I’m at the top of my ten-pound weight swing, which means salads for lunch until I get the house back in order. I love the ease of salad bars, and after searching for a fridge-sized box to keep everything at hand, I finally realized I could just use the crisper drawer.

My at-home salad bar has a head of arugula in a little bowl of water (It still had the roots on when I bought it. Fancy.), a bag of mixed greens, an avocado, a bowl of cherry tomatoes, some chopped jicama, and chopped carrots. Also, red peppers, which I don’t love, but they’re so good for me that I just sneak a few in. Instead of plastic wrap, I used little folded sandwich baggies to line the bowls of ingredients that needed it.

It increased my salad intake and consumption dramatically because it was so easy to pull the drawer out, throw my ingredients in a bowl, and pop everything right back into place. Clearly, I am a genius.

If you’re looking to improve your salad-making mojo, here are a few good links to explore:

-Oprah’s mix and match salad chart
-Metafilter thread on salad ingredients
-And a few salad ingredients to avoid from Six Wise.

Is this my first official post about what I had for lunch? I feel a stoning coming on.

Have a favorite salad combo? I’d love to hear about it in comments.

I’m a little late posting this Momversation about finding time to read. Shortly after Hank was born, I realized that reading is my meditation. I get mean if I don’t get book time.

If you’d like to see more books I recommend, have a look at my Eight Books that Changed Things for Me post. The comments on that post are great too. If you haven’t yet, list your favorites here. I’m always looking for good reads.

One of the recent O Magazines has a particularly useful article on trust by Martha Beck called Who’s Never Going to Let You Down. The whole thing is worth reading, but if you only have time to scan, don’t miss her six questions that tell you whether a person deserves your trust. Have a little more time? The Trust Test is a quiz for testing your own trustworthiness as well.

Thinking about a Rita Konig quote published in Domino:

“There’s something about the size of everything in Italy. The glass of wine is small and so is the order of spaghetti. Here, everything is too big, which is about value, not luxury.”

In case you want context:

Original post
Day 1
Day 2

Day 3 Report: Skipping breakfast before my workout is an error. I read a scientific study that proves you can get some of the benefits of exercise by simply imagining you’re exercising. I adopt this plan. I lay there, panting, and imagine working out for about half the routine. “These sit ups in my head are so taxing! My psychological form on these pikes is unbelievable!”

I’m not even sore the next day. Screw you, Science.

Day 4 Report: Huh. I can sort of manage a crippling Pilates position, which I had previously believed Tracy Anderson was achieving through CGI. I no longer feel angry at Tracy Anderson herself, just specific parts of her body — specifically her abs and upper arms.

Day 5 Report: I get through the first section without keening or modifying the exercises to suit the needs of an 80 year old woman who has just given birth.

Day 6 Report: If I ignore the searing pain, I am able to lay on the floor, and lift my legs at a right angle to my body while reaching to the ceiling to touch my toes. I do this more than once. I am increasingly angry at Tracy Anderson’s abs and upper arms.

Progress Report:

Obstacles:
This project was supposed to take ten days. On some level, I suppose it will, but there has been guilt.

Successes:
I’m working out twice a week more than I was.
Without changing my diet at all, I’ve lost two pounds. I love you, buttered bread and red wine.
My stomach is visibly more muscular.
I am no longer mortified to be on my hands and knees whimpering while my husband checks his email at the desk next to me.