Spectrum day 31- dinner out

I went out with my good friends to my favorite restaurant tonight. It's always scary going out because it's hard to know how things are prepared and how many calories will be waiting for me. I had a few pieces of warm bread dipped in the OVOO and herb mixture. I looked the menu over and decided on the Penne Franco and Minestrone soup. Penne Franco has mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, olives, garlic and artichoke hearts sautéed in OVOO and topped with ricotta salata cheese. I was afraid of how many calories were in the meal, so I looked it up. I was extremely happy to find out that one dinner portion only has about 365 calories and the cup of minestrone had only 165ish. I was thrilled to find something healthy and tasty. Hopefully, this choice will make up for that horribly caloric nightmare of a smoothie I had earlier today!

I spent most of the day at different plant nurseries selecting plants for the yard and vegetable plants for the garden I'm getting ready to plant. This means that my MnM's haven't happened yet, but the night is young. Well, not that young, but young enough for me to at least hop on the elliptical for a few minutes. It's not about regimen, it's about living life and incorporating mindful moving. I don't have to beat myself up if I don't get a certain amount of time in, I just have to move and be happy about my progress. When I think of it this way, it takes the pressure off and allows me to feel good about my choices and allows me to be free in my freedom from regimen. It creates less frustration and less angst towards myself when I don't do as much exercise. When I don't think of it as a chore, but think of it as an opportunity, it changes my whole perspective. Moving doesn't have to mean structured, time-managed, misery focused events. It means that moving becomes part of daily life. Yesterday, moving meant walking the Super Walmart. Today, moving is me hopping on the elliptical. Tomorrow, moving may mean walking the dog, or planting plants in the garden, or building a trellis for my vines to grow on, moving dirt to create a berm for the landscape or playing ball with my favorite boy. Moving is moving is moving. When integrated as part of daily life, it becomes part of the joy of living. Joy begets love. Love begets life, for what is life without love?

Live well, love well and be joyful in all I do. That's all I can ask of myself, and that's all I want to do.