here we go again...

oh man, you guys.  i'm struggling.  the holidays? -- they ruined me.  like, in the most delicious way possible.  :-)  i was totally prepared to gain back a few pounds, and i even considered it to be entirely worth it.  "i'll just work it off in january," i told myself.  "no big deal."  but what i did not anticipate was how difficult it would be for me to get back on track.  here we are at the first week in february, and i'm still making horrible food choices.  i feel sluggish and frumpy and all around disappointed in myself.

i hate these vicious cycles.  but the worst thing i can do is to let it defeat and define me.  so, we get up and try again.  here are two good things i've been working on:

• i've been very consistent about getting on the treadmill at 5am each morning.  AND i've been running for longer periods of time.  so that's something.
• steve and i have starting doing yoga together in the evenings (using the Yoga Studio app).  isla joins in too (when her attention span allows... other times she just sits and laughs at us when we get into unusual positions), so it's been fun to make this into a family event / comedy act.

what i really need to focus on now is putting better food into my body.  and the mindless snacking has got.to.stop.  so it's time to count calories again and to eat more veggies and lean proteins and less processed stuff, etc., etc.  you know the drill.  i've tried a lot of disappointing recipes in the past month, but there were a few winners.  allow me to share...

chipotle chicken sweet potato skins
these were INCREDIBLE.  the sweetness of the potato + the chipotle heat + the sharp melty white cheddar was winning combination.  a little time consuming (mostly to bake the sweet potatoes), but otherwise easy to assemble and well worth the time investment.  the leftovers heat up nicely in the toaster oven, which hey, whaddaya know?  i'm eating the leftovers as i type this. :-)

honey glazed salmon
this is hands-down my new favorite way to prepare salmon.  honey-crusted salmon topped with a browned butter lime sauce.  let me say that again: browned butter lime sauce.  amazing.  go easy on the butter sauce if you're worried about calories, but it's SO GOOD.  with a heaping pile of veggies, i think you'll be ok.

roasted cauliflower pizza
i guess the nutritional value of a pizza is debatable...  but this pizza contains cauliflower.  roasted cauliflower.  and we know of my love affair with roasted vegetables.  can't get enough!  so this meal is a bit of a splurge in the calorie department, but it's loaded with flavor.  yuuuuummm.

here are a few other highly recommended recipes that i failed to photograph:

• pizza roasted chickpeas -- my first ever cooking attempt with chickpeas, and i was super impressed!  these were great!  can be served as a snack, a side, or (if you have a family that refuses to try them like mine did) as a whole meal for yourself. :-)
• kale salad with meyer lemon vinaigrette -- oh yes.  this was great.  a new favorite, as far as lemon vinaigrettes go.  and don't worry if you can't find meyer lemons!  just add a splash of orange juice in with your lemon.
• kale salad with warm cranberry vinaigrette -- another winning kale recipe in my book.  LOVED the warm vinaigrette!  and shallots!  i adore shallots.  let's put shallots in ALL the food!

so there you go.  time to whip myself out of winter hibernation mode and get focused!  hopefully by "going public" again, i'll feel a little more motivated to make good choices.  bathing suit season is just a few months away... let's do this!