When you want to blog but don’t feel like thinking…
…you share pictures of your food. And random musings from your day.
I actually came up with some topics to blog about while I was working out on Saturday morning. However, they were posts that required a little more thinking and effort. When I want to write a post like that, I need to be in the right place, mentally. I seem to have the most success transferring thoughts to words on weekends or in the mornings. Lately I just haven’t had the opportunity to put that kind of effort into my posts so for now I will save those thoughts as a draft in my head.
I skipped a few weeks of WIAW because I had totally slacked on taking pictures of what I was eating and I felt like my food had been pretty boring. Not to say this week won’t be boring, but perhaps a little different. And it’s nice and simple to share food- something I can handle during a busy week:)
On Tuesday I woke up at 5 and was up and out the door to get to the gym for some swimming. I like to get there right when the pool opens at 5:30. I swam for 30 minutes, showered at the gym, and was home by 6:30. I finished getting ready at home and made breakfast: An egg scramble with sugar-free, nitrate free bacon (from Whole Foods), spinach, sweet potatoes, and broccoli with strawberries, bananas, and almond butter on the side. Plus coffee.
I had a little time for reading some blogs before heading into work. I got into my car and realized I almost forgot my lunch! That would have been a disaster. I ran back inside to get it- crisis averted.
I had a late-morning home visit so I grabbed an apple to hold me over before I could get back and eat lunch.
I was starving by the time 12 rolled around and I dug into leftovers from Sunday’s meal (Ginger Beef, Mushroom and Kale Stir Fry)
After lunch I grabbed this No-bake Chocolate Chip Fruit and Nut Bar which I attempted to make over the weekend. They don’t look anything like Michele’s but still taste great! I felt like a needed something a little sweet after lunch and this was perfect.
The afternoon was a little hectic- I had a meeting until 3:50 and then raced home to meet with someone from a moving company to give us an estimate. By the time she was done it was 4:45 and I had to get ready for PT at 5:30 so I grabbed a Lara Bar to hold me over until dinner.
I had planned an easy meal so that I wouldn’t have to do much cooking after PT- we had meatballs in the freezer so I took those out and Rob helped make pasta and meatballs with a salad. Nice, quick, easy weeknight meal that required no weekend food prep since I made extra meatballs two weeks ago.
This is what I call a “Rob-sized” portion. He put almost a whole box of pasta on our plates and when I asked him about it he said he realized after he served it that I could never eat it all. He cleared his plate, as usual. This was my plate after I was done.
Do you pack a lunch to bring to work with you?
Are your portion sizes different than your significant others’?
Do you feel like you need to be in the right mindset to write thoughtful posts?
Yes! My portion sizes are teenie weenie compared to Andrew’s! That guy can EAT. I especially can’t eat that much pasta, for some reason. I’ll pick out all the protein like you did just to make sure that what I AM eating is packing a punch. And yes, I need to be in the right mindset to write thoughtful posts and getting into that head space often requires a candle, a glass of wine, and some angst. 😉
If I’m really hungry I can eat an impressive about of pasta, but seriously Rob can eat so much more than me. He’s been known to order a second serving of pasta while out at a restaurant the night before a marathon.
I often try and eat my meals on salad plates… especially when I’m eating stuff like rice (or the occasional pasta). Hubby has started following suit, although he thinks the salad plates are a tad bit too small. He wants to buy bigger salad plates. ;->
I’m fairly new to your blog and noticed you eat mostly Paleo, but you must not be strictly Paleo, since you had pasta & meatballs recently? Just curious.
Haha that’s tricky of your husband to suggest bigger salad plates! I try to just eat until I am full…and there was no way I was making it through that whole plate!
I eat mostly paleo, but I still eat some breads and pasta and stuff when I feel like it. I just try to focus on eating mostly unprocessed foods. I did a Whole30 in December and really liked that experience, but there are other foods I like to enjoy too:)
Certain posts definitely take a ton of time! I am best in the morning so I try to get my writing done then but I don’t always have the time I want to devote to those types of posts. Usually what happens is if I have an idea that needs development, I start writing it and come back to it over and over. Each time I look at it, I am able to add more, change what’s there and fully get the thoughts down and organized….I have leftover meatballs in the house right now for my son too which is just perfect for a quick dinner, he will probably have them tonight 🙂
That strategy has worked well for me too, but sometimes I end up with something completely different than what I started with!
I definitely know what you mean about not being able to think sometimes and I have to mentally prep myself to write certain posts. Sometimes that means I out off a topic for weeks! Glad you liked the bars, I’ve made them a few times and each time they look a little different so who knows?
After I put off a topic for more than a week or two I pretty much forget what I had to say and take it in a different direction.
I think the bars look the way they did because the mix was kind of warm when I added the chocolate chips so they just melted!
Too funny! Brian does the same thing with portions. For dinner, I’ll have one piece of chicken and he eats two and then he looks at me and says “is that all you’re going to eat.” hahaha yes. One piece of meat with sides is plenty.
I am more likely to serve a small amount to both of us, and then we go back for seconds if we are still hungry. I hate putting food on our plates that could be saved for leftovers if we don’t eat it:)
Rob and my husband would get along well! I am always reminding him to let the kids pick their portions–sometimes he just starts dishing the food out and gives them way too much!
Hope PT is going well for you!
Haha I think Rob just knows he will want to eat a lot and I guess assumes I will too! I tend to serve smaller portions and then we can go back for leftovers.
I have finally turned a corner in PT and I think we have figured out whats going on! The pelvis stuff is so complicated, and the stuff we were doing was making it worse. So Josh had me examined by a different PT who has extensive training in that stuff (not sure if you know Sean?) but everything he said has made sense and I am already feeling better and noticing a difference. Hopefully I will keep progressing now that we know what was wrong!
