Lauren the Runner

One week ago, I started typing up a note on my iPod as I lay in bed. The note was intended to be an upcoming blog post, admitting my failure to uphold my New Year's resolution to exercise two and a half hours a week.

The post was going to ramble on about how I hate exercise. And how my "program" was flawed. And how I had no chance of staying committed to such a flawed program. I was ready to swear against ever exercising again.

But since then, something has drastically changed. The change was a result of three factors:

• I started reading "Whitewash" by Joseph Keon, which mentions lack of physical activity as a cause of osteoporosis
• I noticed since I resumed my sloth lifestyle that I was feeling lethargic and having trouble sleeping.
• I was incredibly bored over the weekend and spent hours and hours just sitting around, being bored, and doing nothing.

Thus, on Sunday I got dressed in my workout clothes for the first time in weeks, and I drove to the wellness center. Where I ran two miles. Yes, two miles. At once. Which I've actually never done before.

Fast forward to Tuesday. I finished eating supper, and my legs got all twitchy. They wanted to run. I, Lazy Lauren, actually had a strong, burning desire to run. I knew I had to act before the temptation passed, so I hurried to the wellness center....and ran another two miles. For the second time in my life. This time was more difficult than the first time, but whenever I wanted to stop, I said to myself, "You spend too much money on high-quality food to not put every effort into total wellness. You deserve this. You deserve to be healthy." And I finished with a smile.

Today, I wasn't planning on going. I wasn't completely in the mood, and I thought I would rather go tomorrow night, on Friday. But I finished dinner, and my legs got all twitchy again...

So I returned to the wellness center for the third time this week. I wasn't really feeling a long-distance run (aka two miles), so instead, I ran one mile, but I pushed myself by picking up my speed and taking longer strides.

I don't know where this is coming from...but I hope it lasts! Even though my one mile today does not satisfy the recommended half hour of exercise a day, I do not care. That mile was a heck of a lot more physical activity than sitting at home, working on lesson plans. That mile took way more effort than any of the half-hearted exercise I did back in January when I was just trying to tally up the minutes for my two and a half hours. I'm going to stop worrying about time and numbers, and just focus on movement. If my body is feeling good, I'm able to sleep well at night, my stress is low, and my attitude is high, then that's good enough for me. :)

Resolutions and Tostadas

I was never one to make resolutions. Or, I should say, I was never one to follow through on them.

That changed last year when I decided to take on flexitarianism. I guess you could say it was a pretty successful resolution, considering I converted to vegetarianism at the end of August. I proved to myself that I can follow through on resolutions, as long as it's something that's attainable, something I value, and specific. For example, it's way easier to hold myself accountable to "Drink 5 glasses of water a day" than "Drink more water." The specificity of "I can't consume meat more than one meal a day" forced me to always challenge myself far more than "Eat less meat" would have.

Anyway...I've been considering these resolutions for months. I'm a planner like that. Naturally, I've considered a lot of food-related ones, such as "Lighten up on the peanut butter, you psycho," or "No non-organic soy." But ultimately, I decided to avoid those. As a perfectionist, putting myself under that kind of pressure can be a little problematic. Plus, my quest for good nutrition is a step-by-step journey. I don't believe I need any monumental "resolutions" to make them happen.

So without further ado, I present my resolutions for 2012: 

1. Exercise for 2.5 hours a week. It doesn't have to be intense, but it has to get my heart thumping! I'm not trying to burn calories or train for a marathon; I'm simply hoping to keep my heart and lungs healthy and vivacious!

2. Floss at least every other day. My dentist loves my teeth. Like, he loves them. Sometimes, I feel like he wants to turn my mouth into an art exhibit. He's always saying things like, "Beauuuutiful teeth.... Wow.... You have such excellent home-care... Beautiful.... Perfect...." I take great pride in my dental hygiene, to the point where I actually brush my teeth around four times a day. Yet I don't floss. That needs to change. I would commit to "Floss daily," but then I would give up if I accidentally missed a day. This way, I have wiggle room for mistakes.

