Last night I went to see Alton Brown Live up in Portland. It was fun! It would have been nice to have a buddy go along with me, but I had my book, and cell phone. I was just sleepy/hungry on the drive home. The event got me thinking more about food. I really want to make changes, I NEED to make changes. I am so uncomfortable in my own skin, my large belly blocks seeing my toes. I thought I was fat before when I was 20 pounds over my goal weight. Now I'm 60 pounds over my goal weight and the goal seems like it's at the top of a distant mountain.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
I need to make small changes, gradually. Doing it all at once is just asking for a fail. I managed to get myself off soda. I don't even desire it now. How did I do it? I took a 6 month break with my coworker with a deal that over 6 months if either of us had a soda, we owed the other $200. That did a good job but once the 6 months was over I went crazy and binged the next month. After 2 months I started realizing how awful I felt and decided I was going to stop drinking it for good. Three weeks later I felt like having a soda. I opened up a can of Dr. Pepper, drank about 1 ounce of it and realized it wasn't giving me the same feeling it used to so I dumped the rest out! The thing is, I don't crave the soda anymore. I don't want it. But I miss having something "special" to drink when I go out. Now I just drink a lot of water, and tea. I've also been having more hot chocolate and skim Chai tea lattes. That's getting a little expensive so I need to limit myself to maybe one per week.
Now that my test is off my plate, and I don't have my next one scheduled, I'm feeling more relaxed. I do still have a lot of prep work to do in the next week for study materials. I shifted my calendar for the exams I want to take. I did buy my ticket to NYC, which I'm excited for. I'm excited to see friends, I'm excited to revisit my old stomping grounds, and I'm excited to spend a few days walking around everywhere! I miss living a life where I walk and take public transportation (and living in a city with a good public transit system). Perhaps this weekend I can get my bike out and make sure it's in good shape. If I started to bike to work again, or just kept my bike at work and biked home for lunch, I'd be a little more active. The weather is starting to get nicer for doing that. Also I could just walk, which I feel I get a better workout from, even though it takes longer. I'd potentially be able to just stay a little later at work to make up for walking home for lunch taking a little extra time. We'll see. Changing my diet is the most important thing right now!
I need to get my kitchen cleaned up. That's the biggest thing right now getting in the way of cooking food. A messy kitchen is un-inviting. I am thinking about giving up alcohol. At least for a while. Beer makes me want to eat things, things I don't want. Wine I don't really care for and all the other boozy drinks are empty calories. I think I could get Bruce to whip me up a fresh fruit virgin-martini!
I have books piled in categories:
1. Studying
2. Self-help (Self-compassion, Tidying, Mindfulness)
3. Cookbooks
4. Food books
5. Audiobooks
My motto is:
You can do anything, you can't do everything.
I think the thing I need to do is pick one book, read it, take notes, and then pick 1-3 concepts from the book to implement. Once I've implemented those ideas, I can read another book and work on implementing those new ideas. My goal this year is to take all my exams. I can focus on doing other things (craft projects, sewing, graphic designs, etc.) next year.
Also on my list, I want to watch all the episodes of Good Eats! Watching Master Chef Junior is also pretty inspiring. I want to learn to plate food like a chef. I want to learn to cook more things - and perhaps perfect a couple dishes and have a repertoire. Sauces! I still think learning some sauces would be good to learn. Additionally, while it would be great to learn more meats, I really think I need to focus on getting creative with veggies. I'll have to make a food dreams post another time, I have glimmers of visions in my mind of things that I'd *like* to do/cook. Someday. I do have all the things now, including my fancy black chef's coat that Matt got me for Christmas. As well as a couple more saucepans so I can actually cook multiple things at the same time! And I have that pizza stone! And grill pan! I am so excited to learn to cook with all these things! And it's nearly grilling season. I need to clean off the grill. All the things.
On a financial note, I need to focus on saving money. I also need to keep things simple. A meal plan would help with that. Knowing what I'm making and only buying food for what I need. I think my biggest weakness is unexpected shopping. And Amazon, oh Amazon. I enjoy shopping, even when I don't need stuff. Perhaps I can get enough of a shopping buzz by going grocery shopping once or twice a week. I dream of living a very D-I-Y life, but in reality, I don't DIY as much as I could. Again though, back to the motto.
You can do anything, but you can't do everything!
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