Let's Talk 'Fundamentals'

Today's Estimated Scale Of Awesomeness: 7/10
Today's Actual Scale Of Awesomeness: 2/10

Eh, c'est la vie. I have high hopes for tomorrow- an estimated scale of awesomeness coming in around 8.5.

Okay, scrap the title of this post. I mean FUNDAMENTALS. Better? I think so.

So onto the FUN stuff, cause sometimes I just need to kick back and have a good time. So more of THAT, yes?

I got a GREAT package in the mail today from Aisha over at Bambi's Fat Loss which cheered me up immensely!

• almond butter (YAY!)
• 2 packs of muesli (banana chocolate and tropical fruit)
• lots of awesome looking bars
• ferreror rocher
• green tea
• lip balm
• hand sanitiser

I am SO excited to try all of these things- especially the almond butter and muesli! Thanks so much Aisha! And thank you to Megan for organising the secret exchange!

*********

MUNCHABLES! (It's been too many days since that word was used).

Last night's dinner was no pot-luck- this was frozen in the packet. I like to at least pretend I am organised sometimes...hehe.

Spinach and ricotta tortellini with tomato basil sauce, and steamed spinach. This is one of my favourite meals, but every single time, half-way through eating I suddenly get very bored. So weird! This doesn't happen with anything else I eat- ketchup and Parmesan came to the rescue.

This morning kicked off at the lovely hour of 4am. Seriously. I blame the fact that we are having a heat wave (a 'Scottish' heat wave which really isn't a 'heat wave' at all), and the fact that I only have fleecy pyjamas and a special duvet that is actually equivalent to 3 duvets in one (talking 'togs' whatever the heck they are).

My breakfast however, was a bowl of sunshine.

Bran flakes, mashed banana and cheesecake Fage cherry twin pot. Love it.

I promised a 'certain someone' (you know who you are!) that I would do a review of one of the few protein bars readily available in the UK.

Also comes in chocolate flavour, but the white chocolate coating and hint of coconut is amazing. (UK guys: £1.50 at Holland and Barrett). Around 200 cals and 15g protein (?), but check this out:

91% of the RDA of calcium! JACKPOT. I have no idea how 'safe' it actually is to consume high levels of vitamins/minerals in one go considering I also take multivitamins/supplements, but am guessing that now and again is fine- and I couldn't afford to eat these more than 'now and again'. They are good though and WAY better than any other 'power bar' products I have tried.

Lunch was the last batch of my tuna/bean/salsa mix and last of my sprouts. I wasn't going to post yet another picture of it since I have this all the time, but I think it's kind of pretty. Plus it includes extra of last week's BSI ingredient and this corn wanted a chance to shine!

Final note: in reference to yesterday's oh-so-creative post title (heh), I will never talk about financial matters on this blog. Unless I have no money to buy yogurt, in which case I might start using said blog to auction off bodily organs.

Seemingly Meaningless Meaning

Thanks for your feedback on yesterday's post. I am well aware of the fact that I need something TO focus on other than food/weight- it's looking likely that I'll be starting volunteer work next week and I am pretty excited about that.

I think part of why I find it hard to relax and take pleasure from distractions is that it all seems rather pointless. It's hard for me to enjoy things just for the sake of enjoyment itself- I want things to have meaning and purpose, something BEYOND just having a good time. I feel like if it's not taking me further towards bigger goals in life, then there isn't a point to it. I guess that's another place mindfulness can come in- enjoying each moment as it is without constantly thinking of where it is leading. Reading a book because I like the story, listening to music because I enjoy singing along. Not EVERYTHING has to be a major investment in the future (in terms of job, etc)- sometimes an investment in the future is just making each passing moment that bit more pleasant.

************

Now, onto food since I am at the library :)

Like I mentioned before, I am making an effort to branch out from my usual meals. Starting with breakfast...

A change from pumpkin oats/granola: blueberry and almond muesli

In the mix:

• oats
• plain fromage frais
• vanilla extract
• frozen blueberries
• almonds

Left so soak overnight, then mixed together the next morning...

This WILL be repeated!

A new twist on mini clif bars- I suddenly realised that these expire in May, so am trying to use them up. As creatively as possible of course!

Spread w/ 1/2 tbsp white chocolate wonder peanut butter. Aaaah...heavenly.

And I DID make my pasta- I swear this isn't a recycled pic!

Spinach and ricotta tortellini with tomato basil sauce and steamed tenderstem broccoli

I am having fun branching out and trying new things- more to come: watch this space!

Sneaky, Sneaky...

I have a kind of confession to make. Actually, it's not even a confession as I didn't really realise until today what was going on. Basically, as most of you know, I made an agreement with my therapist on Tuesday to be more intuitive when it comes to choosing my afternoon snack and listen more to what I WANT to eat, rather than just what feels safe/fits into my "plan". I thought I was doing pretty well- and I HAVE been, but here's the thing: since I was IP a few years ago, I have been keeping a food log. It started innocently enough- I genuinely wanted to leave treatment knowing what to eat/what fears I had conquered and use to keep me on track. That kind of fell by the way-side, but the food log has remained. Anyway, I generally write down my day's food just before I eat my snack (can we say, rigid routine? *bangs head* ) and so have an idea of my day's intake and then pick according to what "fits" in calorie-wise to the rest of the day's meals. It IS progress on one hand- I have NOT been planning obsessively, and am basing my choice at least PARTLY on what I want (as well as what meets ED requirements) but I really need to kick things up a notch this week.

Anybody got ideas? I was thinking maybe do my food log at the END of each day. I don't know if I am quite ready to stop that altogether right now, but delaying it might solve this particular problem?

Anyway, onto food...

Any guesses what this is?..


Yup- my breakfast non-cookie again. It's really unlike me to go so many days in a row without regular oatmeal, but am trying to use things up before I move (tomorrow!) I swear it tastes better than it looks!


Snack- all these realisations with the food log, etc came when I was writing it, and it took me a moment to just say, "shut up- let ME choose what I WANT" and what did I want? OATMEAL. I've missed you baby! I usually eat plain oats and add my own mix-ins, but keep the flavoured ones around for snacks. Found a chocolate chip pack when I was packing and decided that topping it with Fage was what I really wanted!


And I have to show you a photo of my dinner since tomato sauce is quite literally the only thing I can cook! Served with spinach and ricotta tortellini. A recent discovery and I LOVE it. So quick and easy, not to mention delicious!


And a few of another placemate I made in treatment a few years ago...