Popeye, I am not.

First, to the person who found my blog by searching “Robert Downey Jr. Sexy” – you have excellent taste, but i’m wondering, what, exactly, you thought that searching for that specific phrase would turn up. Let me know.

I’m going to start off by making two shocking confessions. Are you ready? #1) I did not eat breakfast this morning (shocking, I know), and #2) I HATE raw spinach. That’s right. Eating raw spinach absolutely disgusts me. I love it cooked. Nothing warms the cockles of my heart like spinach sautéed with garlic and mushrooms- delicious! But raw spinach salad? Blech! The texture is just- ack! And yes, these little words are necessary to describe my feelings towards the stuff.

I can’t quite explain it. Popeye (and probably several bloggers I can think of) would be horrified by this admission, I know. But hold that thought- guess what I had for lunch today?

Contained in my salad: spinach, red peppers, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, feta, ~2tsp sunflower seeds, broccoli, ~1 tbsp hummus, dried cranberries, carrots, ¼ cup of cooked barley and it was all topped off with a nice drizzle of rosemary and garlic infused olive oil and lots of salt. And don’t shake your head at the salt- it’s doctor ordered! I can’t even tell you how tasty this was…and the best part was that I actually enjoyed the spinach! I also felt fuller than I usually do after eating a salad, which was a nice surprise. My favorite thing to add to a salad is dried cranberries. I absolutely love the tangy sweetness- it’s an awesome contrast to the other savory flavors.

I’ve been making a concentrated effort to try to choose things high in nutrients and certainly iron and protein. I was severely anemic as a child (and Brittany Murphy died of that, coupled with other things, which only alarms me more), and I have a tendency to verge on anemia, so I have to be really careful. Now that I’m not eating meat, I find that I am so much more aware of the nutritional value of what I am putting into my body. I’m still trying to learn the ropes of what a balanced vegetarian diet looks like, so any input would be much appreciated.

Dinner was a quaint affair. Ok, not really. I just like the way that sounds. A more appropriate term would be “Lazy woman’s dinner.”

I kept it pretty simple- oatmeal, Trader Joe’s new peanut butter with roasted flax seeds, a dash of agave, half of a crumbled whole wheat blueberry muffin, dates, and plenty of cinnamon. Looks pretty tasty, yes?   On the side, I had an overeasy egg with a little onion powder, garlic powder and salt on top.  You’ll notice that there’s no picture. Well, that’s because while I can flambee, chiffonade, make a perfect omelet, and all that jazz- I simply cannot flip an overeasy egg without making a mess.  Trust me- it’s not pretty! I just love breakfast foods for dinner. I guess it just feels cozy. It helps that it’s easy as pie. Sadly,though, there was no pie to be had.

I want to talk a little bit about habits. Caitlin wrote an excellent post not too long ago about how to form habits. I’ve been thinking about habits a lot lately. Habits are things ingrained very deeply in your psyche. They keep you coming back for more and propel you to repeat the same things that you have always done. Well, you know the saying, right? If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. If I can make some simple little changes, I think it will help me to make some bigger changes. I am determined to make 2010 the year of personal growth. There are certain habits I’d like to commit to ending right here and right now so that I can institute some new, healthier habits:

• · Eating skittles weekly. I eat them once or twice a week, and they always leave me wanting more. I don’t want to put all of those chemicals into my body. NO MORE SKITTLES.

• · Saying, “I’m too tired to exercise, I’ll do it tomorrow.” If I catch myself saying this on a scheduled workout day, I need to make a conscious effort to do something, even if it means popping in a workout video. Or dancing like a maniac by myself in my apartment. Note to self: close the curtains.

• · Leaving my contact lenses in for waaaaaaaaaaaay too long. Don’t try to tell me I’m the only one who’s guilty of this one, though. If you do this, too, I’d encourage you to try to do the same. Your eyes need to breathe, apparently. Who’d have thought it?

• · And here’s the usual song and dance- skipping breakfast. This is a common theme on my blog, so I’m expecting a few eye rolls at this one. A girl has to try, right?

These are just a few of the habits I would like to curb. Others are going to take a little more time and distance from the whole break-up situation. It’s still a rollercoaster and I’m still waiting for the dam to burst on that one, but every day week day I put a little bit of my heart back together and become a little more sure that somehow, I’ll be ok.

Tell me: What are your favorite salad ingredients? And are there any habits that you’ve had to break or want to break? And if you’re a vegetarian or vegan- any tips for me??