Nibbles and Bits

I'm flyin solo for dinner tonight 'cuse my hard working fiance' is meeting with one of his freelance clients. I like to take these opportunities to eat a little less traditionally than the way we do when we eat together.

I am on a mission to eat up random leftovers in our fridge and, for some reason, we have a lot of produce that's going bad. (Well, not for some reason. The reason is because its produce and it never lasts very long). Anyhow, I love veggies but I'm not a fan of eating them plain and raw. I need something to dip them in, at the very least. So I opted for a tasting plate as my dinner. This is hands down my FAVORITE way to eat. I confess, I am a nibbler. Sure I'll eat a big ol plate of meat and potatoes, but defnitely prefer nibbles of lots of different things. Tapas restaurants are right up my alley. Right along with cocktail receptions and tasting events.

Here's the spread:
Cucumbers

Celery

Green Peppers

Strawberries

Leftover bruschetta that I made this weekend

Basil hummus (for dipping)

I also had a couple slices of fresh Italian bread and a glass of wine



This was perfection. I was satisfied but not stuffed AND the only thing I actually made new was the hummus. (But it was DELICIOUS so I doubt it will last very long)

I feel silly taking pictures of my food anywhere but at home otherwise I would have snapped a pic of the amazing bento box I had last night for dinner. It was fresh and healthy and di-vine! The place we went has the BEST spicy tofu!

I had a pretty tough workout with my trainer yesterday which has left me with some serious aching in my neck. Obviously, I was not doing my 1 million crunches correctly.
I put in an hour on the elliptical today at a nice high resistance and crossramp and sweated it out through two gossip rags. I am SO ashamed that I read these. I am such a sucker for pop culture and celebrity gossip. My random knowledge did, however, earn my Quizo team a decent amount of points last night, which had us finish in a VERY respectable 2nd place. I was the only one who knew that Miley Cyrus broke up with her boyfriend and went back to her Jonas brother ex-boyfriend. For shame, Becky. For shame.
I read a lot of NY Times and CNN.com today to make up for it.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I have been struggling to make my commitment to health and fitness "fit in" with the rest of my life. I've been thinking about this a lot the past week and I think what has me so frustrated is my "either/or" mentality. I have scheduled appointments with my trainer twice a week. The rest of the week, my workout routine is planned, so to speak, but I don't have any accountability to anyone else to be anywhere at any particular time.
Now that it's the summer, I am finding that my nights are filling up fast with fun events and time with friends. I would be lying if I said the weather wasn't a HUGE motivator in getting me up and out of the house after work hours (although it probably helps that I work from home).
Several times over the past month or so, I have had to decline invitations becuase of my appointments with my trainer and even becuase I was busy at work and hadn't had time to get in a workout during the day. Yeah. I opted to workout over spending QT with my friends. SO LAME. Of course working out is important to me, but when I really thought about it, I do not want to be bailing on my friends under those circumstances.
So I've been struggling with this idea that I have to do one or the other. After a couple of "deep" conversations with Andrew, I realized that I'm getting in my own way about this. This is as you know (if you have read this blog more than once) ALWAYS the case with me. Sometimes I am my own biggest obstacle. So I have deciced to make a conscious effort to re-think the way I think (I know that sounds a little wacky, but its what I'm going for). Instead of thinking that I HAVE to pick this or that, I am training myself to think "I am going to do both of these things. How do I make it work?"

I have to remind myself a lot. But to be honest, it is really working. I sometimes have to rush, and forgo drying my hair or putting on that extra bit of makeup in order to get places ontime, but (so far) I haven't declined any invitations. It has meant working out on my lunch break and doubling up on workouts in my less busy days, but I have somehow managed to fit everything in. And the best part? It has encouraged a little creativity and flexibility in me (which is something that has been a little lacking recently. Right, Andrew? :-)).

I am sure there are people who have been doing this successfully for many, many years. I bet moms are amazing at this. And I think its great practice. Not only for when I have kids, but for how insanely busy my work schedule is going to be come September. Then I'll have to figure out not just when to hang out with friends, but how to work out on a train (or in the car or while sitting at a meeting).