Say yes to salad: The perfect dressing makes meal more appealing

I recently received a 'You have memories to look back on today” notification from Facebook. It was a photo of me and my daughter getting ready to compete in the Girls on the Run of Eastern Iowa 5K.

I remember that race. It was my daughter's last with the program, which is for third- through sixth-grade students. It was also a month before I ran my first half-marathon. I've run a few more since then, but the moment captured in that photo is probably the healthiest I've been in my 'I'm a runner. Kind of. Sort of.” career.

More than a year has passed since I completed my last distance race of any kind - the Hot Chocolate 15K in Minneapolis. That race wasn't great and, as a result, my love for running hit the wall soon after. I lacked the enthusiasm to sign up for a fall half-marathon, so I didn't spend the summer training for one. Because I didn't do one in the fall, I didn't experience that runner's high that goads me into signing up for a spring half-marathon.

My winter workouts were sporadic. My spring workouts, while more consistent, are far behind where I used to be.

One of the reasons it's been so hard to get back to a regular running routine is that I continued to eat like I was training for 13.1 miles when I wasn't. When you don't spend several hours of your weekend on a running trail, the not-too-healthy snacks you eat while resting tend to stick around - and not in a good way.

That photo was the not-so-subtle nudge I needed to get moving in the right direction.

I bought a new water bottle. That's helped with my daily water intake. I'm still not much of a breakfast eater, but I'm working on tossing a carton of yogurt in my purse before I leave for work to better deal with mid-morning munchies. And I started packing lunches again.

Working in downtown Iowa City, there are many amazing lunch possibilities. I allow myself one lunch out a week, then brownbag the four remaining days. This makes me sound completely committed, but the silly little secret is that a restaurant I used to visit daily removed the creamy raspberry dressing from its salad options. Since then, the salad bar has not been as appealing.

I need to incorporate more salads in my eating life because they are practically the only way I consume non-starchy vegetables. Because I'm not a big fan of ranch dressing, this means finding a salad dressing that will make me think, 'Salad! Yay!” at lunchtime; not, 'Salad again?”