Days twenty-seven to thirty

I made it!  I can’t believe I made it!  The journey was difficult, but so rewarding.  I made it through the hump at day ten, managed to still work two jobs, teach myself to cook, and not give in to the temptations of Subway and chocolate.

The past few days have been a blur.  We opened our show at the theatre on Wednesday night, so many twelve hour days getting things ready, working the box office, speaking to our patrons.  I bought a couple of bags of groceries and left them at the theatre – easy things like cucumber/tomato/cheese sandwiches, real peanut butter, fruit, organic yoghurt (I can’t make my own yoghurt), salad, baked chicken breast which I cut up and refrigerated, etc.  It’s been a long week, but not only did I make it through it remaining healthy, but I also managed to stick to my eating routine.

Now that I’m done, I find I don’t crave processed foods anymore.  I’m wanting fresh food, or cooked food that I know what’s in it.  I ate at my pub today because I was starving and it was a really busy, long shift.  What I really wanted. though, was to go home and cook a meal.  It’s so weird for me, but I’m enjoying it.

Everyone keeps asking me what I learned and what my favourite meals were.  I’m pretty excited that I now know how to bake a chicken breast, make my own bread or pizza dough, and make fresh tomato sauce.  I’ve found some great cookbooks, including the Joy of Cooking and anything Jamie Oliver; some great free magazines that have fun recipes –  the LCBO and Sobeys to name a couple; and some fabulous online sites, including www.bonappetit.com, allrecipes.com and www.epicurious.com.  I am more confident in the kitchen and appreciate the art of cooking.  I feel healthier and happier knowing what is in my food (I will spend more time looking at labels and being aware of my choices from now on).  And finally, I am proud of myself for accomplishing this goal and writing about it.

I will try my best to write a follow-up of how I am doing with the cooking thing in a couple of weeks.  Thank you for supporting me on this journey!  I couldn’t have done it without the love, support and encouragement of my family and friends.