Eating the Marnie way!

Marnie, my vibrancy coach, gave me an assignment this week that is PROVING to me that I can eat fresh, healthy food with the same time and effort that it takes to eat over-processed, way too fat and salty food.  Following her direction, I shopped last night at Trader Joe's and bought a lot of pre-prepped food.  All fresh, a lot of it organic.  My inner critic is quite vocal about how this isn't the "right" thing to do.  I am supposed to buy ALL organic, non-packaged, fresh from the farmer's market or, better yet, my own garden.  I am learning to ignore that voice.   And, instead, to focus on what Marnie is patiently teaching me--it's about "progress, not perfection".  Conceptually, that makes sense.  But somehow my inner being is very SLOW to adapt.  It's obvious, and just plain common sense that my shopping at Trader Joe's and buying pre-prepped food is a HUGE step in the right direction from shopping the frozen food isle at the grocery store. 

Marnie is also teaching me to celebrate my success!  I find that blogging provides a fun way for me to do that, as I enjoy sharing my successes and my challenges.  It's turning out to be a great tool for supporting me in my goals.  There is a sort of accountability, to myself, to step up and make progress every day.  Just like the Yarn Along helps me to stay motivated on my crochet and knitting projects.  I know how much I enjoy seeing what others have done, so I want to give back the same to anyone stopping by my blog.

So here is how my eating went today, and it was a HUGE improvement over anything happening in a very long time:

Breakfast!
Brown and wild rice with stir-fried veggies.

Marnie provided a quick little recipe for stir frying some veggies that she promised would take less than 10 minutes and she was right!  I had started the morning by cooking a pot of long-grain brown rice mixed with wild rice.  My favorite!  I had found this easy recipe for making it on my stove-top and it has come out perfectly every time.  Marnie had suggested that I make a big batch so I can throw it into salads and veggies throughout the week.



Lunch!
Organic corn tortilla with cheese, fresh salsa, kale, and avocado.




Green smoothie!
Collard greens, blueberries, strawberries, and banana.
Such pretty colors...right before I pushed the button to
 "reconfigure" into teeny, tiny liquified bits.



Dinner!
Salad (using a bit more rice) with pasta.

I had two helpings of the salad and only the single serving you see in the photo of the pasta.  Plus a glass of red wine.  My body already feels more relaxed.  Yay!  Somehow, eating high-fat, salty foods makes me more tense and definitely more tired.  I am very encouraged to think that I could make this my lifestyle...a regular habit...it was all quick and very easy. 

Joaquin loves salad and pasta!

I discovered the key to Joaquin eating salad quite by accident.  It never occurred to me that a 1-year-old would eat salad. (Yes, he is now 2 1/2, but he started eating salad when he was 1 1/2.)   He wanted what WE were eating, so I put some salad on his plate.  He had somehow gotten the idea that salad was some sort of treat only for Mama and Papa and he wanted some for JOAQUIN!  And it just so happened that the first time he ate it, I had made the dressing fresh instead of using bottled dressing.  That was the key!  As long as it is fresh dressing, with some sweet and sour flavors, he eats a LOT and says "Yuuuummmm!  Salad!".  It's so funny!

Here is one of my favorite salad dressing recipes:

4 TBSP fresh-squeezed Lemon Juice
2 TBSP extra-virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1/2 TBSP raw Agave Nectar
1/2 tsp Tarragon
1/4 tsp Basil
1/4 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp fresh ground Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Sea Salt

I am especially proud, and need to celebrate here for a moment, the fact that I made this healthy food happen today when I was still sick.  I am very motivated because I have been sick a LOT this year and I am tired of it.  Plus, I thought I'd see if Marnie was right and it was just as easy as preparing my frozen food and eating junk.  Turns out she was right!  I expect this won't be the last time, either.  Of course my inner critic tried to spoil it all by saying that I ate a bit too much today...too many calories.  How 'bout we all just tell her to SHUT UP!