My New Approach to Health + Menu Plan March 22-28

As I briefly mentioned in my last post, I have always has some body image/weight/self esteem issues. I can’t tell you exactly where they stemmed from, but they’ve been there pretty much my entire life. So because of all of that, I tend to get overly obsessed with things like calorie counting or Weight Watchers points or cleanses. While all those may work really well for others, and while I always start them with the best of intentions, they ultimately lead me down a less-than-healthy road.

Obsessing over particular points/numbers/calories/rules leads me to binging then over-restriction then guilt and shame. None of those things should be happening. See, I love food! I love eating and cooking and sharing it. But the fact that my brain sometimes takes me down this path that turns something I love into something I’m ashamed of is not good.

So I’ve decided to take a step back and approach things in a new way. Instead of focusing on losing X pounds by X date or fitting into a smaller size, I’m going to focus on my overall health. I am going to take a step back from calorie counting and focus on just eating real, clean food. I am going to focus on eating when I am hungry (truly hungry and not because I’m bored) and eating until I am full, but not uncomfortably so. I am going to focus on doing work outs I enjoy – yoga, walking, running – and not feeling guilty for not doing the “trendy” ones or being fast. I am going to make time to do things I enjoy like grabbing a latte in the morning or watching movies with Klaus.

Overall, my new approach to health is to focus on what makes me happy and feel good and I think the rest will fall into place.

Each week I menu plan to help keep our shopping expenses down and alleviate any mid-week “Oh man, what am I going to make for dinner?” stress. Previously, I have meticulously calculated the calories (or points) of each meal and added them all up, which made menu planning a chore. With my new approach to health, menu planning has become actually really fun for me and I thought it would be interesting to share with you what my plan is each week. I tend to have the same thing for breakfast every morning (oatmeal with some fruit and nuts or a 2-egg veggie omlette) and leftovers for lunch, I’ll focus on what I’m having for dinner and any other fun snacks for recipes I’ll be making for the week.

Hopefully someone out there finds this helpful or at least interesting to read!

Menu Plan March 22-28, 2015

Apparently I was on a Pinch of Yum kick this week! Any substitutions or change I plan are noted below

• Sunday: Spicy Sofritas Veggie Bowl  – this was so good!
  • black beans instead of pinto because that is what I had on hand
  • added some frozen corn to balance out the spiciness!
  • used brown rice
• Monday: Harvest Wild Rice Skillet
  • mix of brown rice and the LITTLE wild rice I have left
  • spinach instead of kale because it was on sale
• Tuesday: One-Pot Creamy Spinach Lentils
  • homemade veggie broth instead of chicken broth
• Wednesday: Baked Pollock with Broiled Asparagus and Spiced Quinoa
  • Pollock was on sale this week, so I’ll probably just sprinkle it with some Mrs. Dash and pop it into the oven
• Thursday: Vegetable Korma over brown rice
  • light coconut milk instead of full-fat
  • sriracha instead of asian chili paste because that is what i have on hand
  • raw cashews instead of roasted and salted because that is what i have on hand
• Friday: Out for a friend’s birthday (we’ll either have leftovers or leftover Spicy Chickpea Lentil Veggie Burgers from the freezer before we head to George & Jack’s Tap Room)
• Saturday: Out for a different friend’s birthday (probably getting a delicious grilled cheese at Trophy Bar!!)