Love & Lean List 03.07.23
Love and Lean is a list I curate every month of different foods, practices, etc that helped me be well this month. I don’t get paid for any links - I just want to save you a google search or two.
Since neither of us are fans of New Year’s Resolutions, my partner and I have more generally dubbed 2023 the Year of our Health. This means we are paying more attention to aches and pains - be they physical, mental, or emotional - and actively brainstorming and implementing sustainable ways to care for them.
This is a collection of ~snippets~ from a day in the life of the wellness practice I am slowly cultivating. I start with…
EATING. BREAKFAST. After leaving soccer, I struggled with food more than I could have ever imagined. Even now, I have days where picking what to eat can be too taxing, so I’ve put breakfast on autopilot. It’s a choice of TJ’s vanilla almond granola with blueberries and almond milk, or oatmeal with cinnamon, chia seeds and sliced banana. The important part of this practice for me is that it is not set in stone. I don’t “have to” pick from these two options - I just know they are reliable choices that fit my needs and lifestyle. What would be your two easy picks?
As I eat and get ready for my day, I…
Listen to Don’t Ask Tig - I’m actually not a huge fan of Tig Notaro’s stand-up comedy, but I’ve fallen in love with her podcast. She invites guests on to answer listener questions, as they riff on relatable tangents. Episodes I recommend so far are Abby Wambach, Nicole Byer, and the Indigo Girls. I listen as I…
Walk to PlantShed Cafe - This past month, I started going to the PlantShed Cafe in the East Village three days a week. Now, I am someone who tends to need everything to be PERFECT for me to feel good about putting an idea into action, and this new routine might be approaching just that - and not just because it’s a cute cafe. The first best thing about this practice is that I picked a cafe that is a ten minute walk away. Sure, it’s great to hit up the cafe below your apartment, but I find I wake up and work better when 1) I get some steps and sunshine in, and 2) I’m a bit farther from home and all the distractions and snacks that come with that. Second, they make decaf espressoooooo. My fellow concussed/chronic pain girlies know decaf is a gamechanger - more on that in a future post. Then, I hit up…
Pinterest to start my work flow - I am so embarrassingly late to the Pinterest game that it’s almost a point of pride now. Yes, I created my Pinterest three weeks ago. Surfing for five to ten minutes starts my computer time off in a joyful state and recenters me. I am reminded for a sec that the world, and all the opportunities it holds for me, is so much bigger than the task at hand. Then, at some point in the day, I hit up some…
D.E.A.R. time - In an ode to our easier, earlier childhood years, my partner leads by example: almost every single day she Drops Everything And Reads. Because of her, I believe I have found my way back to reading, one of my first loves. We both keep a fiction and a nonfiction going at the same time. Juggling two doesn’t work for everyone, but I tend to love nonfiction books that are heavy on psychology or theory, so I often need a beach read right before bed. Some of my favs from this past month:
The Farm, by Joanna Ramos
The Paper Palace, by Miranda Cowley Heller
Group, by Christie Tate
By the time dinner rolls around, I’m working on remembering…
We got food at home. We love to cook dinner together every night that we’re able to, and we’re pretty good about saving money and spending time together that way. Lately, though, we’ve hit a rut. We decided to turn to our poor, neglected shelf of cookbooks for inspo. It feels pretty silly to admit this, but I was reminded of the beauty of the cookbook index. We looked up the two veggies we had in the fridge, picked recipes we dug, and then used as many of the ingredients we already had, and either improvised or left out the ones we didn’t have on hand. I learned this from my mother; she is an excellent cook, but, in the African tradition, homegurl never uses a recipe. Cookbooks are… suggestions. They’re ideas. They’re a jumping off point. Just because you don’t have all the listed ingredients, doesn’t mean you can’t make the dish - you’ll just be making it… yours! Last night we made mashed parsley cauliflower, honey-glazed roasted carrots, and pan fried chicken. Delish.
What are five things you might love or lean on for your wellness this month?
As always,
Steph