Torture & Triumph

Lunch.

The mere mention of the meal makes me both salivate and cringe. I hate fixing lunch. It's torture. I never know what to fix and I usually don't have time to make something super fancy. Today was a little different since I have the entire day off. Still, the idea of lunch was torture.

I've been trying to revert back to being a vegetarian. I'm honestly kind of tired of meat. I don't really like the taste of it unless it's chicken or fish. Even then, if the chicken isn't cooked properly, it's a complete turn off. I was a vegetarian for about 10 years starting in 1999. I only started eating meat again because I didn't do my research on being a VegHead. I wasn't getting the proper nutrients that my body needed in order to be healthy. So, I've been toying with the idea of doing it again and doing it right. It's not because I'm all "Save the Animals!" - I'm very much a Circle of Life kind of person. They were used as a source of nutrition for centuries, so why stop now? I'm doing it for health reasons only. That's not to say that I won't eat a juicy grilled chicken breast if it's placed in front of me. I'm just opting not to eat it if given the choice.

So I decided to do something super easy for lunch since, as aforementioned, cooking lunch is torture. I decided to go with a Boca Burger and a salad. Super easy and light. Or so I thought.

I didn't realize that stuff had fallen in the eye of the stove, so there may or may not have been some smoke and some smells happening. No flames - thank God. However, it did take significantly longer to cook the burger seeing as how I had to eye-hop (all puns intended) and use another eye. (Did I mention this lunch was torture?) I finally got the burger cooked and the salad prepared and this was the result:

            

It was 100% worth the torture. 

Which brings me to the point of today's blog. What may seem like a complete hassle (AKA: time consuming health food) is actually worth the effort. It would have been so easy for me to have gone and grabbed a Double Quarter Pounder Whopper Extreme or whatever they are from down the road for only $1, but I didn't. It's about eating like crap and feeling like crap (though it would have tasted delicious) v. eating healthy and feeling healthy (with food that still tasted just as delicious if not more so). And that, my friends, is a triumph. 

Today's meal: 

1 Whole Wheat Sandwich Bun, 130 calories

1 Boca Burger Veggie Patty, 70 calories

1 slice Provolone Cheese, 70 calories

French's Mustard (approx. 5 grams), 0 calories

Ketchup (approx. 1/2 tbsp.), 8 calories

Hydroponic Lettuce (approx. 1.5 cup), 10 calories

Sweet, Red Pepper (approx. 1 cup), 39 calories

Garden-grown Banana Pepper (approx. 1/8 cup), 4 calories

Parmesan Cheese (approx 1 tbsp.), 14 calories
Homemade Honey-Lime Vinaigrette Dressing (approx. 1.5 tbsp.), 75 calories

Mango La Croix Sparkling Water, 0 calories

Total Calories: 421

Should I have gone without the cheese? Yes. Especially since I'm lactose intolerant. But honestly, I wanted it. Therefore, I took my Dairy Supplement and chowed down on it. Good life choice? Not the best I'm sure. Especially since that would have been 56 less calories. But still, I feel good and that's what matters.

Again, it's about feeling good and trying. No effort, no results. 

Why am I here?!

To answer the question, I have no idea!

If I'm being completely honest, I have to say that I have no clue what I'm doing. I don't know why I thought that starting a blog about healthy living was a good idea. For heaven's sake, I LOVE TACO BELL! Why would someone who voluntarily chooses to put her body through that kind of torture be qualified to have a blog dedicated to healthy living and eating? The truth is, I'm not qualified by any means. I'm not a professional nutritionist. I'm not a personal trainer. So who am I?

I'm a female. I'm a female who struggles on a daily basis between dedicating enough time to fix something healthy vs. grabbing something ridiculously unhealthy that can be cooked in a drive-thru or a microwave in under 2 minutes (which in itself is a scary concept). I'm a female who doesn't have the time or the funds to join a gym and workout 5 days a week. I'm a female that realizes unhealthy living will only effect me more now that I'm going on 30 and will only get worse with age. But more than that, I'm a strong female.

I'm strong in the sense that I'm willing to fight through the urges. I'm strong in knowing that I can be healthy and active without living above my means my spending money on a gym membership that I really can't afford. I'm strong in knowing that there are others out there that are going through the same thing who may need encouraging and being willing to help. I'm strong enough to resist that $1.09 burrito and opt for the $1.09 bell pepper instead. But more than that, I'm strong in realizing that changes don't happen overnight. You can't change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction. Healthy living and eating starts with baby steps. Do what feels right for you.

I hope by maintaining this blog that I will inspire women of all ages and activities (myself included) to focus more on the food and activities that will make you healthy as opposed to those that will inhibit your potential. We are strong. Let's do this, together.