The last week has basically been like this

B (6am): Egg whites and Oatmeal with Strawberries (no sweetners anymore!!)

S (9am): 2 Bran muffins & a protein shake (this is my post workout meal)

L (12): Big salad w/ Balsamic Vinegar; Protein: chicken or a mini meatloaf; small amount fruit; ONE pb ball

S (2:30): 4 oz greek yogurt with 1/4 cup granola

D (5:30ish): Whatever! This is the only “meal” I plan for each week

S (9pm): Frozen banana ice “cream”; tablespoon of PB

I know it seems repetitive, which is why I haven’t been posting it. But I’m better knowing every day what lays ahead. Sure I deviate according to my cravings in a given day, and I do much a lot on grapes while at the pool when we go. I’m getting to where i’m only cooking dinner and to restock the fridge with meatloaves and PB balls.

PB BALLS:

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup honey

1 cup PB, natural

2 scoops any whey protein

**I have to recalculate this often depending how many balls i get 27-32 is the general range. Freeze these and it tastes like the frozen cookie dough that kids sell.

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

3 pounds Romanita tomatoes (or equal parts Roma and Cherry), cut in half
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
12 cloves garlic, peeled
2 Tablespoons fresh oregano or basil leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400. On a cookie tray (or roasting pan), combine the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil or oregano, salt and pepper. Roast until the tomatoes begin to carmamelize, about 30 to 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
Place tomatoes in blender. Blend to desired consistency. If the sauce seems too thick, add a bit of water or chicken broth to achieve the desired consistency.
Use as a dipping sauce for vegetables, on toasted bread, pizza, or pasta.

Copied from Miss Kitty Cooks

Breakfast

Eggs & Oats w/Berries

Egg Muffins & Oats

Some form of egg, whole wheat english muffin with 1 Tbsp PB topped with sliced banana

Dinners
Sunday: Chicken Taco Chili atop brown rice (this is perfect since we get home from prayer STARVING!)
Monday: Sesame Chicken, stir fry veggies (carrots, garlic, scallions,broccoli, onions), brown rice
Tuesday: Steak & Potatoes, grilled asparagus (peas or broccoli for the kids) Wednesday: Leftovers or big salad –Church night, kinda fend for yourself! Thursday: Pecan Chicken, green beans, fruit
Friday: Sundried Tomato Chicken Bake, whole wheat pasta, asparagus (peas or broccoli for the kids)

I just realized how much chicken that is! I usually have at least another form of protein….i need good fish recipes, i hate fish but know we should be eating it more. But, chicken is the one thing we actually enjoy when you make it right. None of these are your boring old baked chicken and rice recipes. The only way for us to keep going with such momentum is to have super tasty food! Note that dinners are super protein heavy. I can’t remember the science behind it, but I read somewhere that you need your high protein meal in the evening, higher in carb meal at lunch. I know the carb meal at lunch is to have energy to make it through the day. Quick google yielded these results…HERE

I’m going to post lunch/snacks all together because, really, we eat mini meals all day. We will most certainly be eating leftover portions for snacks.

Mini daytime meals

Apple, turkey, PB

Big salad w/broccoli slaw, chicken

Meatloaf muffins, rice, fruit

Chicken burgers, fruit **i’ll make these as sliders, they were perfect for pool food this week

Protein & huge green smoothie (i’m loving 2 cup spinach, 5 strawberries, 1 banana, 1/2 cup coconut milk)

Fruit, nuts, turkey/chicken

Greek yogurt w/granola; berries

Chicken brown rice cakes, salad

I’d like to start getting more protein from beans. You’ll notice I didn’t post a protein shake. They just aren’t cutting it for me. I’m HUNGRY, I want to eat, not drink. I’ll grab one in a pinch but I’d much rather eat something.

I’d love to know what other people pack for the pool. And why is it that we snack more there?? Every time we’ve gone to the pool I’ve been WAY more hungry all day than the days we don’t go–even eating the same amount of foods.

Also, wanted to pass along that I bought these Easy Lunch Boxes this week. Fantastic! When we went to the pool,I handed both kids their preportioned food. No eating more chips (lol–i didn’t even have chips its an example!) than sandwich. Kai already has a bento box he uses for school, but these are perfect for everyday use. I can throw a complete meal in these just for me if i need to. LOVE! And really, they were pretty cheap $14 for four.

