I eat a big, overflowing salad nearly everyday for lunch. And on the others, the salad-less Saturdays and Sundays, I’m out with friends for steaming bowls of spicy pho, freshly grilled shrimp tacos with avocado crema, or one dripping and dribbling pulled pork sandwich.
Now, having lost a lot of weight, I’m often asked for my best advice for starting on a weight loss journey.
And each time I say, It begins with eating well.
Eat one big, colorful salad everyday for lunch or dinner and put all the vegetables, tippety-top toppings you crave, and dress her well. It’s a step in the right direction, and I promise, you’ll soon feel as vibrant as the greens.
Eat well, eat food so pure and sating, that when you do go out with friends and want nothing more than to savor company and cookies and coladas
You don’t have those moments of pause
Those moments of…
Oh I shouldn’t
I wish I could..but…oh no no no.
You’ll just have pure bliss and cheeseburgers and chocolate layer cake.
Because hesitation tastes terrible. Regret is far too sour.
Life is about doing the best you can most of the time.
It’s about committing to walking everywhere you can, always taking the stairs, walking your grocery cart back to its corral, eating vegetables as often and as bountifully as they’re offered, stopping after one cookie, one cupcake, and eating whole foods in earnest.
I’ve often viewed eating well in the same way I view a budget. You save and you spend. You create a solid budget that allows for retirement and bills, but you also have a good chunk set aside for beautiful, sprawling vacations and frivolity at Target. Some of us are in debt, some are a tad too thrifty.
What matters is balance.
What matters is consistency.
It’s about using your time, your health, your appetite, in whatever way moves you most. Find that balance for yourself. Be celebratory.
Make each day special, but leave spectacular to the truly spectacular.
And here’s something to remember: Eating cookies, eating cake, eating buffalo chicken wings…
They all taste better with friends.
Honey Almond Butter Dressing
- 1/4 cup creamy almond butter
- 1 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons honey
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Whisk all ingredients until well incorporated. If needed, add a tablespoon of warm water to thin to desired consistency. Pour over salad and toss to coat.
serves 2-3
hi! what’s the name of your salad and do you have a link to that recipe? thanks!
A tremendous amount of advice in just a few short words! Listen out there, you would pay big bucks for less! All the weight loss gurus out there wouldn’t make a dime if we all took this very simple advice.
Thank you Andie, You’ve got it!! :)
Such good advice… I’ve got most of it down, just need to work on the 1 cookie thing!! Love this dressing.
This looks MUCH better than fat free Italian dressing…or those awful “1 calorie” salad spritzers! :-)
Andie! I can’t get over what an amazingly talented writer you are. Please write a book!
I absolutely love the way you write. I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll just say it again. You should seriously consider writing a book!
This dressing sounds fabulous! I most often have a big ol’ crunchy salad for lunch as well, and I’ve been on the lookout for some new dressing recipes. This one is right up my alley. :D
I’m writing down these words on a post-it and plastering it to my fridge in my little apartment.
then maybe I will spend some time sprawled out on my living room floor, creating some word art on canvas, or a large roll of paper, for me to hang in my dining area.
because these words, they are perfection.
“Eat well, eat food so pure and sating, that when you do go out with friends and want nothing more than to savor company and cookies and coladas”
oh, and maybe this wonderful thought, too:
“hesitation tastes terrible. Regret is far too sour.”
ok. now that i’ve filled up your comment section by simply quoting your own post….
I will say this:
I am trying to make 28 recipes from blog posts my 28th year. So far I have made one. As of today, I have been 28 for exactly 2 months. I SHOULD have already made about four recipes, thus far. I MAY have only made one recipe, thus far. This dressing of awesome? It’s going on the list of must make ASAP. This will now be known as Andie’s Catch Up to the Goal Dressing in my book. [ no, really. I’ll add it to my recipe book] Get excited. ;)
I’m TOTALLY with you on the overflowing salads.. a day in my life would not be complete without at least one! And I love your food philosophy when it comes to fully enjoying the splurge-y times with friends. Love it, Andie!
I love you comparing eating to a budget…it’s so true! I like to eat well, but I also like to be able to splurge a bit!
I’m going to have to try this dressing…sounds amazing!
Yes…you should write a book…I’ve loved your blog for ages now. You always give me food for thought, and give me a sane look at food, especially on days when I’m bombarded with weigh (haha-smacking forehead) too much brain-draining advice from the so called weight loss gurus
Thanks for all you do XO
This entire post just blew my mind…you are so down to earth and offer the best advice for weight loss
Goodness, that was so smart and smartly written. Straightforward and clear.