I wanted to make more; I'm just full of ideas for self-improvement! But I knew I had to narrow them down and prioritize. These two alone will challenge me sufficiently.

So anyway, I've had a delicious start to 2012. I reheated my fantastic 3-bean and quinoa chili for lunch (I swear it gets better every time I taste it!), and I made a bean and avocado tostada for dinner.

I got the idea for the tostada from one of my favorite restaurants. It's usually made with a giant helping of iceberg lettuce, so I was excited to make it myself, using fat-free refried beans (which is apparently not fried in oil...so the question is...how did they fry it? haha), a whole wheat tortilla, and organic spring mix.

P.S. Are you aware that "refried" is actually a mistranslation? These beans have not been fried twice, as the name suggests. "Refritos" literally translates to "well-fried," and not "refried."

Happy New Year!

Lentil Burgers (and thoughts on flexitarianism)

My New Year's resolution this year was to take up part-time vegetarianism (aka flexitarianism), which I would achieve by setting a goal to not consume meat more than one meal per day. I had been eating much less meat since moving into my own place, simply because of financial purposes. After reading a few of Michael Pollan's incredible books (and learning: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."), I decided to focus more on fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts. I quickly realized how this new diet affected me; I simply felt better when I wasn't eating meat. So I decided to make it official with my flexitarianism resolution.

This turned out to be surprisingly easy, as long as I was at my apartment cooking for myself. The challenge was when I was at my parents' house for holidays or weekends. I would have to remind my mom to have vegetarian sides for me to eat, or have pasta and keep the meat as a separate add-in for herself. Or, I would simply have to cook for myself, which I was willing to do.

In the end, I was able to last seven months without ever having meat more than one meal per day. In fact, I went a couple weeks entirely vegetarian, without ever missing meat. So why did I break my resolution?

The night before leaving for Ireland, I thought about the food I would be having. Sure, Europe in general is more vegetarian-friendly than South Dakota, and I'd be able to find some good vegetarian dishes. But I thought about all the traditional dishes of Ireland--very meat-focused. I realized how central to the culture it was. I mean, what is a traditional Irish breakfast without blood pudding and rashers?

An unsure smile after my first bite of blood pudding.

I made the difficult decision to forgo my once-a-day rule while in Ireland, so I could freely experience the culture without restraining myself. I do not regret that decision! Worrying about avoiding meat the whole trip would have certainly stressed me out and taken away from the experience. I had enough to think about.

Unfortunately, I found it difficult to get back to my routine when I returned home. So I've decided to go vegetarian for the month of September, to make up for all the cheating I've done in August. This last week of August will be spent snarfing down all my meat-related leftovers so I can get them out of the fridge for September.

To prepare, I decided to try out another veggie burger recipe. I used to eat these often, but I never truly found one I genuinely loved. Until now! I tried Jennifer Perillo's lentil burger recipe today, and it was a hit. It's a very basic recipe, and I can imagine adding herbs and spices for variety (sage and fennel? garlic? cayenne pepper? The possibilities are infinite).

I've never had lentils before. When I went to buy them, I quickly realized my store does not carry a canned version, which meant I would finally have to tackle my fear of preparing dry beans. This is something I have always planned on doing (eventually) out of financial and health concerns (so much sodium in the canned versions!), but it's one of those things that I simply "never got around to." Well, I had to get around to it. 

Luckily, lentils are a great bean to start with. Unlike the other beans, they require no soaking. As a bonus, they have a nice, neutral flavor. They possibly just became my new favorite meat alternative, which pinto beans previously held the title for.

So anyway...

I changed Jennifer's recipe only slightly, switching oat bran for the breadcrumbs, to boost fiber. It worked perfectly.

I placed my burger on a toasted whole grain sprouted bun, and topped it with slices of avocado and spinach. I served it with a side of peppery, oven-roasted broccoli florets. The verdict? Let's just say, if every vegetarian meal I make is this good, September will be a good month.