We are already a month and a half into 2017, boy time can fly. I ended 2016 and started 2017 on some so-called rocky footing. I am not saying I was slipping badly, or being a complete slouch, it is just that I was helping my parents by bird-sitting for almost two weeks. This took me away from having a gym available, and I am not one who will exercise outside in South Dakota in December and January. This put extra focus regarding maintaining progress made on what I ate. As everyone knows, the holiday season is rough on everyone. I maintain that it is even if you do not end up going to meet with family at all, and are on your own.

Nonetheless, once I returned back to Sioux Falls and could resume my usual routines, I did an InBody composition test. It did show myself regaining 1% body fat. I can live with that.

2017 Goals

In early December, I decided to join the "Netflix and Chill" party and actually signed up for my own account. Years late, I know. I already had my own profile via my parents' account, but I did not have my own yet that I could use wherever. As I started browsing around, I noticed a number of health-based documentaries available to stream. This obviously piqued my interest, and I added them to my watch list.

Over the course of my birdsitting vacation, I watched all of them that I could find. Some were propaganda-ish in promoting vegetarianism because of animal cruelty arguments and such, but most were pretty well balanced. All in all, what I took out of everything is that I want to increase my whole foods intake. I am not getting rid of meat from my diet, as I do legitimately like it too much. I do, instead, want to provide a better balance between that and fruits/vegetables.

On top of whole foods, I also want to learn how to cook better. This began the moment I got back home. Thus far, most of the cooking changes have come in the form of doing sautee'd vegetables, as well as starting to play more with spices. I am also working towards forcing myself to be less picky on types of vegetables I consume. Fruits have never been a big problem, but vegetables I've turned my nose up at more, for unfounded reasons. Perhaps I will like some of them more than I realize? We will see. When grocery shopping lately, majority of my basket has been fruits and vegetables, so I'm happy there. If the documentaries are accurate in their information, I should naturally start seeing some improved results without necessarily having to change other details. Simply a case of you get out what you put in, for food.

Will he blend?

A couple of the Netflix documentaries were about the subject of juicing fruits and vegetables. I do not discredit them or question their authenticity, but I knew from the start that this specific topic would not be for me. I wanted to retain what fiber I could, while still doing something similar, which is why I instead decided to go for a blender. This would allow for making smoothie drinks, but without losing said fiber. I would still be consuming it all, even if more minced than it could be. Makes cleanup a lot easier as well. Last benefit is that it makes blending protein shakes more consistent instead of relying on hand-shaking the mixture together.

Blue Apron, briefly

I joined Blue Apron briefly, but have already canceled out for the moment. The idea was to utilize their services for working on the cooking detail. However the amount that they send weekly, and the way I tend to structure my days, were not meshing as well as I was hoping. They were sending two servings of three meals a week, and I think at this point, I would have been better with one a week. This is not to say that I am now giving up on cooking more, just that I am changing how I am approaching it. Going to rely on going at my own pace. If or when things change, I would have zero issue signing up again for more meals, and have no issue recommending them to others.

Until next time!