Setting Balanced Goals

I mentioned in my introductory post that the New Year's Resolutions of diet plans drive me crazy. That doesn't mean that I didn't start my year off with a set of goals.

I'm big on "refreshing" your goals once the initial ones have been achieved, and not waiting for the new year or a birthday or even Sunday to get started. But it just so happened that I was doing a lot of  thinking towards the start of the new year, about the changes I want to make in my life.

After being diagnosed with ADHD just weeks after my 28th birthday (and thinking, WOW this explains so much of my struggles earlier in life!) and starting medication, I began better able to organize my thoughts and complete more tasks. Changed meds a couple of times until I got it right, but now that I think it's all in place, I have been able to create - and stick to - a calendar of household chores that I need to do: laundry (frequently - because our washer and dryer are SO SMALL), going through mail, paying bills, and keeping things organized. Oh, and keeping up on top of my progress notes and parent communication for work. This started to fall into place in early December and now it's time to look at the other pieces of my life that have fallen by the wayside.

We always hear "create measurable goals," but I actually find that creating measurable goals, when you have an unpredictable schedule, leads to mentally beating yourself up, on those days when you just can't acheive that goal. Or at least, beating MYself up.

The goals I'm currently working toward for myself are:

Eat more fruits and veggies: I kind of let fruits and vegetables fall to the wayside over the past year. And the truth is, most of my favorite foods are vegetables (except pancakes). My goal is not to stick to a certain number of veggies and fruits, but rather to make sure that my kitchen is fully stocked with fruits and vegetables, that are easy to access (bananas and apples in a bowl on the table thrown into my work bag with a packet of peanut butter, frozen veggies to microwave with my late dinner, baby carrots to throw in a baggie with an individual package of hummus, and reminding myself that I don't ALWAYS need to choose the high protein fish/tofu option when I'm out and can get the portabello dish that is more appealing - should never feel guilty for choosing vegetables...or ANY food but especially vegetables, come on!) I also got into this funk where I was avoiding fruits because of "all the carbs - I would rather have a bagel" but apparently fruit (and vegetables) offer more than just carbohydrates, they offer all these vitamins where, if I eat them consistently enough, maybe I won't need to load up my body with caffeine to feel awake and energized.

NYC Marathon 2015: Last year, I was so excited - I got into the NYC Marathon through the lottery. Only a couple of months later, I injured my ankle/foot and was not able to run for a long time. I had to defer my entry to the next year, but you're only allowed to do that once. So I have this marathon to train for now. If you know me, you know that one of the greatest experiences of my life was running the NYC marathon in 2011, but that I had just started running then and really over-trained to the point of injury and while I finished the race, I couldn't run for a while after. Looking back, I feel lucky that I can run now. So my goal is to train appropriately and adequately for this. I don't need to "go hard" now - but I need to get into a groove and schedule runs into my day-to-day plans, or else I'll forget them. I need to download awesome music  and make sure that I have weather appropriate running clothes. My goal is to work  my way slowly up to race day (early November) so that my body is  strong and healthy when it comes time to do the 26.2.

Cook more: I'm actually an awesome cook. I love to try new things, and have some classic dishes that I love to make too. Cooking actually really relaxes me, helps me to de-stress, and I feel good about the end result almost every time. Finding the time to cook, however, seems to be the trouble. I'm going to try to cook a few times a week - maign things that involve leftovers and things that can turn leftovers into second meals from time to time as well. I'm trying to save money, hopefully to move into an apartment with the GF this spring, and trying to not eat a thousand veggie sticks and a couple of string cheese for on-the-go meals on a regular basis, just for the sake of nutrition. Planning, cooking, and preparing leftover meals for work are on the agenda for this year. 

Me Time: In order to earn/save money, I work a million hours a week. Usually, Sunday is my only day off. I also love to sleep. And spend time with my other half. But sometimes, self-reflection is necessary. Sometimes, a little solitude is good for the mind. Running is also an excellent form of self-care and meditation for myself, so that goes nicely with the me-time goal but I need to integrate other ways of self-care and reflection time. GF does not like to watch the dark crime shows that I enjoy - so instead of sleeping till 12 on my late start days, I'm going to try to get up earlier and enjoy my episode of SVU, or write in my blog. I'm also going to start up Hebrew lessons again, and I always forget how much benefit I get from art. These are my little notes to myself that I will keep on a notecard or in my phone for when I'm bored and don't know what to do so I stare at Facebook (which doesn't really do much for the "me time" benefit, honestly). Maybe it's the ADHD, or maybe it's the fact that I have a crazy busy life, but I tend to forget what to do with myself when I actually have downtime. Keeping a little log of the things I enjoy and want to be doing for myself when I'm able to will help me to take care of me.

