If you’ve been following me for a while, you know flexibility is something I’ve been working on the past year. Yes, you need to eat well, enjoy physical activity, and sleep enough, but sometimes stepping outside your routine to do something fun is really important for your mental and emotional wellness. I joke that I’m a recovering routine junkie, but it’s really on the funny-because-it’s-true end of the spectrum. It took me a while to see it, but when I was juggling seven (yes, seven) different gigs, I would take any semblance of routine I could get. I got very rigid about what times I woke up and went to bed, what types of workouts I did on which days, and even, at times, the order in which I ate meals and snacks.
Forget having a personal life. I mean, I tried, but come on—how can you really get to know anybody or enjoy quality time when you keep looking at your watch? When you’re always the first person to leave? I thought I had it down to a science, but truthfully, I wasn’t being fully present in any one area of my life.
So for today’s What I Ate Wednesday post, I’m sharing a look at last Wednesday, when I let myself be flexible and enjoy the moment. It’s also the first time in a while I’ve posted an actual Wednesday.
This particular day I had a bunch of stuff on my to-do list but the weather was just absolutely gorgeous, so I moved around some things so I could take a walk and go to Pilates and spend a few hours hanging with a friend in the park. Even though I was planning to write in the evening, I ended up accepting a last-minute invitation to a comedy show that started at what used to be my weeknight bedtime. Yeah, I knew I was going to be tired the next day, but it was totally worth it. A conscious choice to go out and have fun and not worry about time is very different from a feeling obligated to go to at an event you don’t want to go to or putting in an hour of face time at a party. It’s also very different from saying “no” to something you want to do because you “should” stay home and work or go to bed “on time.”
Because I gave myself permission to be flexible, it ended up being one of those perfect spring days I’ll probably remember for a long time—and because this is a “what a dietitian eats” post, I also enjoyed delicious food. Yeah, I was “lazy” and didn’t cook and more just assembled leftovers in various ways (salad for dinner is the epitome of lazy/busy for me) but again—life would be really boring if we were perfect all the time. Whatever that means.
Breakfast: leftover roasted purple sweet potatoes before taking a walk and an egg white omelet with veggies and a little goat cheese after.
Lunch: A big salad with zoodles, sautéed summer squash, sardines, and avocado; a dark chocolate Hershey’s kiss for dessert
Afternoon Snack: 2% Plain Greek yogurt with cocoa powder and strawberries ; later, a decaf coffee while out with my friend
Dinner: I threw together a quick salad of leftover cooked veggies and hummus & yogurt-marinated chicken and sprinkled more goat cheese on top; another piece of chocolate
After-dinner: glass of white wine at a bar before the show; whiskey neat afterwards — and plenty of water (not pictured)
What are some of your favorite ways to slow down and savor life?
To see more WIAW, check out founder Jenn’s blog Peas & Crayons or visit host Laura‘s blog.