For the month of July, I participated in a Vegetarian Challenge, and since that was actually a lot of fun, I decided I needed to do a new month-long challenge. But what would it be?

 

I asked my friends on Facebook for some suggestions, but most of them involved giving up dairy, so I quickly ignored everyone’s recommendations and decided I would come up with a challenge on my own. 

 

The main consensus me (and my roommate) had was that I do not always eat the healthiest. Sure, sometimes I will have a nice salad for lunch or quinoa bowl for dinner, but most of the time I am eating a big juicy cheeseburger. I knew I didn’t want to give up meat for the entire month again, so I just decided I would change my overall routine, mostly so my nice jeans would fit me again.

 

I am still allowed to eat meat, but I have to eat meat in reasonable and appropriate portions. I am not going to eat pizza or fast food or bagels and cream cheese. Instead, I will replace those cravings with healthier alternatives: whole wheat pasta, light mayonnaise on my sandwiches, and a scoop of peanut butter for dessert instead of ice cream or cookies.

 

So, this isn’t so much a challenge as a lifestyle change.

 

Added on to eating healthy, I am starting to exercise daily. I am waking up every

morning at 6:30, going for a two mile run, coming back and doing 15 minutes

of yoga and then drinking a glass of warm water mixed with cayenne pepper

and lemon juice instead of my morning coffee. Today was my first day,and I have

to say, I am already feeling pretty great! I’m sure this time next week I am going

to be sore, sick of cayenne pepper and craving a loaded baked potato,but let’s

have some positive thinking!

 

Tonight for dinner, my roommate made me pasta with fresh zucchini instead of

noodles and served with a side of broccoli and kale.

 

Since we do not have a Julian peeler, we sliced the zucchini very thin and placed them in a large bowl. We then made a pesto sauce with spinach, basil, walnuts and a touch of olive oil. We combined the zucchini and the pesto and added some chunks of tomatoes on top to add some color. Not happy with the amount of “green” on the plate, my roommate roasted some broccoli and kale with garlic in the oven and added it to the pasta. While she was cooking, I was sitting on the couch and I kept hearing her sigh, saying “I don’t know about this one…we may be going out for dinner after all.”

 

I got pretty excited about that since there was this new Mexican restaurant I had been dying to try, so quietly I prayed that her dinner was going to be awful.

 

My prayers didn’t work, because I actually enjoyed this dish! It was very light and crisp, and I didn’t feel like crap when I was done, which is good because I have to be up at 6:30 for day 2 of our running routine.

 

I am extremely optimistic and hopeful that the month of October I will start actually eating healthy, enjoy working out, and maybe – just maybe – I will fit into my skinny jeans in time for my birthday!