm dinner, on plates and to sit all together at the table and actually talk for five minutes before we are all running off to do our own thing.
I know me and when I feel this out of control, getting the control back is exactly what I need.
So I took the first step.
I read a
blog post on menu planning that I've had pinned for awhile. The first step was to write down a list of dinners that we eat on a regular basis. I was so resistant to even do this tiny step. It seemed too easy, but yet like a huge task. I wrote down a few things like spaghetti, tacos, chili. And then I remembered a weight watchers chimichangas recipe that we had tried a few months ago that we really liked so I wrote that down. Before I knew it I had a dozen meals written down.
That gave me the little bit of confidence I needed to take the next step. I picked out five meals from the list to make for dinner this week.
Then I realized that I would need the recipes and ingredient list so I could go to the grocery store. I printed off the recipes that I had on my list and added them to a binder in protector sheets.
I was feeling so much better with just those easy steps. Reading this back makes me fee so incompetent, but I honestly was so overwhelmed by this area in my life that I couldn't even find the strength to fix it. It's one of those things I wish I would have just tried months ago.
Last night I made the chimichangas and we ate as a family. And we talked. And everyone ate everything on their plate.
I would like to build on this little foundation I started and continue working on meals plans, trying new recipes, getting a system down that works for us.
Oh and p.s. - I had leftovers so I brought them to work today instead of eating out. Score!