With all of these goals, I could certainly say "Jessica, you are not cooking enough. You're slacking on your running. When did you actually do anything productive in your free time? You didn't even eat any vegetables yesterday." However,  could also ask myself if I am doing my best given the circumstances - and if not, taking it as an opportunity to give it an extra push tomorrow, instead of beating myself up for it today. 

Self-improvement, balance, happiness, and inner peace are all JOURNEYS, not DESTINATIONS.

(Do you have any "grey weigh goals" that you're working on  to balance your life better? What do you think of the idea of NOT using measurable goals on this journey to a healthy balance? Try to think of the things you want MORE of in your life, and how to get them. There is no exact recipe for happiness, just listening to yourself - your body and your mind - to tap into what you need to be more balanced. I would love to hear what "grey weigh goals" you are putting into place to achieve balance in your own life!)

One of my latest and greatest discoveries

I was really hoping to start this blog off with some insight and inspiraton, but the kids I babysit were running high fevers all week, so here I am on Friday afternoon with some body aches brewing. Not so full of inspirational words this evening, but I did want to get into the habit of maintaining an active blog here and talk about one of my favorite recent food discoveries...

Quiche.

Quiche is a classic. Apparently, my mom used to make it when I was a very little kid, but when I got older and pickier, I refused to eat it, so it pretty much fell off of our rotation. My first exposure to quiche as a young adult was at a wedding, when they served mini quiches as hors dourves during cocktail hour. A couple of years later, I encountered quiche again, this time on a diner menu. Sick of omelets and veggie burgers (I only eat Kosher meat, for religious reasons, so most restaurant outings mean vegetarian or fish entrees), the quiche caught my eye. Broccoli and cheese - always a favorite combination for me. So I ordered it, and was quite honestly more impressed than I was at cocktail hour. For starters, this diner made their quiche from scratch, fresh daily -I'm pretty certain the hors dourves, though delicious, were popped out from the freezer. It was light and fluffy, but also filling, and SO flavorful. There was a sweetness to it, too. Definitely became my diner favorite (and they offered a few different varieties daily). I never thought to make it, though.

I'm the only one in my family who follows the Kosher restriction, so my holiday meal options are limited. The meat is rarely Kosher, and when it is, I have to opt out of the dairy sides. Truthfully, while I could ask my aunt to buy a Kosher turkey for Thanksgiving, I'd rather eat vegetarian. It's just what my taste buds prefer. But I also like to try to incorporate protein (in addition to carbohydrates and fats) into most meals. Certainly I don't always succeed, and some meals are more balanced than others (that is the grey "weigh" of life, after all), but I wanted to contribute to the meal with a vegetarian-friendly protein option. Last year, I made an awesome edamame salad, but I have an aunt who recovered from breast cancer and has to stay away from soy because of the estrogen, and I have cousins who don't touch such "health foods" as edamame, so I figured I'd try something different, to appeal to the masses. Quiche!

Quiche was on my mind, and a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I had a delicious lunch at the Yankee Candle Factory with my girlfriend and her parents, and she ordered a harvest vegetable quiche that had squash, onions, spinach, and grueyere cheese. I was a little sad that I didn't order it for myself, after tasting it (though my black bean quinoa burger was delicious as well), but I left there saying, "I know what I will be contributing to Thanksgiving dinner!"

Having never made a quiche before, I had to google to find a basic quiche recipe, and wanted to get some practice in before making the final product for Thanksgiving. After all, I wasn't sure how hard it would be to mess up quiche, so it was essential to have a practice round. I settled on a recipe that included butternut squash, caramelized onions, and gorgonzola cheese.

I really love the combination of butternut squash and kale, and thought about integrating some kale into the final product (girlfriend does not like dark green leafy veggies so I opted to leave it out of the practice quiche), but the practice quiche came out SO GOOD, that my decision for Thanksgiving was to leave it alone. I didn't make the crust from scratch, and ended up using a gluten-free pie crust, as my sister was recently diagnosed with Celiac and anticipated limited options for Thankgiving as well (okay - it was also all we had in the house). 

Quiche is awesome because it can be modified to meet a variety of dietary needs. I chose to use whole eggs, but if you have someone who is watching their cholesterol, there are lots of quiche (including my diner favorite) that are made with egg whites only. The veggies and cheese, of course, can be modified to your taste. Gluten-free pre-made or homemade crust is just as easy as the traditional wheat flour options, and there are also grain-free crusts with almond flour, and even crustless quiches. My personal recommendation is that you don't skip the crust, though. Helps make sure it's satisfying, not just filling in the moment. 

