healthy mission- progress report

I've been doing food and exercise tracking on Twitter for ten days and I thought it would be helpful to look back on what I've logged and give a little progress report to share what I've learned.

thumbs up:
- I ate way way way more fresh vegetables than usual. My normal diet is bread, fruit and cheese so it was a big change to have a helping of vegetables at least two meals a day.
- I avoided a few impulse snacks in favor of real meals because I was ashamed to spill the truth on Twitter (aka- it's working!)
- I walked to(& from) work every day this week which is about 2 miles.
- I spent a lot of time in the kitchen but started getting better about making extra servings and creatively reinventing leftovers.
- I tried new things! I'd never eaten beet greens before because I always just gave them to the bunnies. I also made an experimental cake using leftover quinoa (above photo). I prepared brussel sprouts that I got right off the stalk. I reduced my sugar intake by stirring homemade jam into plain yogurt instead of buying flavored yogurt. I used fresh fennel too.
- I'm not sure if this is fact or feeling but I think I spent less money on food. I'm doing a solid 75% of my grocery shopping at the farmer's market and I'm less inclined to go out to eat because of the limited healthy options.

Thumbs down:
- Although I walked to work, I meant to do real exercise. I didn't get on my stationary bike even once.
- In trying to reduce my white sugar and white flour consumption, I think I may have upped my salt intake a pinch to make up for it.
- I ate much healthier but it is very likely that I ate just as many calories as I normally would. At this rate, I would probably live longer but not lose any weight.
- I love dessert! I still find dessert to be completely mandatory after both lunch and dinner. I made some healthy whole grain versions of my favorite desserts (banana bread, chocolate zucchini bread, peach kuchen) but I still think I ate too many quick bread type things.

As much of a drag it is to report on every little thing I eat, I feel like it is motivating me to make the right choices. The bunnies are loving all the extra vegetable scraps coming their way too. My big goal for the next ten days is to stay eating like this but add some serious exercising to my daily routine. I'm planning on going in to work an hour later every day to see if I can become one of those incredible morning exercisers I've always been impressed by.

Sprout anemone sandwich

I never thought sprouts would be so delicious! How did I manage to get through twenty-three years of life without ever truly enjoying a mouthful of these crisp little strings?

In an endeavor to start earing healthier, I bought a bunch of produce that I don't normally buy to see if they could be incorporated into my regular diet. Sprouts completely rocked my face! I've been eating a huge pile of them between slices of garlic sourdough spread with artichoke hummus a few times a week. I just thought I'd share my enthusiasm and hopefully encourage more sprout enthusiasts. My upstairs neighbor is a wizard at growing things and she wants to help me grow my own in my windowsill. Neat! I feel healthier already (even after accompanying my sproutwich with a big pile of honey dijon potato chips).