Day 13. Where Have I Been?

I WENT TO THE GYMMMMMMM!!!

My first trip of the year, and really, my first since November. I jogged on the treadmill for half an hour, then did a round of circuit training and finally, some sit-ups and stretches. I of course felt good. As my gym mantra states: you'll never regret going, you'll always regret not going. This was yesterday, by the way. Today I missed the window (found out it closes at 4 on Sundays, good to know) but I'm going to do some yoga and pilates in a bit.

The one thing I hate about the gym is that without fail, it turns into a fun house mirror situation. At the top of my workout, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, see my body moving and think, "wow, I look great! Exercise makes me glow! I can see the results already!". By midpoint, if I steal another look at myself, I'm smacked in the face with how shapeless my thighs look and how impossibly wide my hips are, lamenting, "oh my God how did I get so far behind? I'll never reach my goals!" It's come to my attention that both of these statements are fairly delusional, so I try to push through them and just get a decent workout completed.

Both yesterday and today I volunteered at the animal shelter. I used to work there part-time, but since my Mon-Fri 9-5 adjustment, I can't get there during the week. So it's nice to see all the animals over the weekend. They really clear my mind. You can't think about yourself when you have two (or 30) eyes demanding your attention. It's always a half-heartbreaking trip though; some days it really gets to me that I get to leave and go home and they'll still be there...

Can we talk spinach dip, for a second? I consider myself a connoisseur of spinach dips. If there is a restaurant chain or grocery store that offers it, I've had it, and can place it appropriately on an objective scale of superiority. Mayonnaise-based rank lowest, the higher the cheese count, the higher on the scale, etc. PS: if it's served with bread, I highly recommend asking for tortilla chips instead. (the crunch!!). Anyway, I have just whipped up a batch here at home and it has turned out quite amazing, if I may say so. I attempted to "add healthy in", while maintaining a high cheese count but lowered cheese content. It included:
- a ton of frozen spinach, cooked and drained
- chopped artichokes
- avocado (to replace some cheese content with its creaminess)
- chopped black beans and white kidney beans (leftovers I found in the fridge)
- orange bell pepper
- shallots
- radishes
- pepper
- a REASONABLE amount of light cream cheese and goat cheese with old white cheddar on top. The sharper the cheese, the less of it you need!
I put it in the oven until bubbling, and ate it with...get ready...organic blue corn tortilla chips made with sprouted seeds, which are supposed to be wonderful for the digestive system, and turned out to be delicious..
C'est magnifique! C'est compromise!