Finally! After weeks of incomplete shopping trips, take-out meals and cereal dinners we finally found the time on a weekend to menu-plan and execute a well thought out and near-perfect shopping list. Last night I made bone-in pork chops with a baked potato and applesauce. It was terrific. Tonight was crumbled sweet Italian sausage with red sauce (a can of diced tomatoes with a spoon full of tomato paste in with the sausage once cooked) over penne pasta and a salad (Yes, something green!)
The great start to the week feels wonderful, even if it has been two months since I have been to the gym for a proper workout. With my toddler finally comfortable with A.M. drop offs at her new school and with mom at home finally getting into a rhythm with new baby, I am hopeful that I will begin visiting my gym again on the way home – while mom and baby claim our three year old from school in the afternoon. That would be the perfect anecdote to my summer tummy expansion.
I cannot help but feel that my poor food choices (see the empty Snickers Dark wrapper in the car) and lame shopping trips/dinners are directly related to my lack of physical activity and workouts at the gym. When you spend 40 minutes or so sweating away on the treadmill and other machines, that Snickers at the checkout lane or donut at the office do not seem nearly as tempting because of the “I’m not going to eat that and make my workout a total waste of time” factor.
So I am hopefully that these two days are the start of something good and long lasting in my quest to get healthy, fit and trim. I already have my cereal poured into a plastic container to take to work in the morning along with leftover pasta and sausage for lunch tomorrow. Dinner on Wednesday is a Mexican dish of salsa-marinated skirt steak over yellow rice. That too should yield leftovers. The ball is officially rolling in the right direction!
Dad’s Losing It articles are published every Saturday and Tuesday. Follow Jeff’s journey during the rest of the week in the Dad’s Losing It Forum. In the Forum, Jeff discusses his individual workout routines and soundtracks, among other tidbits and musings from the week.
Jeff is a Family Fun blogger. Read more of his posts here.