Salad Days
I understand why New Year's Resolutions to eat more healthy foods and lose weight fail. New Year's resolutions and active strict dieting are not things I do, so I'd never thought about it, except to wonder what fool makes the same plan each year only to fail.
It's January; the middle of winter. Vegetables are just plain sad looking. Let's not talk about tomatoes. Why bother? June would be a better time to start eating more fruits and veggies.
I did not list any weight loss or fitness goals in my plans for 2008. I'm not a thin woman. I am okay with my body anyway despite our cultural obsession with striving to be thin and perfect. I am a size 22/24. It's not like I'm so large that I have to wear maternity jeans.
I have no desire to be a size two.
Still, I know I could eat better. I would not mind losing a few pounds. Even without that, eating better food is good for the body at any size.
What is more, I like vegetables. And I'm not one of those people who only likes corn, peas and iceberg lettuce (my dad, for example). I like Brussels sprouts. I love fresh stuff for salads. Cucumbers are my favorite.
I don't eat many fruits or veggies daily. It is partly the expense, plus very much laziness. Peeling and cutting. Putting together salads. It takes time.
Towards the end of winter, I usually feel crappy. A little blah.
In February, I was feeling like a cross between a slug and a hibernating bear woken too soon.
I decided to give into my better impulses. I bought some big bowls with fitted lids to take salads to work for lunch. I even got tiny ones for the dressing.
Then I went to buy a colorful crop of veggies to fill my bowls.
Our town has two discount grocery stores with limited products, one truly awful local grocery store, and a Super Wal-Mart. I am not a Wal-Mart hater. I know the only reason I can afford to live is their prices. Farmington is the first place we've lived with a Super Wal-Mart. I have no problem with their grocery selection.
What I have begun to notice is the lighting in the produce section is noticeably lacking. The corner of the store is plain dark compared to the bight florescent glow through out the rest of the store. It makes it difficult to tell what produce is best. It is so noticeable that I plan to make a formal complaint to the store management. If it is purposeful, the tactic is slightly shady (I love puns). If it is poor planning, then it should be corrected.
I bought a bag of mixed greens, a bag of spinach, five cucumbers, some celery, a red onion, and a three pack of bell peppers; one each green, red and yellow.
At home, I washed, peeled and sliced as required. I built four salads in my three new bowls, plus the one I'd bought last summer at Target. One of my cucumbers was mushy inside and the onion was brown in the middle, but other than that I'd done fine picking my veggies. The hard part was putting the slices in the bowls and not in my mouth.
I've eaten three of my four lovely salads on my work days. After the first day, I hardboiled some eggs to mix in. I love hardboiled egg in salad, plus the protein kept me from being too hungry by the time I get home.
I look forward to eating lunch. I love the fresh, crisp tastes. I still have something chocolate afterward. Trust me, you don't want to take my chocolate away.
There is no telling if my February Salad resolution will last. I figure, even if it doesn't the veggies I'm eating now are full of goodness. Veggies for today are better than no veggies at all.
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