S(10:30): chicken (3 oz), apple, 1 Tbs BBQ Sauce

Ooops(1230): bite of pretzel jello salad (don’t knock it!!) and lemonade pie..just a bite!

L(130): Oatmeal with beries and pecan chicken (2oz)

S(430):orange, lick of kids PB

D(6): Black Bean burger on sugar free bun; zucchini fries; cantaloupe

S: Granola, greek yogurt and peach

i entered in everything that i could in sparkpeople and came in under calories and right on target for all my macro nutrients…which basically means i’m right on target if you add in my “oops.” it blows my mind that eating well and following those guidelines can be so dead on without ever counting a calorie. so awesome.

at the parties the problem was sugar. i’m kinda shocked, honestly. i mean, cheese is kinda a non issue these days. sure, i miss it since everything tastes better with cheese, but i’m certainly not thinking about it like i was. carbonated beverages…even my beloved dt coke…also a non issue. chad bought my one the other day, i took one sip and handed it back. just isn’t what i want. BUT SUGAR…I never even knew I craved sugar. I always told people I could give up sugar but not cheese?? that is so not true.   

Sunday nights event i didn’t eat chicken or beans or potato salad….i ate chips with fresh salsa and some of every dessert there. EVERY ONE! Cookies, chocolate cake, rum cake, lemonade icebox pie, more cake, pretzel jello dessert. Then Monday, i ate “dinner” and about 9 oatmeal cookies. How is that for some honesty! Even I can’t believe I ate all that sugar.

So onto today…..

B: eggs and oats with straberries; black coffee

S: 2 cups romaine, broccoli slaw, 3 ounces chicken, sunflower seeds and balsamic vinegar

L: egg muffin ** apple and PB

D: Pecan Chicken, green beans, romaine, broccoli slaw, asian dressing

S: greek yogurt, berries, granola

I don’t want to say it again because it sounds silly, but i’ve been full all day. I’ve felt great all day. It makes me realize how bad i feel on off days. Also, that chicken rocked my world.. even my kids ate it!

Oh, and since I mentioned the kids, how are they doing with all the changes? I mentioned before it was going to be a bit more subtle for them. I still have cheese-its and vanilla wafers in my home. ((funny that i’m not craving them any more)) They are doing great. SLowly phasing out processed snacks for fruit and veggies and cheese. I’m combining them together like a snack the other day was broccoli, cheese cubes, and pretzels or apples, PB and cheeseits. And those processed snacks are getting smaller and smaller….I feel like we are doing good!!

LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLE!!!

EGG WHITE MUFFINS

Makes 6 jumbo muffins

3 cups egg whites

half red pepper chopped

half yellow onion chopped

ham chopped (i think it was 6 ounces)

seasoning of choice

Place 1/2 cup egg whites in each cup, about a tablespoon of the pepper and onion in each and one ounce of hame in each cup, bake for 40 min at 400*.

My calculations:

Cal 102

Fat 1

Carb 4.8

Pro 17.8

Adapted from here: SugarShop

For years I worked out alone or with my husband. My husband is a great partner, but finding the time to go sometimes became tricky. Besides, when you husband tells you to “keep you shoulders back” and you already think you do you are a lot more likely to tell them to back off! This is why when Chad was a trainer everyone had a saying, “never train your spouse.”

When I work out alone I go easy, I quit early, I won’t do that last set, I’ll skip out on doing core…I’m horrible. I’m not saying I do that everytime, but I certainly am not nearly as excited to be in there.

I’d say that I started working out consistently in November of 2010. I worked out alone or with Chad. I was getting bored….fast and with the holidays approaching, I was scared I would quit! (Isn’t it strange that I would be afraid of such a thing? You’d think being aware would make it a nonissue? Anyway…). My friend Meagan had just moved to my town. We’d always talked about working out but she lived a little bit further away and it never happened. We were excited to start hitting the gym together. Let me tell you, I had no idea what I was in for. Since working out with my partner I have seen HUGE changes. I attribute SO much of my success to her!

