I’m a professional planner.
Not only does my job description actually requires planning ahead (I’m a media planner – I plan and buy online media for our clients), but that is just my personal nature. I plan everything in advanced: meals, snacks, my clothes for the day, workouts (runs, yoga, intervals, some weights), chores, vacation days, how to spend the weekend, dinner reservations, doctor’s visits, spa visits, I even schedule time in advanced to do homework and readings for class (yes, I’m a nerd and proud of it). I keep incessant lists of things-to-do, because I like being organized, I like having concrete goals (even if it’s just a scheduled trip to Whole Foods), and well, I just like being prepared. Really, I’m a planner by day, planner by night.
But sometimes, too much planning makes me… um, a little bit uptight. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still Miss Congeniality, but I realized that perfectionism (or the tendency to plan everything and strive for perfectionism), is not always a good thing. I am pretty stubborn to begin with so when things don’t go my way as planned, it somehow puts a damper in my mood. But during the last couple of years (yup, it’s taking me years), I have been getting better at accepting change and spontaneity. It’s true what other people say, going with the flow is actually pretty fun! It’s freeing! It’s exciting! It’s… kinda random.
Proof: I tried winging all my meals this past week while the boyfriend was away on vacation. I know, I’m adventurous. My foray into letting go of some of my uber-planning tendencies was to stop planning dinner. I was pretty happy with what I ended up eating but they did turn out pretty random.
Some were really good:
baked tofu and roasted veggies (with sriracha, of course)
That was actually my favorite meal last week. I LOVE roasted veggies – I tossed this batch with olive oil, s&p, chopped garlic, and chili pepper flakes before I roasted at 450 F for 45 minutes (stirred them around halfway so everything browned evenly), then topped with a few squeezes of lemon and hot sauce. The tofu was brushed with soy sauce and pepper, baked the same way. I was very proud of myself and very happy with the results.
Some were really bad (oh who am I kidding this was very, very good):
chocolate croissant (don’t you think my plate is sooo pretty? Special thanks to my mom)
And some were just a little boring:
my now-favorite Greek yogurt flavor (thanks to Sara for introducing me to this)
Actually on a couple of nights I was too lazy to think and ended up making giant green monster smoothies (nope, I didn’t blend up Wally the Green Monster, silly! I meant regular, healthy green-colored smoothies). I didn’t take any pictures because I used chocolate milk (hehe) and peanut butter and spinach – so it just kinda looked like sludge. Yummy sludge.
My Green Monster smoothie is made up of:
– 1/4 cup skim milk (or non-fat chocolate milk)
– 1 big tablespoon of nut butter (I either use peanut butter or almond butter)
– 1 banana (preferably frozen)
– half cup strawberries
– 2 giant handfuls of spinach
– ice
If you’ve never had spinach in your smoothie before, do.it.now. I promise you won’t be able to taste it! It’ll just make your standard smoothie thicker and much healthier.
So while my unplanned meals were pretty random, they were also pretty good. It’s nice to know that even if I put a lot of importance on planning, I am actually okay without it. Everything worked out well, as always!
Now to plan what to do this weekend…
PS – Belated happy birthday to the boyfriend, who I love and who continues to love me – with or without plans ♥
Hi! I’m Bianca Garcia. I love food, running, yoga, sangria, and my job. I'm an advertising professional, social media enthusiast, blogger, freelance writer, and obsessive list-maker. I think about dessert constantly. 
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