ALSO: This recipe taught me how to caramelize onions. A very valuable life skill I cannot believe I've gone 28 years without.

Here is the recipe I used - my modifications are in italics.

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 medium onions, sliced
water, as needed
2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces (I used frozen butternut squash, and it watered itself down a little. If you can, I bet it would be better with fresh squash, but butternut does the trick. I found that with the frozen squash, it helped to add a little bit of extra, maybe an extra quarter cup or so.
salt and black pepper, to taste
8 sheets phyllo dough, thawed according to package directions (I chose to use Pillsbury gluten free pie crust - but basically any pie crust will do just as well if you don't feel like doing phyllo...but I bet it's delicious)
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup 1% milk
2 oz gorgonzola, crumbled (I found  that the first quiche was a little bland and I added a little extra gorgonzola the second time, maybe closer to 3 oz or so)
1 Tbsp sage, thinly sliced (I actually didn't use any sage - and maybe that's why I needed extra squash and cheese, but if you don't have it lying around and don't feel like heading to the store, it works just fine without!)

Directions:

Heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until the onions are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Reduce the heat to just a bit below medium. Add 1/4 cup water, cover and cook until the onions turn a deep golden brown, about 50 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes. (*** if you've never caramelized onions before, this was my experience: every time I stirred them, I needed to add a little water, otherwise the sugar from the onions would caramelize, stick to the pan, and burn. Just a tablespoon or so, every 5-10 minutes, to keep it from burning)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place butternut squash on a baking sheet lined with foil. Season with salt and pepper and roast until tender, about 30-40 minutes. Set aside. (You can skip this step if you use frozen - just defrost in the microwave)

Lower oven to 375 F.

Brush a sheet of phyllo pastry with the remaining olive oil and fit it into the bottom of a greased 9-inch springform pan with the ends hanging over the side of the pan and repeat with the remaining sheets, placing them on top. (or just put your regular crust into your pan however that needs to be prepared, before you pour in the mixture)

Mix the onions, squash, eggs, milk, gorgonzola and sage. Pour into the crust.

Bake until golden brown and set in the center, 25-45 minutes. Yield: 6 slices. (It took me WAYYYYYY longer than 45 minutes, closer to an hour or hour and a half...just watch and test. Sticking a fork or toothpick in the center to test for doneness...should be soft but not liquid)

I actually did not take a picture of mine - though it looked and tasted amazing - but here's the one from the website I modified  the recipe off of: PreventionRD.com

Does anyone have a favorite quiche combination? I really want to try this again with some kale, and maybe subbing goat cheese for gorgonzola. If you try this, let me know how it goes!

Welcome to The Grey Weigh

It's January. You know what that means. New Year's resolutions are rolling into action. I'm not sure that there's a confirmed statistic on this, but it appears to me that the vast majority of New Year's resolutions are health oriented, and overwhelmingly, the goal is to lose weight. It's almost as if those of us whose goals are NOT about weight loss are forgotten. And if you want to be healthy, do good  things for your body and your mind, you're not very likely to find many blogs, articles, or other Internet sources that help you figure out things to do for your health from a moderate, mindful approach. An approach that doesn't tell you which foods are good and bad, or that there's a certain thing you absolutely must do in order to be healthy. I feel very passionately about intuitive eating, a non-diet approach to life (not just eating), and living life in the shades of grey (not black nor white). I believe that the number on the scale is virtually meaningless (which doesn't mean that it doesn't trigger my emotions sometimes - but that intellectually I know there is little meaning behind that number) in most situations, and don't even get me started on BMI (Body Mass Index).

I wanted to create a blog that's a collection of lessons I've learned through the thousands of dollars I've spent on fabulous dietitians (sprinkled in with some guest posts from these wonderful women, perhaps) and years I've spent moving away from harsh self-judgment about food and body. Thankfully, I've spiced up my network with tons of health professionals, so I hope to bring you guest posts that are about more than just my own personal opinion and experiences.

I also want to share recipes, not that are "low calorie" or "guilt-free" (though I would like to inform you that NONE of my recipes contain guilt, as that is not a nutrient), but recipes that I've found are particularly delicious - ones that let you experience a season or a culture, or recipes that contain several food groups all put into one dish that you can throw into a Tupperware and microwave at the office (hello, quiche!). And even share some suggestions for (I know, I know, this is not mindful eating but sometimes we have to trade the mindfulness for the physical issue of no TIME to consume necessary NUTRIENTS) what you can eat on your commute to stay energized and avoid spending a solid portion of your weekly income at the highway rest stop.

I want like-minded people to have a place to read and learn, and I want those diet-minded people to come here too, and at least play around with the idea that there might be another way.