At the beginning of the school year, I challenged myself to work on getting healthy again. Before my move to Arizona, I had lost a lot of weight, and I lost even more while there (with a little help from the flu), before I started gaining weight back. Finding out your dad has cancer will do that. Oh, and the stress of students testing (when their ability to graduate was dependent on the test, and I taught 2 classes full of kids who hadn’t passed on their previous attempts). Oh, and deciding to move back to Michigan…yeah, I started gaining weight back. 2 1/2 years later, and I had finished my masters and am at an amazing teaching job, but I have also put all that weight back on.
At my lowest weight, in AZ
Joe’s HS graduation, June 2014
With the masters done and the vertigo of the summer gone (it was a long summer), I decided to take control of my health again. I rejoined weight watchers, joined a friend’s facebook page for support, and started dragging my butt to the high school gym after school. Yep, I workout with the kids. At first, it was really uncomfortable, but after getting over myself a little bit, I like the accountability. The kids cheer me on, and are happy to show me how to use equipment. They also ask where I was when I skip my workouts.
Losing weight the second time around has been much more difficult. I’m 4 years older than I was the last time I started this. I have more responsibility and more stress. Making healthy changes is harder than it was, and it’s easier to slip up. I’m trying to be kind and understanding of my frustrations, while also pushing myself. I’m realizing that just because something worked 4 years ago doesn’t mean it will now. I also realized that last time I did this I used a lot of frozen meals to control my portions. It saved time, and forced me to be careful, but it wasn’t healthy and didn’t last; it was also expensive. I decided to start learning to cook.
Yes, I am 30 and have never really learned to cook. I blame my mom, who is very protective of her kitchen…and only knows how to make about 10 dishes (she’s more of a baker). During my master’s classes, one of my professors pointed out that “if you can read, you can cook”, and I’ve found that wisdom to be true. Thanks to pinterest, I’ve been finding all kinds of healthy recipes to try. My first investment was a crock-pot (and some freezable containers). That has worked out really well so far. I have an awesome healthy recipe for chicken and dumplings and another for chicken tortilla soup. I’ve had some not-so-great recipes too, but I take them in stride.
This week I decided to take another step and cook something a little more complicated, so I made a lasagna that I found here: http://www.skinnymom.com/2013/05/21/lean-turkey-and-spinach-lasagna/. This is when I remembered why I don’t cook multi-step meals regularly…my kitchen is a closet. No seriously, my kitchen is smaller than my parents’ bedroom closet.
My closet of a kitchen.
I have a full-size oven, but that is the only thing that is the normal size in my kitchen. I have a mini dishwasher (which means my crock pot won’t fit in there) and almost no counter or cabinet space. So after a struggle (including having to cook the meat in two separate batches because I don’t own a pan large enough for the meat and sauce together), I cooked a delicious, healthy lasagna.
Waiting to go in the oven.
I really doubt I’m ever going to enjoy cooking in my little closet, but I am happy that I’ve learned several dishes (and my brother will tell you the chicken and dumplings is great). I’m going to keep attempting to cook in my little closet, but I can’t wait until I have a kitchen larger than a small walk-in closet…maybe it will even have a window. One can only dream.
Finding Direction 