DINNER FOR ONE
It’s been a looooooong time since I last posted something health&fitness related here. To make it clear upfront:
- No, we are not any fitter than a few weeks ago when we tried to go on a week-long reset diet/exercise program.
- No, we haven’t found any magical cure to anything.
- Yes, I AM sorry for not having continued posting about how we DIDN’T make our goal and completed the week-long reset diet & exercise program.
- And Yes, we STILL haven’t completely finished moving and we are totally sticking to our story that THE MOVE is what is keeping us from working out and losing these extra 10 pounds.
That being said, I did finish a 10K without actually training for it on Saturday morning; however, I did walk quite a bit during the second 5K and I am not proud to admit that, during those second 5K, I did at one (or two or three) point(s) lose the will to live 😉
After the 10K, I showered and proceeded to sleep for 2 1/2 hours. And then, I didn’t move much for two more days.
But, today, we got back on the bandwagon. My partner ran tonight (he says it was a long run, but I cannot attest to that) and I went to a barre class over lunch. Granted, it was only the barre express class, but it felt good to at least sweat a little while walking to and from class 😉
And tonight, while he ran his “long run”, for which he conveniently neglected to turn on his running app LOL, I sat at my son’s gymnastics class and waited for my children’s father to appear on HIS day with our children. Originally, I had planned to go running as well… just as soon as my kids’ father got there and took over. But I must have mis-communicated the start/end times and the fact that parents cannot leave the building if the kid isn’t of a certain age. So, by the time I was able to leave, it was dark and there was no way I would still go running by myself in a new neighborhood that I don’t know that well. It’s not that I’m scared of the boogeyman – he’s allright! No, I’m scared of tripping and falling, or – more likely with my sense of direction resembling that of a letter-dove that crashed into too many windows – getting lost in this new place!! That would be bad.
So, no run for me, but my sexy guy did a long run and is now feeling good about himself and going out with the guys. It’s wing night, after all. And – to make it a good guys’ night out – where might they go? Well, a HOOTERS-type of establishment, of course 😉
So, what’s a girl to do? A girl, who obviously neglected to plan her own girls’ night out? One who neglected to go grocery shopping and who has absolutely no wine in the house? One who is already feeling a bit undesirable because she has been feeding herself the wrong foods while working out sporadically at best, for weeks now?
Well… she makes the best of it!
Go Shopping, of course 😉 And splurge on the Pays d’Oc, the one I normally don’t buy anymore. And, because gymnastics lessons run late, buy dinner for one. Microwavable. It’s fast, it’s easy, and it’s better that the pint of ice cream I (feeling fat and frumpy without having run) wanted to indulge in.
So I bought a microwavable Asian-inspired dinner from Trader Joe’s (if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s by you, you should really move), placed it over a bunch of kale/spinach leaves that were left in the refrigerator and went to microwave it. To add to the appeal of my 9pm-dinner-for-one, I strategically placed slices of pattypan squash around the meal. Add a glass of wine and candlelight and voilà, I/you are woman, hear me/yourself roar! 🙂
Seriously, I mean it. Could I have gone the route of ice cream puffs, with a dessert of Trader Joe’s jelly beans (ooooh, they are SO SO GOOD!)? Abso-flippin-lutely! But, ladies: NOBODY (mom of our step-kids, ex-partner/husband, current one, the (step-)kids themselves, …), nobody is worth us losing our girlish figure, no matter where we are in our weight-loss/self-indulgence journey! We just adjust the crown, add some lip gloss, light the candles, pour the wine, and have a healthy dinner by ourselves. What’s important is that you make it a sit-down dinner. Eat slowly and savor each bite. Even if you did opt for the pint of ice cream, do yourself a favour and eat it at the table. Don’t watch TV or surf the Internet (other than this blog for inspiration, of course 😉 )
Wait to turn on the TV until AFTER you’ve cleared the table and your head. Then feel free to follow your enjoyable dinner where you’ve concentrated on your food alone by one (or maybe more) show(s)/movie(s) you would never watch with your man around. For me, that’s LaBoum, a French romantic teenage comedy that I don’t think ever got translated into English. Or L’étudiante. Or Edel&Stark. Unser Lehrer Dr. Specht. Girl movies/shows that guys wouldn’t even understand if they spoke the language.
I’m off to indulge in my childhood shows/movies now. What do you like to watch that you feel you cannot watch with your partner around and why?
Ashley@Shakenstirredandblended
Hi, I'm Ashley and I am a freelance writer and editor for one local and one national publication. In my spare time, I teach foreign languages and manage two households. Oh, and raise four children. It's a crazy life that I chose and I love every second of it :o)
