Whole foods and diet.

So remember last week when I had that meltdown about not having time to make all my own food from scratch and from completely fresh ingredients because I thought that's what the program required? Remember how the instructor told me I was crazy (in the sweetest way possible), and I should just eat healthier?

Well... I went crazy anyway. Like I've stressed before, my diet isn't terrible. So I figured, why not try and make a few more things and see what happens? I happened to fall in love with it.

Friday night I made a Japanese rice bowl. It was pretty tasteless and awful, so I followed it up with a fabulous peach cobbler. Saturday I was out the whole day, but when I got home I made an incredibly thick and rich hot chocolate. Sunday I created homemade granola bars for the week and making whole wheat pizza dough and the resulting pizza from scratch. Tonight (or tomorrow night) I'm baking a loaf of bread to have for sandwiches the rest of the week.

Dinner for this week will consist of salmon fillets and salad, creamy asparagus and chicken pasta, a Mexican stew, and french onion soup - all homemade, using as little canned and frozen stuff as possible. My grocery bill was a little shocking this week, but I'll figure that out later...

I've found that I really enjoy planning and creating balanced meals that leave you feeling satisfied. I take joy in creating something that tastes fabulous but won't leave your body sick from fat and sugar intake.

Part of my late-night eating issue is not eating enough hearty food during the day, I think. I took a look at the food pyramid today to see if I am feeding myself the correct proportions - lo and behold, I'm not getting enough carbs. 6 to 11 servings of carbohydrates a day! I was getting probably 3-5. That explains a lot of how I was feeling - never satisfied, always reaching, kind of shaky at points.

Another significant diet issue is dairy. I drank a TON of milk as a child. I loved yogurt and cottage cheese and all of the good stuff. Last year I think I overdosed and developed some kind of allergy to it, and now I get sick when I have it. I've tried soy as a supplement, and that makes me feel pretty awful as well. I avoid it like the plague, and that probably doesn't help my empty feelings, either. I've recently tried to reincorporate small amounts of it in (like greek yogurt and soy milk) because I know it's necessary, but I wish I didn't feel so awful.

Work in progress, right?

As an aside, I had a fabulously calm and peaceful day today. I woke up early and was able to meditate, drink tea, answer this week's personal excavation questions and just breathe before the start of my week. I had time because I had practice at the studio tonight. Tomorrow morning won't be so peaceful because I have to practice in the morning, but a slow, easy morning made for a great start to my week.