A few weeks ago, a close friend stayed over for a night in my apartment.  Despite our consumption of wine and late arrival home the previous evening, we both found ourselves wide awake by 8 AM.  Being morning people can be both a blessing and a curse.

Sprawled on the couch in my newly spacious living [...]]]> Storytime…

A few weeks ago, a close friend stayed over for a night in my apartment.  Despite our consumption of wine and late arrival home the previous evening, we both found ourselves wide awake by 8 AM.  Being morning people can be both a blessing and a curse.

Sprawled on the couch in my newly spacious living room, we cupped mugs of black coffee and continued the “life-catch-up” we had begun the night before.  Some time went by, the pinot-noir-haze began to pass, and we both got hungry.  I offered my friend the usual suspects: oatmeal [obviously], toast, cereal, eggs, yogurt.  She thought for a moment and finally said, “Why don’t you make me some of that famous oatmeal of yours?”

So out came the pot and the banana, the soy milk and the cinnamon, the raisins and the walnuts, the flax and the almond butter.  I stirred over a flame as I do nearly every morning, and I spooned the never-photogenic blend into two bowls.

We sat down at the new kitchen table, ate, chatted, refilled our coffee mugs.  Eventually, I scraped the final remnants from my bowl.  My friend’s was still half-full, and she finally said, “I don’t know how you finish all that – I’m stuffed.”

——–

Comments like these used to really get to me.  I would think I needed to change – if other people weren’t doing it, why should I?  In retrospect, I should have thought, “Why should I care about the needs of anyone other than myself?”

One of the many, many reasons I don’t believe in diets is because they provide blanket solutions to preferences and problems that are incredibly individualized.  It isn’t a bad thing to read advice or to experiment – but the issues arise when we start holding ourselves to everyone’s standards but our own.

Here are a few things I know about myself:

• I eat really large breakfasts.  I pack a lot into one bowl of oats: milk, fresh and dried fruit, nuts and seeds, assorted other random additions.  All the things the diets tell you to watch out for because you can’t “see” all the calories – I cram them all in.  When I don’t, I’m hungry an hour later.  I’ve been eating breakfasts this size for a long time, I’ve stayed the same size, and I’ve stayed satiated.  I don’t know if this works for others, but it works for me.

• 90% of the time, I would much rather be outside, walking through the city, than cooped up in a gym in order to be active.  When I need sweaty solitude, I have my yoga mat.

• I don’t crave “junk food.”  When I was little, I used to give away all of my Halloween candy except the Hershey’s bars.  With the coming of adulthood, I’ve upgraded to higher quality chocolate, but the fact remains: I am not deprived from lack of gummy bears, potato chips, and Snicker’s bars.  Some people are intensely irritated by this, but it’s the truth.

• I try to view exercise is a completely separate entity from the food I eat.  I don’t want to exercise to burn off calories; I want to do it to feel strong and healthy.  I know I’m not in the majority with this outlook, but that’s ok.

I am sure of my stance on these statements.  But there are so many other nuances of health, and I am still in the process of navigating my way through them.  I’m still discovering what works for me.

I know my friend wasn’t judging me with her comment; we’ve both come a long way in our relationships with and respect for our bodies.  She was simply staying true to her own needs, as was I.

I try to encourage everyone in my life to be open, to be adventurous, to explore.  Try going for a run and see how it feels.  Try a banana and see how it tastes.  Try eating more for lunch one day and less the next.  Try eating dessert.  Try something, anything new, and let yourself be the one to decide if you like it.

What are some of your health preferences?

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The holidays are underway – one of the busiest and often most stressful times of year.  Everyone will be faced with traveling, office parties, family gatherings, friendly [...]]]> Happy Friday and Happy Chanukkah!  I’ve got another reminder today to stay balanced – I’ve needed this one in particular this week.  An intro in case you’ve missed it:

The holidays are underway – one of the busiest and often most stressful times of year.  Everyone will be faced with traveling, office parties, family gatherings, friendly affairs.  Gifts need to be found and bestowed, elaborate meals planned and cooked.  I know I can always use some reminders to keep myself balanced this time of year, not necessarily in terms of food, but in body and in mind.  This series aims to do just that.

When I was growing up, my dad and I used to have conversations about facing your fears.  It came up several times – when I was five years old, for instance, waiting to be wheeled into the operating room to correct my lazy right eye.  Or, again a few years later, when I was about to get the four teeth pulled that have allowed me to keep my wisdom teeth later in life.

Our talk always had a mantra.  ”Fear of the unknown” was the term, which I like to think of as my dad’s own spin on the famous FDR quote.  Whether it was a medical procedure, the eve before I sang in the public eye at my Bat Mitzvah, or simply the long wait for the acceptance letter from the only university I wanted to attend, he reminded me that any anxiety was simply caused by what I didn’t know.

some routines are necessary.  case in point: morning coffee.

A lot of us thrive on routine.  Grocery shop with a plan for meals, schedule exercise around work, make social plans according to a calendar.  Uncertainty might seem like an inconvenience, but that annoyance is very often laced with fear.  It can be irrational, wondering what will happen if we miss a workout or can’t eat the food we planned for.  It can be quite reasonable as well, dwelling as we wait to hear a potential job offer or from a school we hope to attend.  

