Long Break

Here I am again. Very little progress made. Maybe 1 or 2 pounds lost. Blame my inconsistency. In fact, it is hard to be so consistent day after day. It's hard to consciously restrict calories and make time or motivate myself to exercise day after day. It's hard when you haven't yet developed a routine. But then, it would also be hard to have myself get worse. It would be hard to walk up a few flights of stairs slightly winded, while your friend chatters away. It would hurt my "vanity" to see myself in an outfit and not be able to smile at myself.

In all honesty, it's not too bad to not lose much weight. Consciously thinking about the process helps me to make healthier choices. I take the opportunity to walk more, and to choose more nutritious food. Even if my eyes cannot distinguish the difference this makes, my body certainly can. Back in June, I couldn't even run for 5 minutes (though I could walk for hours). Now I can run for more than 20 minutes. I can run two miles without stopping. When I visited an aunt recently, she commented on how nice my complexion was. I attribute that to a diet rich in tomatoes and other colorful fruits and vegetables (and black beans). Conclusion: Don't make the scale your only indication of progress. I think most people know this, but it's hard not to focus on it. Keep track of improvements in fitness- endurance, strength, and flexibility. Keep track of your complexion ;) .


[If actually writing the previous paragraph didn't inspire me to go out for a nice walk, watching all the strong women compete in the Olympics certainly does. They are so incredible! Their strength seems to go underappreciated though. I overheard a foreign guy making a side comment on a girl from Kazakhstan who weightlifted 131 kg (~288 lbs) and broke a world record: "How is she going to find a man?" I almost blew up.]

In the spirit of summer, I think I will make some "Rustic Stuffed Tomatoes" adapted from Ottolenghi's book Plenty. The stuffing is essentially a mix of onions, garlic, LOTS of herbs (preferably fresh-including a bit of mint), olives, capers, and panko bread crumbs. I find it lovely, though some meat-loving family members have just called it interesting. If you have ground meat to include in the stuffing, I'm sure it would also taste wonderful. Since most of these are "pantry items", some people might be able to easily make this for little cost. If you don't have them, the stuffing is pretty flexible, and you could throw in a few things from the fridge.

Hope you all are enjoying the Olympics!