Boring

I ate Thanksgiving leftovers for pretty much every meal for at least 4 days.  Yes, even for breakfast.  I'm sure everyone else in my family was probably tired of leftovers after day two, but I honestly don't mind them.  I can, and do, often eat the same thing day after day after day and never get sick of it. 

There was the time years ago when I would get the same exact salad at Au Bon Pain every weekday.  For months.  It was a joke amongst my colleagues.  Lunchtime every day, they knew I was going to get "my" salad.  The woman that made the salad knew exactly what I wanted in it.  Exactly what I would ask for a little bit extra of.  Exactly how much dressing to put in.  It was kind of sad.  And I probably spent a lot of money on those salads over the months. (And didn't do my waistline any favors - it definitely was not what anyone would consider a healthy salad.)

I'm sure some people would think that this is incredibly boring.  And, it probably is. 

But, it also makes it so much easier to plan my meals for the week.  It makes it easier to shop.  It makes it easier to prep.  And, it makes it easier to not eat like crap.  If I plan fairly healthy meals and snacks during the day, I don't feel bad if I eat a piece of candy or have dessert at night. 

You can pretty much set your watch to my eating schedule during the week. 

At around 9 a.m., as I settle in at my desk and check my emails, I have overnight oats.  I make a big batch on Sunday night, and bring it to work for the week.  It always includes oats, Greek yogurt, milk, and honey.  Sometimes I mix it up with a scoop of cookie butter.  Or cinnamon, or vanilla, or ginger.  I know, I'm living on the edge.  Occasionally, I'll have a grapefruit or pear with breakfast.  And tea with lemon.  Always tea with lemon in the morning.  

On Thursdays, we get bagels at work for breakfast.

At noon on the dot (or sometimes a little earlier, if I'm really hungry), I have lunch.  A salad.  Made with mixed greens, red pepper, mushrooms, broccoli, avocado, hard boiled egg, a few crispy onions or croutons, and salad dressing.  I have a nifty container for it that lets me keep the onions and dressing separate until I'm ready to eat. 

Then, at 3 p.m., it's snack time.  Usually an apple with a scoop of peanut butter.  I have one of those family size containers of peanut butter at work and I probably go through one a month. Sometimes, when it's warmer, I'll get froyo. 

And, not to omit anything, sometimes there's also a piece (or two or three) or candy from the candy bowl at work.

Dinner is a little more freestyle.  I usually eat around 7 or 8 p.m.  It's usually something that I've made and frozen (meatloaf or soup or a pasta bake).  Or leftovers. Sometimes, it's another salad.  If I'm feeling really crazy, I might make some fresh veggies and a protein (chicken apple sausage is amazing). 

And then there's dessert.  Almost always dessert.  Which I never feel bad about eating, because I've been a (mostly) good girl all day.  Sometimes I'll have a cookie, or some chocolate, or whatever other yummies we have around the apartment.  

I always enjoy it while I'm eating it.  It's usually too much sugar for me that late at night (and by late, I mean like 9 p.m.  I'm an old lady and go to bed at around 10 p.m., if not earlier). I usually curse myself when I can't fall asleep after eating dessert and tell myself that I need to stop eating sweets at night.  Sometimes I'll have a pear or a piece of fruit instead.  Usually though, I just eat some sweets.  

The weekends are a bit more free form, although I do still try to get in similar meals each day, especially for breakfast and lunch.  I find that it makes it easier to not gorge myself on all the food.  Also, since I have such boring, relatively healthy eating habits during the week, I feel better if I let myself indulge a little bit on the weekends.

I don't need to be 100% good and healthy 100% of the time.  That's just boring and no way to live.  But, I find that being boring and predictable much of the time makes it a lot easier to balance out healthy eating with a bit of good old fashioned indulging.