For many of us, this is the time of year when finding a balance with food can be a challenge.
Sweets, desserts, drinks, and treats are plastered all over cooking shows, magazines, blogs, and grocery stores everywhere we turn. I think I even have a pair of holiday socks with cookies on them! It’s easy to start thinking that chocolate fudge makes the perfect daily breakfast staple or washing vitamins down with spiked cider is totally normal.
Well, some days I guess. I won’t judge.
But let’s be real for a minute. Sugar overload doesn’t make most of us feel our best on a day to day basis. I love sweets and indulgences as much as the next person (ok maybe more…), but I’ll be the first to admit that too much of it can leave me feeling tired, unmotivated, and blah. Over the years, I’ve realized that food and winter blahs can be closely related. When I eat crappy, I tend to feel crappy too.
Einstein said that insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” and I kind of live my life by that theory. When something doesn’t work, change it up! So that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
[Did I really just quote Einstein in a food post?]
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be featuring 12 days of healthy meal recipes** that will hopefully inspire us to stay on a healthy path over the holiday season. That’s not to say that I won’t be indulging or posting a couple holiday sweet recipes (it is me you’re talking to!), but I also want to make more of an effort to fit in healthy meals whenever possible. Eric and I are both busy with work right now (he just started a new position and I’m wrapping up my cookbook proposal), so we need these healthy meals to stay at the top of our game. Plus, more healthy food means more room for Crazy Woman Chocolate Blender Pudding, of course.
**subject to change, based on how many casseroles I burn, how many gifts I have left to wrap, and how many cats I have to remove from the Christmas tree.
Yay! I was just thinking last night “gosh I’ve been eating a lot of fudge and cookies for dinner”… vegetables, and health in general, should probably make a comeback!
Congrats to Eric on his new position and you wrapping up your cookbook proposal! Lots of excitement for you guys!!!
Thank you Stacie!
Hi Angela!
I’ve been following Oh She Glows for nearly a year now and finally decided comment. I just want you to know I think you’re blog is fantastic, I’m on it everyday and I love trying your recipes. Half the fun is reading your posts, they have so much personality, and I LOVE looking at your photography, it makes me want to try everything immediately, and it makes such a difference to the overall look of the blog!
I stumbled across your Green Monster site a while back which lead me to here, and I can honestly say reading it is what inspired me to start eating better. I’ve made a huge change in my diet and overall lifestyle. I’m a post grad student now (in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, not too far from you!) and during my undergrad I ate terribly (typical). I knew I wasn’t treating my body well, but I didn’t REALLY know how badly I was treating it until I started educating myself on healthy eating.
I’m not vegan or vegetarian but I love your recipes because they are so healthy and mostly easy to make! I have never even considered being vegan or vegetarian (because of my family mostly) until I started reading your blog. I’ve never been a big meat eater, but I have cut down my meat consumption by probably 85% and could see myself developing into a vegetarian one day over time (maybe even vegan!). I’ve found alternative and BETTER ways to get protein through researching and reading your blog. I used to think healthy eating took SO much effort, it takes some thought, but its not hard, and I now look forward to making healthy meals for myself everyday.
I’ve definitely noticed a difference in the way I feel. My next big change is to start exercising regularly because I know how important it is. I have always had trouble motivating myself to workout and usually the idea just gets lost among homework, class, exams, assignments, work and life in general!
So now that I have basically written an essay when I should be studying for my exam tomorrow, I’ll stop there, lol. I’ve wanted to comment for a while so I finally decided to. Congratulations on following your dreams and helping others live a healthy lifestyle, I can’t wait to buy your cookbook!
Hey Melissa! Thank you so much for your kind words…I’m happy to hear you enjoy the blog! Love to hear that you are near me too! Small world :)
this is very true, sometimes when i’m eating the delicious sugary food, i forget that it doesn’t make me feel great if i have too much!
Woohoo, I love when bloggers feature this kind of thing. I’m always looking for new and healthy recipes to serve, especially over the holidays when over-doing it on sugary desserts and fatty main dishes is bound to happen. I’m already feeling like I need a major detox and Christmas hasn’t even happened yet. Not a good sign. Thanks for trying to help us all get back on track.
P.S. I have a question for you that doesn’t really relate but I figured you’d be the best to ask. I’ve recently become vegan but I find it’s been really hard to resist the urge for eggs and yogurt. Do you have any good suggestions for items that are also high in protein and low in fat and sugars? I used to eat Greek yogurt like nobody’s business and miss the fullness it used to provide me from all the protein.
What a great idea! Eating healthier the majority of the time helps me have the energy to enjoy the rest of the time :)
Looking forward to it! This time of year can definitely be a challenge. I got off to a rocky start, but lots of healthy food with sprinkles of shortbread and chocolate to fill in the gaps seems like the best balance for me in the winter :) I agree that eating too much crappy food makes you feel crappy- I also think eating NOT ENOUGH crappy food makes one feel crappy :D so yes to green smoothies & shortbread cookies! Can’t wait to see your new recipes.
Love this idea! Looking forward to it. And your ** cracked me up!
Cookbook proposal, YAAAAAYY!!!!!
Looking forward to it :)
Yes, bravo!! I applaud your forthcoming healthy recipes and can’t wait to try them for myself. They are much needed during this time of year – especially since I have a sweet tooth. Good luck getting the cookbook proposal all wrapped up! Have a lovely day.
sooo happy you’re doing this! i’ve already started to feel the affects of having real sugar in my body, which i tend to avoid the rest of the year. i’ve been cranky and bloated since thanksgiving, and it doesn’t to take a genius to figure out why! looking forward to healthy ideas! : )
Wow that chocolate pudding- GIMME!
http://hannahalehandra.blogspot.com/
What an awesome idea..so excited to see all the recipes! I’m going to be sure to pass this along to my mom. She always is asking me for recipes ideas for dinner at the holidays when I am visiting along with a lot of other family. I know anything from your site will be healthy and delicious!
great idea! :) and just what I need right now!
What a great idea! I can’t wait to see what you come up with. I have a 12 days feature on my blog, too, but it’s much less healthy :) xoxo
YAY!!! I have been searching for something JUST like this!! You’re so fabulous!! I can’t wait to see what the recipes will be! I’m as excited as my daughter is waiting for Christmas!! :)
Yay! This is our first Christmas as a vegan family :o) One good thing about it is that we don’t eat quite as much of the junk foods, but still have it none the less… Looking forward to what you post about Christmas dinner. I’ll be serving a vegan meal to a bunch of probably-will-complain-a-bunch-non vegans. But I am hopful… I made your walnut loaf at Thanksgiving and everyone who tried it really enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your food talents!
Great idea! I know CookingLight.com does something similar, but I have to modify their recipes. I won’t have to with yours!
The pudding looks divine! Oh, I LOVE pudding!
Looking forward to your postings! Thanks for the inspiring words to keep on a healthy path. :)
What a great idea!