Yup, I know. I said I was back in the kitchen, and I was-~-sort of. But I got into a post-comps funk. I stopped cooking interesting things. I stopped exploring new recipes. There was a loss of the inspiration that was needed to keep producing food that I really wanted to share, as opposed to food that just sustained me. I went into a post-comps funk with my work, too; it is almost as though I lost momentum and once I lost it I had trouble getting moving again. After all, an object at rest will stay at rest unless it is prompted to move by an outside force.
But it’s a new year! You know what the best part of the academic calendar structure is? Every few months, there is a new semester. A fresh start. Oh, all the work is still there, of course. But our schedules shift. The classes we take or teach may change, or at the very least, the students in those courses may change. We get to reset ourselves through a break, through a new schedule, and that can be exciting. I still have the same papers to push out, the same data to try to make sense of. But hopefully I also have a little fresh perspective now that I’m a little less burned out. And that’s exactly what I’m hoping to have with food as well.
If you haven’t yet, now’s a good time to think about a Food Resolution. The most common resolution made in the United States is exercising more, followed by saving money, and eating more healthily. Losing weight is consistently in the top 10 most common resolutions made every year in the US. But most New Year’s Resolutions fail-~-some surveys estimate that as many as 80% of us fail to achieve our resolutions. One reason is that we’re not specific enough: we say we want to exercise more or eat healthy, but we don’t come at it with a specific plan. So before you tell yourself you’re going to “eat better” in 2020, here are a few, more specific goals that may be easier to follow through on:
- Eat more meatless meals! Melissa Clark, cookbook author and NYT food writer, published a piece entitled “The Meat Lovers’ Guide to Eating Less Meat”. She describes how, for the sake of environmental sustainability (and our health), we need to cut down our meat (and dairy) intake-~-at the national level, by up to 40%. I talk about some similar articles in my post on “Meatless Mondays for Beginnings”. So maybe make eating meatless ONE more day a week than you currently do. It’s an easier starting point, and it’s a clear goal for you to hold yourself accountable. Some recipes that might be a good starting point include this coconut curry ramen with tofu, this sweet potato and black bean hash, and this vegetarian skillet pot pie. Want something that feels “meatier”? Check out these 30 minute vegetarian meatballs from Pinch of Yum, these vegan Sloppy Joes from Minimalist Baker, or these slow cooker Indian butter chickpeas from Simple Healthy Kitchen.
- Make a concerted effort to eat a range of different colored vegetables! Maybe you’re already on top of your green veggie intake, but how about your yellow/orange vegetables? Or your blue or purple vegetables? They all have important nutrients that you may be missing out on! Some recipes that might provide a starting point include these Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas, this Skillet Eggplant Parm Pasta, this Ratatouille Tart, or this Summer Nicoise Salad.
- Eat less sugar. Sugar is hidden all over in our food. In an attempt to reduce fat in many foods, companies often increase sugar-~-but constant intake of excess sugar is bad for us metabolically and dentally, among other ways. Take a look at the broader discussion of this I have in my post on snacking, or take a look at this piece from Harvard Medical School on how to reduce both sugar and salt in your diet.
- Eat more fresh fruit. It’s a good snack, a tasty treat, and better for you than a lot of sweet alternatives.
- Cook something new on a monthly/bi-weekly/weekly basis. Continue to expand your cooking skills and your palate, as well as your list of recipes you can go to for healthy and interesting meals.
- Speaking of cooking, cook at home more! Cooking at home will save you money and give you a LOT more control over what you consume.
- Increase your intake of foods with healthy omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish, avocado, peanut butter, nuts, and chia and flax seeds.
There are tons more food resolutions you can make, but I would caution you this: dieting just for weight loss often is not sustainable, and many diets may cause you to focus a lot on all the things you cannot eat or when you cannot eat, leading to a restrictive mentality regarding food. Don’t let your desire to be healthier or to lose weight lead you on a path towards disordered thoughts about food. There are not “good foods” or “bad foods”. There are more nutritious and less nutritious foods, but that does not mean you have to give up food you want to eat entirely just because it’s not as densely nutritious.
So go! Find your food inspiration! Find foods you like to eat, foods you’re excited to make, foods that make you feel good. Find foods that help make you healthier, foods that satisfy your cravings. And check back here, because starting soon, I’ll be doing a series of posts on my go-to recipes (vegetarian and otherwise).
Grad School Girl Eats 