Beginning Again

Here I am, taking a break from the "Great Tuesday Cookup".  See, if you are lazy like me you eventually realize that if you don't want to spend an hour every day chopping and cooking in the kitchen you need to dedicate a few hours once a week doing simple prep work.  Trust me, SIMPLE.  

Today has consisted of:

1. Chopping Onions;
2. Washing, Peeling and chopping carrots;
3. Washing and breaking up some broccoli;
4. Creating a salad of epic proportions;
5. Baking some sugar and nitrate/nitrite free bacon;
6. Baking a dozen mini pizza eggs;
7. Roasting some sweet potatoes; 
8. Washing and chopping up some cauliflower to make a big batch of "faux 'tatoes"; and
9. Prepping some brussels sprouts for the oven tonight.

Sure, it seems like a lot but honestly, total prep time may have been an hour and a half.  Roasting the sweet potato and baking the egg "muffins" took the longest and all I did during that time was clean up and chop a few extra veggies.

I figure if I am going to be successful at this whole "healthy lifestyle" business I am going to need to find a way to accommodate my strong and deep rooted desire to do nothing before 9 am.  That means that cooking a breakfast from scratch, while a noble and worthwhile endeavour, is just not going to happen.  I know this about myself.  I am working around it.  It is why a couple of really smart guys (and possibly girls) got together and created the microwave...so people like me can reheat food and coffee in less than two minutes.

Something else I should share.  I always, always, always, always (get it....ALWAYS) cook enough veggies to get at least two full meals out it.  That way, if catastrophe strikes, I will have something that I can warm up in a pinch.  I also always cook double or triple the meat (by meat I mean "protein" so that could be fish, chicken, pork, seafood, etc.) I need for one meal.  Again, it all comes back to my inherit laziness.  Two days from now I can reheat my meat from tonight and serve it slightly differently.  It takes just as much time to bake 4 chicken thighs as it does to cook 8, so do 8 and save yourself the hassle.

On a slightly different note.  Exercise.  Yeah, apparently I need to do that too if I want to be healthy. I have a personal trainer.  He is awesome.  He is currently on vacation.  I am supposed to be doing "moderate cardio, some core work and stretching" while he is away.  I think he intended for me to go in to the gym to do these things but, I am lazy....and my car is in the shop (again - twice in a month ughh).  I am taking moderate cardio to mean that an hour and a half walk with two ginormous dogs - if necessary I will walk quickly.  I am also assuming that by core work he does not mean stretching my abs by filling my tummy with food so at some point today I will hit the deck and crank out a few variations of sit-ups, some planks and some other yet to be decided "core" exercise.  Stretching .... I have a yoga dvd....I am pretty sure a few downward dogs, sun salutations and warrior poses should cover that off.

That, my lovelies, is my day.  Day One of my 30 day Challenge to eat better, move better and feel better.  Tomorrow I will start posting pictures of my food (or at least the non-boring food).  I will link to recipes when I am able or I will link to the blogs/websites/cookbooks where I got the recipe from.  If I change things up within the recipe I will state that as well.

At some point I will put up a few "this is me now" pictures along with a few measurements as well.

Right now though I have to go entertain the mini potatoes or they will destroy my house.