[Wellness] Wins – Healthy Swaps at Home

The struggle. You start off the week with great intentions. Lots of home cooked meals. New workouts. Early to bed for increased energy levels.
But things do not always go according to plan. I mean really, do they ever?
A friend of mine since middle school was in town early last week, and I had the opportunity to meet up with him twice. It’s always more important (to me) to preserve relationships than to stay home and try to lose weigh, so I went with the flow.
On Monday, we met at Ardeo + Bardeo (my first time – it was really good) for wine and shared appetizers (Brussels sprouts and deviled eggs), which actually turned into a rather meager dinner since conversation trumped the need to stuff myself.
On Tuesday, Tom and I had dinner reservations at Bar Civita and despite the pouring rain and increase in social plans during the week, we still went. It was great, I’ll write about it later. It was not a wellness win, but it also could have been far more indulgent than it was.
On Wednesday, I again met up with my friend for more wine and appetizers (again, a small dinner for me) and great conversation and lots of laughs. It had been a long time since we spent that much time together and it was wonderful and completely worth the lost workouts. As we all know, wellness depends as much on the mental as it does on the physical, so I could this as a definite win.
And yes, I could have gotten up early in the mornings to squeeze my workouts in, but I don’t do that so let’s move on.
Starting on Thursday, things calmed down a bit with more home cooked food and exercise. Aside from a Saturday that got a little out of control, we spent almost all of our time at home finally spending a little quality time in the kitchen, and then with our sweatpants and the couch, because what else do you do when it rains for a week straight?
I kind of reversed my usual schedule, which is to tighten things up a bit during the week to allow for weekend fun. Instead of just admitting defeat, I adapted and took my favorite weekend splurges and made a few healthy swaps at home.
You guys know I love a good brunch, but I rarely do them in a healthy way. To change things up a bit, we brunched at home.
I love pancakes but almost never order them out because they don’t have enough staying power. We made these greek yogurt pancakes, which upped the protein factor and made for an incredibly filling meal. They were delicious too! With a teaspoon of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup, this was as enjoyable as going out to eat.
Another thing that often happens on the weekends is a nice dessert. Lately I’ve been obsessed with crumbles, so I decided to make a healthy one after dinner on Friday night.
I followed this recipe exactly and loved the results, not too sweet and with lots of fiber. I can see this happening with all sorts of fruits in the future, maybe a plum version, or apples and pears. Yum.
So yeah, even though I may not be winning on the scale, I’m still trying to make as many little healthy choices as I can going forward.
Tom recently switched jobs, and his office is conveniently located right down the street from mine. Yesterday we celebrated the gorgeous fall weather by taking a mid-afternoon walk and coffee break.
Healthy and happy! The selfie arm reflected in our sunglasses cracks me up. I can see these walks becoming a regular thing on days I go into work (I work from home the majority of the time) and a much healthier alternative than meeting up for lunch.
Aside from one happy hour, we don’t have any social plans this week so I’m hoping to have the chance to be more focused and make a little more tangible progress. But if something comes up… I’ll just do the best I can.

What were your wellness wins this week? Let’s stay motivated together!