It's time!

Well, it's time!

I feel like I've been rushing around this week trying to get everything in order for the new year. This might be a mistake, because I tend to be so "all or nothing" and I need everything to be perfect. If I'm going to improve my life, I have to be able to not let myself freak out at everything that isn't perfect.

Today I did a lot of prep work. I've cleaned pretty much every square inch of my apartment, taken down the holiday decorations, taken my books off the shelves and wiped everything down, organized every cabinet, dumped half a bottle of Drano in my shower, did laundry. It's been a pretty intense day!

I also menu planned (which I do every week anyway) and went to Trader Joe's, which was packed. I should've known better on New Year's Eve! Our Trader Joe's in Madison is painfully small, with awful parking (my mom's lost her side-view mirror twice in that teeny tiny lot!) but there are just so many things I can't get anywhere else. Earth Balance, for one thing - I haven't been able to find it even at our hugest grocery store. I love that stuff! I also love their frozen brown rice. And their mini ice cream cones, but I didn't buy them this time around. They'd be a reasonable treat if I could stick to one, but too often I eat a ton of them at once, haha. 

Also made a trek to Target (also very busy) to pick up some stuff I couldn't get at Trader Joe's (really TJ's? You don't have ANY dried beans or barley?) because I had a couple gift cards from Christmas. In addition to some stuff I needed, I bought a bunch of stuff I don't need, like a little spa kit (exfoliating scrub, moisturizer, and under-eye cream). It makes me happy :) 

I weigh in tomorrow and I am pretty terrified. I am almost certain I am at my highest weight I've ever been. Especially after all the alcohol and food over the holidays. 

Here's my menu plan for week one! These are for dinners, obviously. Breakfast is generally the same for me... sprouted 7-grain bread (toasted) and an over-easy egg. Sometimes I'll switch it up but this is pretty typical for me. In the summer I'll add fruit that I like - pears or berries - but really the only seasonal fruits right now are citrus and I really hate most citrus fruit (my skin also reacts oddly to it.) Lunch is usually leftovers from the night before.

Sunday

Veggie pad thai with snow peas and tofu (I use this recipe from Veggie Num Num with a few tweaks - it's delicious! I had to order tamarind paste online, and I'm so glad I did.)

Monday

Portobello mushroom sandwiches with bell peppers, spinach, garlic aioli and a side of  roasted brussels sprouts (my own little creation that is super delicious, I eat it almost every week now. When I make it this week, I might post it as a "recipe" since I've never really measured anything out. For the brussels sprouts, I just halve them, toss them with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and thyme, and roast them.)

Tuesday

Whole-wheat egg noodles with baby spinach, ricotta and herbs (a very simple recipe from Cooking Light)

Wednesday

Leftovers

Thursday

Slow-cooker bean and barley soup (I've never made this one before; I try to make at least one new recipe every week. I just got a crock pot for Christmas, and I've never used one before, so I'm excited to try it out! The recipe is from the Food Network, and is here.)

Friday

Probably a sub sandwich of some kind (I spend one night a week with my Dad and it is usually Friday, and we always eat out) - usually from Jimmy John's, typically I get the veggie sub.

Saturday

Leftovers

My fridge, currently! Blurry, I know. My favorite items - my filtering water pitcher (just changed the filter today, it tastes really good); eggs (I tend to eat an egg every morning for breakfast - I should probably cut it down to fewer days than that, but I can't help it); Earth Balance; sunflower seed butter (this stuff is sooo addicting, but it's expensive... the entire second shelf is veggies (celery, fresh herbs, broccoli, brussels sprouts, portobellos, snow peas, bean sprouts, baby carrots). I sort of unintentionally made my first week a vegetarian one, usually I make one or two meals a week with chicken but I guess just didn't feel like it this week. I usually just go through my recipes in MacGourmet (there are over 300 of them, yikes) and pick what stands out. 

I'm going to set goals for the first two weeks. 

1. Stay within calorie range 12 out of the 14 days. 

2. Avoid alcohol 100%, including cooking with it, for these first two weeks.

3. Lose 4 pounds (in the 2 weeks).

4. Log in to my Wii Fit every day to do the body test. 

5. Log at least 180 minutes of exercise in the first 2 weeks. 

6. Take my St. John's Wort all 14 days (I need to find a way to remind myself to do this, I am so bad with taking medication of any kind.)

It's going to be a rough couple weeks for me because of work. There are huge changes occurring at my work, mainly that I have to move to the other building on the 10th of January. My job is going to change, my coworkers are going to change (I believe when all is said and done, only one of my current amazing coworkers will end up working with me, and she's only part time, so I'm essentially losing a lot of my support system.) I suspect a lot of anxiety will arise, which makes it extra important for me to stay on track. Typically I'd just want to come home and have a bunch of wine, but I just have to resist that because I know it doesn't help and it just makes it all worse. 

So, here's hoping :) It all starts tomorrow!