farm fresh (well, sort of)

I was going to tell you all about slopovers tonight, since I know you were all on the edges of your seats about that business.  But, a series of uncharacteristic things happened, and I felt compelled to share (mostly so I could remind myself that, on occasion, I get things right). 

First, I came home from work at went to the gym in my building.  Gym is a generous term, it's nothing more than a few cardio and weights machines, but it's free and approximately 30 seconds from my couch.  And after a particularly unhealthy day of eating and general lethargy at training, I came home antsy (and chastising myself for my abysmal eating habits).  So I guilted myself right down to the basement "gym" for the first time in the nearly two years I've lived in this building.  Shameful, I know. 

Then, my poor, out-of-shape body needed some time to rebound after a mere half hour of cardio, so I went over to Allie's to water her plants.  On my way back to my apartment, I realized ALL, I mean all my body wanted was vegetables.  

Side note: I don't really buy in to any given food/diet phenomenon.  I a) like food too much, b) don't know enough about nutrition, c) am a bit lazy.  But one thing I genuinely believe is that our bodies crave what they need.  As a girl with a raging sweet tooth, even I don't believe that means my body always (errrr, ever) needs the endless sugar I consume.  When I say crave, I'm referring more to things like fruits/veggies/water/(occasionally) meat.  I'll be the first to admit I eat really poorly most of the time.  Not that I necessarily eat a ton of fried food, I just don't eat balanced meals. So when I realize my body wants, say, red meat or something green, I generally think that's its way of saying "um, vitamin C. PLEASE" or "hey, a little protein would be nice."

Which is my really long way of saying, I made this for dinner:

The squash, zucchini, and fruit were the only things that are actually fresh from the store.  The french green beans, peas, corn, and snap peas were all from my freezer and steamed back to life.  While I, like most people, I'm sure, prefer fresh, I tend to be pretty awful at using produce before it goes bad.  Case in point:

And third, I actually sat at my dining room table to eat (instead of just using it as a staging area for crappy food photographs), and left my phones and computer in the living room.  I realize that's a tenuous distinction when all of your rooms occupy approximately 700 square feet, but I'm typically glued to something electronic all day, every day, so I consider this an accomplishment in restraint.  I didn't even turn the TV on.  While I didn't go so far as to light candles or anything like that, it was a nice change from 

Ok, so those are really the only three uncharacteristic events, but, I'm a little (too) proud of them, and I want to try to do more of this healthy stuff.  The rest of my day was unfortunately very characteristic (forgetting my lunch in the fridge at home, eating poorly, hating what I was wearing, feeling guilty when I saw the girl in front of me snacking in watermelon while I ate my skittles, etc).  

Now I'm going to characteristically sit here on my couch, read my book, and ignore the dishes in the sink for a while...