Since I cook most of the time, I make just about two servings and give my husband more. Sometimes though I eat as much as he does, if not more!
I can take a while to write posts, especially if I do some research for them.
We just started looking up quotes for movers. Moving itself is not fun!
I can certainly eat as much as Rob with some meals…but pasta is not one of them! For some reason he is a bottomless pit when it comes to pasta:)
You would laugh so hard at suz vs Alex sized portions of most things. And that is saying something, because I eat A LOT. But he is a man bear pig thing, so I guess that is why.
I think Rob and I eat a lot too…usually he eats more than me, but in general I usually make servings for 4 or so and we eat most of it. When we eat with others its pretty noticeable…but its what we need and it works!
I bring my lunch to work all the time, but do splurge from time to time. Parking is an issue at work and I don’t want to give up my parking spot to drive off campus to get my lunch.
Oh that’s kind of annoying- I wouldn’t want to lose my parking spot either!
I love your lunch bag! I like to pack a lunch to bring to work, but sometimes I don’t because there are couple of decent salad places on/near campus. Packing lunch saves me quite a bit of money, though.
Sometimes I eat MORE than my husband…that makes me uncomfortable, but I run a lot more…
Thanks! Its nice to save money by packing lunch but it can be a nice treat to eat out too!
I definitely eat more than Rob when it comes to breakfast! But usually he eats more than me at dinner.
I am awful with portion sizes in pastas- I always want so much more than I need! I am impressed you didn’t clear the whole plate anyways!
I don’t think the pictures shows just how much pasta there was, haha! I felt like I couldn’t make a dent and I was so full!
Brian eats so much more than me! And whenever he is serving me, he puts so much food on my plate 🙂 We are big on packing lunches, when I used to work, I always packed lunches and I always pack on for Brian.
At least its good that our guys want us to eat a lot, right;)
Hahaha my boyfriend can easily eat an entire box of pasta with dinner. For writing, I need time! I can usually come up with ideas, but it feels like most days I just don’t have the extra 30 to 45 minutes to write a decent post anymore!
Before I lived with Rob I used to make little tiny portions of pasta. Now whenever we eat it we cook the whole box. Doesn’t mean we eat it all, but we eat enough of it that we just make the whole thing and save some leftovers.
Nice meals! I do feel like I have to be in a specific frame of mind to write specific posts…anything I have to link up to can be a bit mindless…more because I’m not thinking of the topic I have to write about. There are some topics I’d like to talk about in the future…I just have to feel right to write it!
I know what you mean! I also think I put more pressure on myself when I want to write a “meaningful” post that when I write something fun or just talk about food.
Certain posts definitely take more thought! Since I started blogging, I’ve started snapping photos of EVERYTHING and a lot of time for me is spent figuring out what to write to accompany the pictures (worth a thousand words anyway).
That’s a good strategy and I usually do that for my Thursday posts! Otherwise I forget what happened all week!
Everyone loves food pictures! My fiance Thomas usually eats about the same portion size as me, but he will be back in the kitchen 30 minutes later snacking on something.
He does more weight lifting and I do more cardio, so he likes to eat a lot more protein than I do. I always give him double meat on sandwiches or extra chicken in his pasta. It took me a while to adjust to cooking for two instead of just me!
It is really tricky going from cooking for 1 to cooking for 2! I still have a really hard time figuring out how much food to cook.
I can imagine you were starving only eating an apple for a snack. I would be too. I try to pack my lunch as much as I can but as you know all the traveling I do it is very hard.
Yes, it’s a good thing I had a big breakfast! I would imagine that it gets tricky to pack a lunch when you’re traveling so much!
That’s funny, because I usually eat bigger portions than my husband heheh! And yes, you’ve GOT to be in the mood to write inspired posts, but there’s always the option to post pictures of your food and talk about your day, because that’s just as enjoyable and relatable. ehehhe! Nice work on the swim again, Lisa!
Thanks Ashley! And I think there are some days that I do eat more than Rob, but pasta just isn’t one of those meals!
I usually do the cooking in our house and our portions are always the same. My husband thinks it’s weird that I can eat as much as him but I’m always so hungry! I bring lunch everyday – I’m a creature of habit and also a little thrifty. Hope your PT is going well!
I bring my lunch for the same reasons! Plus I don’t always have time to go out and get something. Many nights my portions are the same size as my husbands, too! It usually depends how much I’ve snacked that day:)
I almost always pack my lunch for work (and breakfast and snacks!) My portion sizes compared to Robyn are MUCH smaller! HA! That fruit and nut bar looked delicious! Hope you have a great week!
Its so nice to have a lunch and snacks with you at work! I would hate to have to worry about getting out to buy something during the day.
That stirfry looks amazing! I need to make a stirfry soon, they are so easy yet I always seem to forget to add them into our menu!
This was the first time I made one in almost a year I think! They are easy to make and great for leftovers!
YES, I know exactly what you mean about needing to be in a good “thinking” mode to write a thoughtful blog post. Sometimes I’ll photo edit and upload at night, then write the blog first thing in the AM, because I find that words come up much easier at 8 AM rather than 11 PM!
And YES to my portions being way different than my hubby. He eats 2 or 3x what I do usually! It’s crazy. If he works out, he eats like a madman. If only I could do that without gaining 5 pounds in a week…. Ha!
My appetite varies alot but my husband will usually eat all that is available to him…so I usually start him with a regular sized portion but he typically goes back for seconds:)
Yes I absolutely have to be in the right mindset for a thoughtful post! If there’s people around me or way too much noise then forget it!
I always give My husband the bigger of all the portions!
Yep, Rob always watches TV while I blog but it can be so distracting. I write better if I go in the bedroom where its quiet.