Just last night I was saying to my husband “I used to eat salad, I love salad, I need to eat more. I feel so great when I eat salad.”
I agree so wholeheartedly and hope that thoughts like this start to penetrate my brain. So much so that after I read each paragraph I thought up ways to take your words and tape them onto my screen or on my arm so that they wouldn’t simply be forgotten.
Thank you for sharing yourself so wonderfully.
I’ve been eying that salad photo since you first shared it because it looks sooooo good, so thank you for posting the recipe. I eat salad for lunch all week too, so I might just try this one tomorrow!
Thiiiiiiis.
This is the salad I was gawking at on one of your posts a few weeks back. I was like… what is that salad dressing? What is it? I need to know what’s in it. I need to eat it. WHAT DO.
As soon as I get home I’m making this. :3 Thank youuu!
I have to say that i really like what you said about “eating well in the same way I view a budget” I never saw it like that but is true! Thanks for your tips!
This sounds so fantastic Andie! I typically use the same dressing, which I adore (equal parts honey-balsamic vinegar-stone ground mustard & olive oil) but am always looking for new options. BTW, the dressing I mention is amazing on a salad with goat cheese and a chopped up apple. Just sayin’ :)
Again you are right on point! Eating well is exactly like being on a budget. This dressing sounds fantastic!
This sounds fabulous! What a coincidence too! I just bought a new jar of almond butter and fresh limes at the grocery store yesterday. Making this for my lunch salad…
This sounds like a great idea for a salad dressing! I should try that. I add nuts to my salads, but never nut-butter to the dressing. I bet it would also work well with peanut butter, walnut butter and tahini :-)
I recently discovered your blog and I love every post I’ve read! You seem to have such a healthy perspective that is so rare.
This salad looks amazing – I’ve never thought to put asparagus in a salad before! I would love to know how you cook the asparagus (or if you eat it raw).
This was an amazing post. Have you ever wrote about what you put in your salads? xoxo
Mmm! Yes, I believe that life is all about balance and budgeting. It’s when we go overboard that we get into trouble. For me, going overboard is my natural state of being and I have to work on balance every second of everday!
I just adore you. Is it weird to say that? :)
“Life is about doing the best you can most of the time.” You couldnt be more right.
Oh, and Im totally making this dressing when I get home.
Good God that salad looks delicious. I, too, eat at least one salad a day (and surprisingly enough – just like you – pho & fish tacos are my other meal loves!) Can’t wait to try this dressing. Thanks!
mmm i love almond butter..this dressing looks great!
on most days for lunch i have a salad at work too, because of the endless textures and tastes-not because of restriction. :)
Love this! I’m going to make it and put it over my salad for tomorrow!!
I’ve been wondering about this topic a lot lately and with so many different methods and advice it’s bewildering.
This for the first time seems like worthwhile advice. Thanks Andie for leading the way.
That dressing sounds amazing!!!
We need some salad recipes to go with all these delicious dressings!! It seems silly to need a recipe for salad, but some of us are not as creative as others (meaning me!). Can’t wait to try this one. Thanks for another beautiful post Andie.
I agree. Things taste better with friends, especially french fries. :)
What a great post! The dressing looks delicious and the advice is very well given.
Ugh. Thank you for this. An random old man wandered into the store I work at the other day and somehow we got on the subject of Starbucks hot chocolate (my expert opinion: Salted Caramel is king), and he goes, “Better skip the whipped cream, though, it’ll make you fat!” I laughed and said, “I’m not really worried about one hot chocolate making me fat,” but he was very insistent that it would. At first it made my temper flare, and I wanted to be like, “Listen, you, I have BEEN fat, and one Starbucks hot chocolate is NOT IT,” but then it just made me so sad. Some people never learn that you really can have anything you want in moderation. Balance is still very much a struggle for me, but I feel really lucky to have learned relatively young to respect food – all food – the way I do. Not fear it, not worship it, but value truly delicious food enough to make choices that are worth it.
Oh and by the way, I sent my younger brother (who is off to college in the fall and trying to lose a few pounds) links to your posts on stopping when you’re satisfied and eating what you crave back in March, because I love both of those articles and found them really helpful. He told me this weekend at a wedding that he’s reread them several times and tried to change his eating philosophy to only eating things he truly enjoys. I watched him put down a Moon Pie yesterday because it was “too dry,” which NEVER would have happened six months ago. Just thought you should know there’s now another Stay for Dinner fan in the family :-)
This makes me so very happy, Emma :) Thanks, doll!!
YUM!!!
That dressing is awesome. Already looking for more stuff to put it on. So far I’ve got: a spoon, my finger.
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I love your message, especially the concept of saving for those splurges with friends. That is a concept I can handle!
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