The weather is absolutely beautiful here this weekend. I had planned to go out on my boat today and tomorrow. Unfortunately, yesterday when I went out to check steering and engines, I discovered that my batteries were pretty much dead. They don’t have enough juice to start the engines. I tried charging the starboard batteries overnight and even that was enough. I am so disappointed. There’s no way that my boat guy could come over and install four new batteries in time for my friends and me to go out on our snorkeling trip. Picture me pouting big time.
I’m trying to roll with it, of course. I woke up this morning and set out for a 15 mile bike ride. Along the way I dodged a black racer snake that was sunning on the bike path. I saw dolphins swimming through the cut when I was at the top of a small bridge. I also saw giant false eyelashes attached above the headlights of a car. Only in the Keys!
Today’s exercise endeavor comes after a day that I declared to be car-less. Everything that I needed to do yesterday I did either by walking or riding my bike. This amounted to about 12 miles of bike riding plus two or three miles of walking — a good day for sure.
I’m going to use my day to be productive, since I can’t go out on the boat. Not that I’m obsessing about being landbound. (Not much anyway. Quite.) I’m going to attack the cluttered room of doom. I figure if I can at least neaten and organize the mess, I can more easily start going through the piles and clearing through it all. It’s either that or rent a backhoe.
In the meantime, I’m choosing to eat more fresh foods right now and looking for opportunities to go less processed. A month or so ago, I wrote about making my own low fat bleu cheese salad dressing with 0% plain Greek yogurt. Today I got it into my head to mix up a fresh herb vinaigrette. I have a little planter box with rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano and basil. I also had a small bottle of quince-infused vinegar that was all-natural with very little sugar. So, for my vinaigrette, I whisked together a minced shallot, two small minced cloves of garlic, finely chopped herbs, the quince vinegar, a little salt and pepper, and then extra virgin olive oil. The flavors combined into something yummy and I’m sure they’ll deepen as they spend more time mixed together.
Here’s how my concoction compares to a national brand of balsamic vinaigrette, according to that product’s incredient list: vegetable oil (canola and/or sobean oil, extra virgin olive oil); water; balsamic vinegar; distilled vinegar; sugar; salt; garlic; spice; xanthum gum; paprika (for color). I looked up xanthum gum. It’s derived from carb products and used as an addiive in many foods.
I’m feeling proud that I’ve produced something tasty that doesn’t have a bunch of unnecessary additives. It just has to be healthier for me, too. Tasty plus healthy makes me more inclined to eat salads, just because I can use the homemade vinaigrette. Don’t think I didn’t consider that fact.
It might be more convenient to grab the products off of the supermarket shelves, but I’m training my mind to not use convenience as an automatic fallback. I’ve been successful at this in a lot of areas, most specifically the great reduction in “fast foods”. I can’t even remember when I last bought anything at a McDs, BK or other competitor! Now their offerings don’t even appeal to me, so they don’t trigger the urge to eat. I hope that, as with many things, the more I practice seeking out less-processed alternatives to foods, the less the over-processed stuff will lure me. That’s the plan anyway.
Weighty Matters 
Allison and I cut out almost all processed foods for 4 months. It completely changed the way I taste them! Now I eat something pre-packaged and go “yuck!”
Way to go! Love your last paragraph. Cutting down on the fast foods is crucial in cutting down on the empty calories and bad fats. Keep up the good work.