Best Friend

Last night I read an interview with a big-time trainer who was asked how he can convince people who have struggled with losing weight to believe in themselves. He said "We have the choice to be our worst enemy or our best friend."

I have self-sabatoged myself for years, like a worst enemy would. I am starting to act like more like a good friend and am working towards a being a best friend to myself - mind and body. I guess my own BFF.

Tonight (honestly) when thinking "should I take the easy route out for dinner and get a pizza?... it's been a hard day, I'm tired, it's so easy and I want that cheesy-carb comfort"....I thought that's not how a best friend would treat themselves and went a different route. 

The trainer's point of view clearly hit home to me, and I am going to think about being my best friend a lot. Not only in food choices but in activity choices. Sometimes if I can get the kids to take a nap at the same time (a super super rare feat in this house), I am going to treat myself like a best friend and do something like catch up on reading or doing something personally productive.

On a separate note, it's been a long time since I've had a real post - and I am glad to be back - these holidays took a toll on me. They were great in terms of great times and fun with friends and family but really bad in terms of the food choices I made (which included things like large quantities of gourmet cheeses, sugar cookies, peppermint bark, and red wine.) Hello - I'm human and was bad :(. 

I gave myself license to go crazy in some regards, although I did exercise religiously and have now been running every other day. I was scared to get on the scale, as I could tell I had gained at least a few lbs. back. So starting in early January I did a short detox of sorts to try to press my "reset" button, and get my body used to eating mainly healthy whole foods again. I'm back and hopefully better than ever - I will have a weigh in update next week (if it's pretty or not) as well as a great healthy make-ahead superbowl party recipe!.

SONG THAT KEPT ME RUNNING THIS WEEK: "Because I'm Awesome" The Dollyrots (I think the lyrics are funny, the song is really upbeat, plus if you are having a bad day you can remind yourself that you are awesome. lol)

RANDOM TIP OF THE WEEK: A "smoothie" made with water (vs. dairy or soy milk) is a great, low-calorie way to get some fruit and veggies in. I sometimes have been having one when the kids eat dinner, so I can hold off until a later dinner without eating their scraps or snacking on bad stuff.

THIS WEEK'S RECIPE: Provencal Soup (modified from a Mark Bittman recipe). Added bonus green smoothie recipe too!

I can not highly enough recommend Mark Bittman's cookbook - The Food Matters, 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living. Natural food, minimal ingredients cooked well. It and he are great. The soup is a great recipe if you want to get more veggies into your diet, and it is also great for a cold day.

Provencal Soup

1/4 cup of olive oil (I used a little less than this)

1 large onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, smashed or chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

1 medium eggplant, cut into cubes

1 large or 3 small zucchini, chopped

2 red bell peppers, chopped

3 cups of chopped tomatoes (canned are fine, include their juice)*

*I used canned because tomatoes are out of season so canned are actually "fresher"

3 cups of chicken, vegetable stock, or water. (i used chicken)

1/4 cup of black olives pitted and chopped

1/2 cup of fresh basil, plus more for garnish

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese for garnish (optional) 

1. Put the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When it's hot add the onion and garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook stirring until the onion begins to turn golden, 3 to 5 minutes.

2. Add the eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, and stock. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to med-low. Cook, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes have broken up and the eggplant and zucchini are super tender, about 45 minutes. (Awesome MB tip: the soup can be made up up to this point and refrigerated for several days or frozen for months; gently reheat before proceeding). Stir in the olives and basil in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Sever garnished with more basil and parm.

Green Drink

This amount serves 2

(and it's much better if you drink it through a straw and also a festive wine glass helps!)

1 cup kale or collard greens - firmly packed, ribs removed if kale!
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 granny smith apple - cored and chopped
1 large ripe banana
2 1/4 cups of water (I like to add a few ice cubes)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth - if it's too thick add a little water

113 calories per serving