Beginning again

So, I've been a yoga student for at least 12 or 13 years.  And there are some things I still can't do.  Grab my hands/arms/elbows behind my back?  Ha.  Things that require balance?  Only when the universe is lining up perfectly.

So when I'm in yoga class, and it's balancing time, and I tip over (as I almost always do), my teacher says:  just begin again.

Last fall I got this new job kind of unexpectedly and rather quickly without much time for planning or adjustment.  And it has been a huge challenge in terms of finding a bit of balance with the rest of my life since September.  (And as I already said, I'm not naturally good at the balance thing).  One thing that has fallen apart for me has been planning and eating healthy meals.  Not knowing when we'd be home at night, not having the time or energy to cook when we got home, not being able to pull it together to find recipes that were faster and easier than what we usually do -- all these things led to the downward spiral of our eating.

And three weeks ago, I hit rock bottom.  All fall, things that used to be "not okay" were becoming "more okay."  Take-out on a week night?  Okay, because we're busy.  McDonalds for a french fry snack?  Okay, because I forgot to bring anything for lunch and just had a drinkable yogurt in the car for breakfast and I'm starving.  A meal without produce in it?  Okay, because we're hungry and we didn't have time to shop.

So I was driving around on a Saturday, doing before-Christmas errands.  Been up since 5, it was now midday -- this was my day to get it ALL DONE!  And I realized I was hungry.  Really hungry.  And my hungry little brain immediately thought that a spicy chicken combo from Wendy's sounded like a good idea.  I don't think I've had a fried chicken sandwich from a fast food place in about 5 years.  And I know that in moderation, everything's okay.  But I didn't have second thoughts, didn't consider the health or quality of the food, just that I wanted it.  And I drove through, and I got the combo, and I ate it all.

And I did not feel happy with myself at all afterward.

I haven't been doing this balancing thing very well lately.  So I'm going to begin again.

Starting with planning my dinners again.  If we have a plan, and we have the ingredients around to follow that plan, there's a better chance I'll eat something that will make me smart and strong and less likely to regret my dinner choices.  We might not follow through on the plan every night, but we definitely won't if there isn't even a plan in place.

So step one:  make a plan.

Step two:  look for quicker, easier stuff.  I love interesting recipes and will willingly try to make nearly anything.  But I need to acknowledge that those might need to wait for July.  So expect simpler, quicker, less ingredients.  This might be my bigger challenge.

Step one:  make a plan.
Step two:  get simple.

And step three?  When we fall off the good-food wagon (because January and February are not traditionally the best months for me to make healthy choices -- they're the months I just want to wear pajamas and eat cookies all day), just begin again.  Because what other option do I have?

Wish me luck.  This week's menu coming soon.