The picture of Jaime Pressly on my fridge was becoming agitating, and I considered flipping her over to the Equinox ad on the other side for a little while. Or perhaps just sliding her unsurreptitiously into the garbage bin. I'd stuck her midpoint on the entrance to my food den as inspiration and a reminder that I didn't need that hunk of cheese as much as I wanted definition in my abs.
Almost three months into a pretty hardcore and earnest running routine, and I wasn't seeing the results I had envisioned. For sure, my jeans fit better. And yes, my legs were leaner and more muscular and I could see lines in my stomach that weren't there before and perhaps I hadn't been totally realistic but I expected more. I'd been running at least 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) a day, 6 days a week, and pushing myself pretty hard with hills and strenuous trail runs. I figured I'd done enough work. I should have a Jaime Pressly bikini body by now, damn it.
But what I've learned - and am still learning - is that the most impactful form of exercise is bringing your fork to your mouth. When I first met Corey, I was appalled at the state of his fridge. It was stocked with frozen vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers, a bag of carrots, some hummus shrapnel. There was no bread, no pudding, no secret dessert stash. He concocted stuff like Greek salad and steamed vegetables for dinner. I thought: "Who eats like this?" And then I contemplated the fact that he is the only 30-year-old male I know with a perpetually visible 6-pack and admitted it to myself: he looks that way not only because he works his ass off in the gym 6 days a week. He eats as stringently as he trains.
My question then: is it worth it? I enjoy melted cheese on bread and blueberry pie and have always believed that food is one of the delights of life. I want to be ripped, yeah, but do I want it enough to give up my rice pudding?
The answer is: yes, but with a caveat or two. I have put away the late night crackers, but I still want delicious, satisfying meals. I'm in the process of learning to cook meals that taste delicious and still give me the ability to build lean Jaime Pressly muscles. I've learned a few alternatives that satisfy my sweet tooth without sabotaging my exercise efforts (blended frozen blueberries with Splenda!) And, I've started to work out at the gym, something I've typically hated. I still complain loudly about it, and would prefer Jillian Michaels beating the hell out of me than straining under the weight of a steel machine in front of hordes of people in spandex. But I'm grumblingly committed. Stay tuned for results on that.
In the meantime, here's a wickedly good salad. It's a summer salad, filled with ripe juicy fruits and crisp lettuce - and we topped it with fresh crab, but you can still make this during these waning days of summer - it's amazingly delicious and it most definitely doesn't taste like crap.
Mango Crab Salad (serves 4 lunch sized portions)
1 box mixed greens (I like Good Earth spring mix)
1 ripe mango, peeled and sliced
10 strawberries, sliced vertically
1 ripe avocado, chopped
1 handful pine nuts, toasted
1 papaya, chopped (save the seeds!)
Dressing
Papaya seeds from your just-chopped fruit
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
2 or 3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
pepper
Blend together in a blender.
Now mix your salad and dressing and toss gently. We topped with just-caught crab which was ridiculously awesome but you could also do tuna, tofu, or broiled chicken. It was so tasty Corey was scraping the bowl afterwards.
Do you have a favourite delicious and healthy lunch recipe? Would love to hear them.
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