Definitely December

It’s definitely December here. I was supposed to go for a run with my friend Joan but when we found out that the high temperature for the day was 42 and that it was only about 35 at 10 am, we bailed and I did my run at the gym instead. I took it really slow on the treadmill; I only ran at 5.5 mph but I did 5 miles which I was pleased with. I started out telling myself that I needed to at least run three. After three, I said that I might as well run four and then at four, I might as well run five. I’m not sure why I have to bargain with myself to stay on the treadmill, but I do. It works, so I’m okay with it.

I’ve felt like I’ve been making good choices for the past week when it comes to my “detox.” I haven’t had any diet soda nor have I had an alcohol and I’ve tried to eat more whole foods. Honestly, the diet coke thing has been the hardest thing for me. I often have a diet coke in the afternoon, when I just want a taste of something. Water just doesn’t always cut it. So instead of diet coke, I’ve been drinking a lot of hot tea, some coffee and Vitamin Water Zero. I don’t know what to think about the Vitamin Water. I mean, is it any different than drinking diet coke? It’s sweetened with Truvia, which is derived from the stevia plant (is it a plant) so it’s supposed to be more natural, but really is it?

I’m going to talk more about the alcohol thing in another post because it’s something that’s been weighing heavy on my mind, but I haven’t really had the chance to figure out exactly what I’m thinking. I know that i feel better when I don’t drink, but don’t really know how to do that without totally isolating myself from all my friends, which is what I did this weekend. I want to learn to figure out how to have just one drink. I can have no drinks without a problem and I can have 5 drinks without a problem, but one is hard. Anyway, more about that later.

I attempted to channel my inner Kelly and make a meal plan for the week. I went to Trader Joe’s and Kroger and bought all the ingredients, so hopefully this will make dinners easier for the week. Tonight’s dinner was pretty easy. I made white beans and rice, based on a Cooking Light Red Beans and Rice recipe that I can’t seem to find online. Basically, it was beans, diced tomatoes, mushrooms and rice with some cheese and cilantro on top. I paired it with broccoli sauteed in coconut oil.

I think that Jason will like this too which is also a plus.

Lately, I’ve been baking things on Sunday nights. Tonight, I tried out Sarena’s Gingerbread Cookie Dough Balls.

I think I did a little something wrong. I used white wheat flour instead of the rice flours that Sarena used. I used less like she suggested and it was really sort of sticky and hard to make into a ball. And, it only make about 20 balls. But they still tasted great and I can’t stop eating them. Thanks for the recipe, Sarena.