It’s spring, and I’m…

It's spring, and I'm tired of being a slug. Slugs are slimy, and dry up when salted, and I like salt. No slug for me! So, here's a quick plan to fix that, hopefully without making myself crazy with diet / weight mentally unhealthy obsessiveness. Yes, I'd like to look great when I'm wearing a sari for Sharmi's wedding in October. But no, I don't want to count calories again and pay that much mental attention to every morsel that goes into my mouth -- it makes me nuts, and it's not worth it.

The plan:

  • exercise a little every day -- try to find exercise that I find enjoyable, like long walks with Kavi and Ellie, biking on beautiful days, swimming slowly (because I can't swim fast or well), dancing, martial arts, yoga, competitive sports/games -- hey, this is a pretty long list, weird

  • eat at least one vegetable a day, ideally a green one (you'd think this wouldn't be hard, but I can easily go through a whole day on bread and cheese)

  • only eat meat at one meal a day -- this is part of a larger plan to eventually only eat meat 2-3 days a week, or even less frequently. I don't think I'm ever going to be willing to give it up entirely, because I love it so, but for the health of the planet and myself, I can try to cut back

  • skip dessert -- unless I really want it. :-)

  • don't beat myself up if I miss a day or two; remember that every bit of exercise / healthy eating helps
To that end -- today, I signed us up for a family membership at my local YMCA. (Kavi can take swim classes with me there this summer, and they have babysitting if Kevin and I both want to go and exercise at the same time.) At $69/month for the whole family, it's a lot cheaper than the other gyms around here. I spent a half hour swimming, and did 11 laps, which is a quarter-mile. No, I'm not going to lose a ton of weight with this level of exertion -- but I enjoyed the swimming, and I left feeling great, and hopefully if I keep this sort of thing up, within a month I'll be able to climb a flight of stairs again without getting out of breath. We'll see how it goes.

Okay -- off to make a salad! (With pear and blue cheese and candied walnuts and pomegranate dressing, yum. :-)

7 thoughts on “It’s spring, and I’m…”

  1. I’m in the same boat — am tired of being such a slug. I’ve started using a website — http://www.fitday.com for tracking everything. They have charts! (And yes, the geek in me likes the pie charts.)

    Also — you probably don’t need something like this — but I just found the most wonderful cookbook for Indian food — 5 spices, 50 dishes. The ones I’ve tried so far are *wonderful*.

    Hope all is going well with you —

    Leah

  2. This sounds like a great plan — go you!

    I keep meaning to ask you: are you still playing Dance Dance Revolution?

    I’m trying to get in the habit of playing it regularly — did an hour or so on Saturday and another on Sunday. (and boy are my legs sore.) It makes enough noise (even with headphones, there’s jumping involved) that I don’t want to play it late at night, and I’m too lazy to play it in the morning, so dunno whether it’ll last. But I do enjoy it, and (oddly for me) getting a score/grade makes me work a lot harder at it than I might otherwise.

  3. I’ve found that keeping protein intake high and regular at every meal does a lot, though it can be eggs or protein powder if you have health reasons to limit meat. The chocolate protein powder is a replacement for candy to me.

    I’m sure it will also help to have the great spring and summer fruits and vegetables soon. One cooked veg, one raw/salad, plus a fruit; lots of protein – keep me satisfied.

  4. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    I’m actually fine with fish and eggs; just want to cut back on other meats. Although that said, I had a burger with grilled onions for dinner last night, yum. In general, we’re planning to try to eat fish much more regularly; Kavi likes it, and it’s healthier for us than beef, plus better for the planet. Sadly, Kevin doesn’t like fish, but he says he’s willing to try to adapt. Poor munchkin. We’ll probably start with something inoffensive, like tuna fish sandwiches, or grilled swordfish.

  5. Grass fed beef is more expensive, but it is better for the environment, tastes better, and is much healthier than conventional beef. Some of the articles I have read about it say that it is even healthier than wild salmon.

    I am one of a group of people on Steven Barnes’ discussion group who have taken up intermittent fasting: Just eating every other day. It cuts calorie intake and is not difficult after the initial adjustment.

  6. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    David, I gotta say, that just sounds wacky to me. 🙂 I’m glad it works for you, but honestly, I’m not even attempting to cut caloric intake. Just trying to eat what feels like a good amount to my body, and build up my daily activity levels.

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