Today when my alarm went off at 5:40 in the morning, I felt like I was getting back to the grind of my day to day life. However, I was nicely surprised. I had a pretty awesome commute which was such a nice treat and not at all what I was expecting. I also had a very busy, but nice day at work. I ate healthy food all day, and felt pretty wonderful. I definitely felt refreshed after having just four days off from work (including my normal Saturday and Sunday). I do not often feel fully rested (which makes me sad!) and I really enjoy such a feeling when it rarely happens to me.

When I left the house this morning at 6:40 AM it was 17 very cold degrees. Can you believe it? It was sort of a shock to my system! I love the cold, but it felt a little bitter to me this morning. Thankfully I enjoyed a nice hot travel mug of tea with a teaspoon of honey. It was perfect for my drive.

Breakfast this morning was an exact repeat of yesterday’s breakfast. 1/2 a cup of plain Chobani 0% yogurt, 4 strawberries, 10 raspberries, a sprinkle of Kind blueberry granola (a little less than 1/4 cup) and a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle or two of cinnamon. I just love this breakfast I have created (not that I think it’s all that special – I am just so happy to rediscover it!) There is something about eating berries during the winter – it makes me feel less ‘trapped’ in winter. I had my breakfast at 8:30 this morning.

At 11 AM I had a mid morning snack of a clementine. It held me over until lunch was just after 12 o’clock. I could have waited longer to have lunch, but I had a 12:45 meeting and another one right after that.

Lunch was a salad I had made the day before and a small piece of my homemade whole wheat pizza with fresh mozzarella and Trader Joe’s pizza sauce. The pizza was a perfect accompaniment to my über healthy salad. My afternoon snack was a stalk of celery and a tablespoon of Barney Butter – one of my favorite snacks growing up.

After work I started driving home. I contemplated not going to the gym because I was scared by the idea of how busy and crowded and unbearable the gym might be seeing as though it is January 2 – one day after the new year. New Years resolutioners were going to be at the gym. I thought it would be impossible to get an elliptical machine or a treadmill. Somehow I was able to talk myself out of my New Year gym fear and I went to the gym. Guess what? It was not that crowded when I got there at 5:45 PM. I was shocked! I even was able to change leisurely and hop on my favorite elliptical machine. I watched a little bit of MSNBC and then I streamed an episode of Dawson’s Creek via Netflix. (Is it crazy that I never saw an episode of Dawson’s Creek from back in the day??) I did a total of 35 minutes on the elliptical. Then I gathered up my stuff and headed back out into the cold January night air and headed to Whole Foods in search of a healthy dinner to bring home.

I succeeded but it took me a few minutes to put something together at the prepared food counter. I ended up with a wonderful piece of (tomato and herb encrusted) salmon, a small container of green beans and almonds and a zucchini latke pancake (which was exceptional!) Mom and I split everything I brought home and we had the most lovely dinner together. My plate looked like this:

Last night as I was packing my healthy food for the day, it occurred to me why I had stopped eating so much fresh food. Not that it was a good reason, not by a long shot. But the reason was eating healthy all the time is hard. It’s a big commitment. It takes TIME. You need to think about what you are going to make, you need to go to the grocery store. When you get home from a really long day of getting to work, working, exercising (sometimes twice a day) and then getting home from your long day – guess what? You need to plan your meals for the next day and sometimes that can take me 40 minutes or so. I do a lot of prepping. I chop vegetables and fruits. I pack everything. I plan out my snacks. I have a huge lunch bag that I tote around with me. Along with my work bag, my gym bag and whatever else I’m carrying around (I tote books back and forth from work sometimes. Sometimes laptops, iPads, cameras, etc. You know, normal stuff.) Sometimes when I’m walking into the building at the beginning of my work day the awesome security guards open both doors to the building for me because I barely have a free hand to spare (I’m also carrying a travel mug of tea or coffee, too don’t forget!). Somewhere over the last couple of months, I lost my steam. So, I’m back on track for now.

After all of that thinking of my awesomely healthy food has made me sort of exhausted. So I am signing off for now. I hope your day was a wonderful one. See you tomorrow!