Goals #2

First of all... I want to thank each and every person that stopped by the blog this week to offer their condolences on the loss of my furry friend. Your comments here, on facebook and in personal messages to me meant so much! I still miss her like crazy, and find myself doing things like trying not to trip over an imaginary cat in the middle of the night when I get up, or looking toward her food and water bowl to see if she needs more food or water. I'm sure these habits will fade with time, but I have been doing these things pretty much every day for the last 17 years, so it might take a while.

For those that asked, we likely will get another kitty someday. I have never went looking for a kitty...they have always found me, one way or another. So for now, we will adjust to having a quiet house and wait for the next furry friend to find us. Thank you all so much for your kind words.

Now: GOALS!

Before all this happened over the weekend, I had some ideas for posts about goals, goal setting, goal tracking, and getting ready for January and New Year's Resolutions. That kind of got waylaid with the loss of Ashley, which sent me into a "I don't want to do anything" tailspin for a few days. I decided, though, that I couldn't sit around and do nothing. I need to be responsible for my life and health, even in the midst of big sadness. Now, this didn't mean that I didn't say "screw it!" on Monday, because I did. I ate fudge, and flavored popcorn, and we went to dinner and I got dessert, too. I know that emotional eating doesn't help in the long run, but sometimes in the short run...well it kinda helps.

I do want to say here that it has taken me many years of learning to get to the point where I can stop the emotional eating in a relatively short period of time. Monday was not a good food day, Tuesday wasn't much better, but it WAS better. Wednesday was better still. And, going through this process this week reminded me (AGAIN-not sure how many times I will need to be reminded of this) that part of being able to overcome emotional eating is having good food in the house and ready to eat. Because really, is it easier to eat a handful of crackers or is it easier to pull out the knife, cutting board, peeler, and carrots and then peel, and cut the carrots? Yah, crackers are way easier.

SO: my goal was to get some healthy food into the house ASAP, and do what I know works for me in getting back to healthy eating, which is getting food prepped so it is as easy, or easier, than crackers.

That goal started with this:

I can't get started on healthy eating without a meal plan and grocery list. Plus, having a list helps curb impulse purchases.

Then, of course, one must do this:

Healthy grocery shopping trip! I'm sorry for the picture quality, I do not know what my problem was yesterday with my picture taking skillz. Piled up there are tons of veggies, yogurt, cottage cheese, tuna, peanut butter, nuts and oats, and a few little treats like some So Delicious chocolate coconut milk. I can't wait to try it!

Once I got all that stuff put away (I really dislike grocery shopping!), it was time to get to work on the important part, which is getting some stuff prepped for easy grab and go eating. If my goal is to eat healthy, then I need to make that as simple as possible.

Cut up veggies...of course. Easy grab and eat, and healthy. The celery can be topped with pb, cream cheese or hummus, to give it a little more oomph. 

Hard boiled eggs, shelled and ready to eat. Can be eaten plain, chopped and added to salads, or mixed with a bit of mustard and mayo for a sandwich topping. Great protein and only about 70 calories per egg. Easy!

Nuts are a healthy snack, with good fats and protein. They can be high in calories, so a little go a long way. I bought several varieties from the bulk bins and made my own mixed-nut snack. Almonds, raw and roasted cashews, shelled pistachio's and some peanuts. Easy to grab a small handful if I am wanting salty/crunchy snacking. 

I also made a big batch of quinoa to have for the week. 2 cups homemade chicken broth and 2 cups of quinoa. Bring broth to a boil, add quinoa, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed. Cool and store in fridge for easy additions for lunch or dinner. One of my favorite easy lunches is a grain (like quinoa) with some drained and rinsed canned beans (kidney, black, or whatever) heated in the microwave, topped with some cumin and garlic powder, and tomatoes, avocado or greens. SO tasty. Try it! This is a big batch and will be available for me for quick lunches for the whole week, plus it will be used in at least one dinner. Now that is bang for my cooking time buck.

This delectable creation was inspired by Sarah over at The Smart Kitchen. She had the incredible idea to take some leftover acorn squash and add it to garbanzo beans to make a non-traditional hummus. (I have pretty much decided that anything you mix with garbanzo beans to make a dip with is a non-traditional hummus.) Well, I didn't have acorn, but I did have leftover cumin infused butternut squash. Into the food processor it went (abut a cup or so-cubed), with one can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans, some olive oil, salt, more cumin, juice of one lemon and a smidge of water to thin it down a bit. Whirl it all up and you have a delicious, nutritious dip for all those cut-up veggies! This made probably about 2-2.5 cups worth, which will last for several days at our house, making for good snacking!

Okay, I did not make this fudge. It, and 8 other blocks of it (!!), were a gift from my brother. I don't make fudge, but I love fudge, especially peanut butter, which I cannot show you because I ate it all in my couch numbing episode on Monday. Anyway, I decided that my healthy eating goal and 9 blocks of fudge didn't exactly jive. I took this one block and cut it into small portions. The remaining blocks were individually wrapped in foil and stuck deep down in my deep freezer. At least I will have to think about it before I go and try to eat them. :-) Hey, it's cold out in my garage, where the deep freeze is, and I don't want to have to go out there and dig around in the freezer! It is a good strategy.

So, my goal for the week was to get out of my emotional eating slump, stop overindulging just because it's the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and be conscious of what I am eating. In order to do that, I needed to do some meal planning, grocery shopping and food prep. A few hours yesterday afternoon has now set me up for success with my goals, rather than setting me up for failure.

Do you have any goals for the week? How are you doing with them? Even though my goals got pushed back a few days, I'm still working on it, and in my opinion, working on it and being aware of what we are doing is the most important part!