Reasons why having a gym partner has benefitted me:

1) My gym partner and I have a designated time that we meet everyday (except Wednesday and Sunday). Having this scheduled we make appointments around this time…you’d never schedule something when you knew you had a dr appointment at the same time, why do you do it at the gym? Also, knowing that we have this time, I can prepare mentally everyday…rather than wondering, “when am i going to get to the gym today?” Trust me, that never happens. ((It also helps that her kids are older than my kids so she’s like 100times more flexible than I am!))

2) Meagan is competitive. When I say that I mean, if I accidentally do too many reps, she’s going to do too many reps too. If I can lift XX lbs, she’s gonna lift XX lbs. This is great for me because I’m NOT competitive, but sometimes when she gets in that mode, I just want to beat her. It’s that constant competition that push us to do more.

3) Motivator. When I feel like I just can’t do something (ahem, jumprope) she’s over there telling me I can, trying to get me to do as much as I can. Also, I’m never going to skip that last set, skip on core, etc when someone is there is pushing me.

4) Friendship. It’s been great for our friendship and that helps in the gym. I know the gym isn’t a place to be social, but occasionally, that get you through a rough set and that’s ok. Also, It allows us to pick at each other in a motivating way that only friends can do.

5) Sounding board. So many of our conversations at the gym are regarding food and lifting…by talking out what you are eating and doing you get in that mindset for the rest of the day. You also know that you aren’t alone so that when you are missing some fun meal at, lets say, MOPS, you know that its because you have someone you have to be accountable to!

What you should look for in someone:

1) Same goals. What does your end result look like? Do you just want to loose some weight? Are you wanting to be muscular? Are you trying to build endurance? If you want to be muscular (resistance training) but your partner is wanting to build more cardiovascular endurance, well you won’t be wanting to focus on the same exercises. I want to have a lean and fit physique. I wan tto be in cardiovascular healthy, but its the lowest thing on my list.

2) Availability. You need to be able to work out at the same time consistently. If you are a morning person, I wouldn’t be finding a workout partner that prefers to workout at night. If you both have small children, you need to find a common time where all kids are happy and the gym childcare is open. Before deciding to work together get a set schedule. Sure things come up, be flexible, but keep a schedule.

3) Stronger in areas you have weaknesses. I haven’t found my partners weaknesses, but I know she fills mine. Her athletic background pushes me because I have never had one. If you told me to run sprints between sets I’d laugh and say I didn’t have to. Because, really, you don’t HAVE to…you just won’t be seeing as great results.

4) I had another thing but can’t remember it. Boo.

6 x Day

-1 cup fruit (melon, berries, apple, mango)

-2 cup veggies

COMPLEX CARB WHOLE GRAIN/STARTCHY

2-4 x Day

-1 cup cereals (like oatmeal)

-scant handful granola

-1 pc whole wheat bread/wrap/eng muffin

-handful size weet potato, carrots, corn, squash or banana

LEAN PROTIEN

6 x Day

- 1 cup dairy (greek yougurt!)

- scant handful raw nuts (also a healthy fat)

- 2 Tbs PB or natural nut butter (also a healthy fat)

- palm size portion lean meat

BEVERAGES

2-3 liters (64+ ounces) water

clear herbal tea

black coffee (in moderation – i’m down to two!)

The hardest thing about this change is the constant planning and thinking ahead. when i plan i’m so much less likely to fail completely. there are no drive thrus for us at this time. no frozen meals. no chips. so everything is planned. i spent two hours Monday making proteins. I made turkey meatloaf muffins, chicken rice cakes and black bean patties. I also sliced up watermelon, celery and onions for salads/eggs/etc….I’m trying to do as much as I can to have things ready. The problem is I’m running out of fridge space!

And then there is all the shopping. I feel like I have been shopping every few days! I told Chad, we can hardly afford this lifestyle! Eating eating eating….well that and Chad just eats a TON!

B: Eggs, WW English muffin, 1/2T PB

S: Greek yogurt, granola, salad with salsa

Oopsies: Bite of a fry, bite on banana pudding, crush up three chips in salad

L: Meatloaf Muffin, broccoli, 1/2c brown rice

D: Chicken patties & Salad

S: 1 T PB; Apple, Celery, Rasins, wasa crispbread

My oopsies all happened at my mother-in-laws while the kids were playing. My biggest fear is this kind of snacking once summer gets into full swing. How do stay from boredom eating during the summer??