Why, Hello January!

I stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve to ring in the New Year. We had planned to go to Ames to celebrate with friends, but the weather was iffy, so we stayed in. I always feel obliged to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve although (as a friend pointed out to me) the New Year comes whether you are asleep or awake. However, I don't remember a New Year's I didn't stay up for. I'm sure as a small child I didn't make it, but since I was old enough to understand New Year's, I've always stayed up. As an adult, it seems as if I rarely have real New Year's plans. In fact, at midnight this year, I was making muffins.

I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions. If you want to do something good for yourself, why wait until New Year's? However, I was glad to see an increased number of participants at the step aerobics class I teach tonight. I always like lots of people--even if I know they may not be back. And I always like that people are exercising because I think it increases quality of life.

As for me...I am working on two goals. The first goal (as you know) is to eat clean/eat real food. My second goal is to work on budget and pay more attention to finances. I am realizing that these goals often create conflicting priorities. I know how to eat healthy. I also know how to eat cheap. However, I am realizing that I do not know how to eat healthy AND cheap.

There is a common denominator here, and that is that the best way to eat healthy is to eat at home--and that's also the best way to eat cheap. However, I struggle with wanting to buy fresh fruits and vegetables which are really expensive, especially at this time of year. I bought a container of grapes a couple of weeks ago that was $6! I also bought some ridiculously expensive strawberries.

I understand why people living in poverty are often overweight. In other countries, poverty may mean people become sickly thin. Not here. You go to the grocery store and find that you can feed a family inexpensively if you don't care if they get healthy meals.

I've come up with a couple of ideas for myself. One is something that I will call (for lack of a better term) fiber stew. I call it that because it has a ridiculous amount of fiber. Here is what I put in it:

1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can Northern beans (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can green beans (drained)
2 cans corn (drained)
1 can of tomatoes
fresh leaves of spinach--about 1/2 cup--torn up
1 can of lentil soup

I put all of this in my crockpot and leave it in there all day. I don't have any specific rules on how long to cook it or whether it should be on high or low. You can also add a lot of other stuff, or take out what you don't like. It's not rocket science. I sometimes eat it with some melted cheese on top. It actually doesn't make as much as you would think after you drain the beans. However, I'm sure it is pretty cheap per serving. It's also something I can take to work and put in the refrigerator.

Tonight I made pasta with tuna. I made my pasta and put in a can of tuna. I added a little bit of light mayo. Then I put some Steam Fresh peas in the microwave and added those to the mix. I used the pasta with protein--which of course costs more, but overall a fairly cheap meal that will be easy for me to grab and maybe take to work.

I am working on some other ideas. I want stuff that is healthy (Eat Clean--Eat Real Food), not expensive to make, and can be made in larger portions so I can use it for more than one meal. One of my goals for the spring semester is to stop buying lunch at our student union. I will be honest--I am not a big fan of the food there. It's mediocre, and it's not a good deal. I sometimes get a tuna wrap, chips, and a soda, and it's like $7. If I were to pay $7 for lunch and have something I really enjoy, I wouldn't complain, but I continue to pay this much for my lunch one or two days even though I don't even like the food that much, and it's not that healthy. In addition, the lines are long and it takes a while. I need to be bringing my lunch, and saving my lunch money for when I do something fun like go out to lunch with a friend.

I am also looking to figure out how much I spend per week on food. This sounds crazy, but I have absolutely no idea. I know in college that I went to the store once a week and paid $30 for my groceries. I am sure it's more than that now. I made a spreadsheet of our expenses, and there is a big question mark by food. I don't track how much we spend on groceries or how much we spend eating out. So...I am working on our financial health and nutrition. I'm sure it will continue to be a work in progress and a learning experience for me.

Last night I watched the Biggest Loser while on the treadmill. I'm not sure if that's motivating or not. On one hand, being scared of being morbidly obese does keep me on the treadmill. However, watching people who are 400 pounds reminds me that I really am at a relatively healthy weight and makes me realize that there are people out there with weight struggles much larger than my own. And that would be true even if I gained 20 pounds!

Bill put a shelf by the treadmill so I could watch stuff on my laptop while I run. It's awesome--because I can watch so many TV shows on the internet now. If I tell myself I can only watch my favorite shows while I'm on the treadmill, I might run a lot more! I enjoy running for its own sake, but I can always use a little extra motivation.