The thing is, the future is unknown.  That’s its nature.  We might have ideas and plans; we might do our best to create a map for ourselves.  But we can’t control everything.  One of the best lessons I’ve ever learned is to embrace the unknown just as much as I embrace my plans.

some routines are comforting, like cinnamon-infused breakfasts.

When I’m busy, as I have been lately, my routine is always shaken.  I might envision how a week will go, and that will aid me in seeing how I’ll survive a seemingly overwhelming schedule.  But when there are so many commitments and so much work to do, it is rare that everything unfolds as intended.  One project might take longer than anticipated.  More sleep might be required to handle the following day.  All of a sudden, the scheduling seems to disappear, and nerves set in.

I’ve learned [and continue to learn] to accept that nervousness.  I don’t know what the next year will bring, how the packed final weeks of December will go, if everything will work out as I hope.  Life is always a question mark, and all I know is that it will continue.  I can approach it with fear.  Or, I can welcome the uncertainty as a fact of life.  

Life will go on, and we are all well-equipped with the strength and intuition to figure it out not ahead of time, but as it comes.  A little routine, such as a few moments with a familiar breakfast, certainly never hurts.  But when that routine disappears?  Just embrace the unknown.  We can handle it.

How do you embrace the unknown?

Missed the rest? Part 1 [Just Be] and Part 2 [Procrastinate]

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My sister and I have three canisters on our kitchen counter: one is for oats, one for coffee, one for – ugh, Splenda – which I never touch.  I’m thinking of buying her some Stevia as part of a Chanukkah gift.

Anyway, the oats and the coffee are [...]]]> My supply of oats is running dangerously low.  

My sister and I have three canisters on our kitchen counter: one is for oats, one for coffee, one for – ugh, Splenda – which I never touch.  I’m thinking of buying her some Stevia as part of a Chanukkah gift.

Anyway, the oats and the coffee are the important containers.  Equally valuable, they form my breakfast spread: a steaming bowl and a steaming mug.  A few days ago, I climbed up to the shelf above the microwave [stools are an essential in New York apartments, as all our storage is vertical] in order to retrieve the industrial-sized bag of oats my mom so generously brings me from Costco.  And then I remembered: the last time I refilled the canister, I used up the bag.

My parents won’t be in with bulk food presents until Christmas day, so what to do?  I could purchase a small box – but it seems a waste of money better spent on gifts this time of year.  Instead, I’ve chosen to get a little creative, rationing the oats that are left.  

I have two hot cereal alternatives on hand: oat bran, which I like, just not as much, and quinoa flakes, which have been sitting on my shelf since last Passover, as quinoa is one of the few foods I actually can eat on Passover [that's going to make for some fun blogging in the spring].

This morning, I combined equal parts oats, oat bran, and quinoa flakes, added a cup of almond milk, and hoped for the best.

Of course, I treated the mix like any other stovetop creation, tossing in this and that along the way, including a banana, mulberries, pomegranate seeds, almonds, cinnamon, and flax.  

Topped with the necessary nut butter of the morning: walnut-pecan.

The result?  Voluminous, creamy, texturally a bit more complex than a plain bowl of oats.  I’d highly recommend mixing your hot cereals, just to see what happens.

Unfortunately, the oats that remain will definitely run out this weekend, and I figure that’s a sign to add some imagination to my breakfasts.  I’ve never been one for cereal, juice, smoothies, or eggs in the morning.  But I’m thinking:  Breakfast bulgur?  A morning take on wheatberry pudding?  Polenta with almond butter?  

I can guarantee I will be eating oats on December 26th.  But until then: it looks like I have some experimenting to do.

What is your favorite non-oat breakfast?  

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maple syrup and pancakes (vwav recipe – the best!)

Dessert doesn’t necessarily mean sweets for me.  I’ve definitely had evening treats of a baked sweet potato or [...]]]> I have dessert nearly every day.  I like to think of it as part of a balanced life:  I have the permission to eat whenever and whatever I choose.  

maple syrup and pancakes (vwav recipe – the best!)

Dessert doesn’t necessarily mean sweets for me.  I’ve definitely had evening treats of a baked sweet potato or unsalted peanut butter on a spoon.  Of course, there are also nights when I’ll have ice cream.

caramelized apple and pecans

I’ve never been a fan of prepackaged desserts.  My parents taught me that homemade always tastes better, and I’ve seen it proven many times.  Not being much of a baker, however, I don’t always have exciting dishes on hand for nighttime snack plates.

vanilla flax french toast (ground flax, vanilla soy milk, vanilla extract, maple syrup, cinnamon)

As a result, sometimes I end up choosing to enjoy breakfast for dessert.  I’ve yet to meet a breakfast food I don’t love (well, except for the European meats and crudités – not happening at 7 AM), but I also wake up craving oats every single day, so I don’t branch out much in the mornings.

cereal and almond milk

I can’t see a reason not to start and end the day with my favorite meal.  My real breakfasts may be triple the size of my dessert breakfasts – but size doesn’t matter.

watermelon oat smoothie (watermelon, almond milk, plain yogurt, oats)

Are you a daily dessert eater, or do you save it for a special treat?  And what’s your favorite?

edited to add ingredients, since a few of you asked! 

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black coffee…

reading material…

sunlight…

stovetop oats…

[clearly not on the stove]

My version:

After cooking, I add: