So I jumped on the bandwagon of bettering my health about 10 years ago. I had to. That's when I got to my highest weight. I started with my brain. I went to counseling, where I learned that who I spent my time with, or who I allowed to hurt my feelings, was a window in to how I valued myself. If I let people walk all over me they weren't entirely to blame for it. So I stepped up my self-love. I learned to enjoy my own company and be proud of myself for things I believe I've done well.
A couple of years later I decided it was probably bad to be addicted to Diet Coke. It was a rough journey to wean myself from it, but eventually I got to a point where I didn't crave it anymore, and last year I probably had about 2 sodas total. This year, zero.
For me, giving up soda was a good place to start because it was something I could rationalize giving up. I weighed the pros and cons of soda and realized I was only drinking it for the taste and that there were plenty of other tasty alternatives like coffee and tea.
Fast forwarding to the last 3 months, I've been eating a consistent meal plan that seems to be working wonders for me. I didn't follow a plan from anywhere in particular, but the one my husband and I came up with works for us and makes us feel good on a daily basis.
Here's a typical day for me:
Breakfast:
- Oatmeal with walnuts, flax seed, and about a tablespoon of maple syrup.
-OR- - 2 eggs
My thoughts on breakfast:
I think it would be great to find a plain Greek yogurt that I like that is unsweetened and add some blueberries/raspberries to sweeten. I like maple syrup, though, and I make sure to keep the amount small. I love eggs so much, but I also have a hard boiled egg later in the day, so I like to vary it. I've eaten 2 eggs for breakfast consistently for the past 3-4 years.
Lunch:
Salad which consists of: Romaine lettuce, spinach, celery, bean sprouts, bell pepper, kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, cucumber, cubed cheese, avocado, hard boiled egg, chicken.
My thoughts on lunch:
I started by making chicken salad (canned chicken, mayo and seasoning) and putting a scoop of that on top of the salad. It morphed a few times from there into now, where we just buying a whole chicken, boil it, shred it up off of the bones and sprinkle some strips over the salad. Cuts the need for canned meat or mayo.
At first I ate my salad with olive oil, lemon and pepper as a dressing. My husband ate it plain. One day I forgot to put dressing on it and had to eat it plain. I never made dressing again.
Obviously, we love beans.
Dinner: (Varies night to night)
- Tacos: 2 small corn tortillas, chicken or beef, black beans, brown rice, optional small strip of cheese, and our favorite hot sauce (rhino peri-peri)
- Brats
- Cauliflower crust pizza (we just found a recipe on google and altered it until satisfied) filled with as many veggies and meat as we want
- Chicken & rice soup (used the chicken stock from boiling our own chicken)
- Rice & beans
- Hamburgers
- Almond crusted chicken drumsticks
My thoughts on dinner:
I think that making dinner can be exhausting. Many things require a lot more time that I'm used to spending on it and so we have a few things that are quick and easy and others that we love so much that they're worth the effort every other week or so.
For example, cauliflower crust pizza takes about an hour and a half to 2 hours to make, since you have to prepare the crust first (time consuming), and then the actual pizza part takes like 20-30 minutes to whip together and bake. It sooooo good though, so we find it worth it to go through the process. Especially when we're craving pizza. It tastes better than most pizzas I've had and it doesn't give me the wheat bloats. We don't eat much pasta anymore for the same reason. Bread products seem to make us both feel bloated and sluggish. Since I don't enjoy either sensation I have no trouble justifying my aversion to it. Is it hard to say no to a pizza party? Sure. But mostly because it's a social thing. I don't miss eating pizza at home.
The quickest things we make are hamburgers, which we eat wrapped in a big leaf of romaine with avocado, tomato, and sometimes I make a garlic aioli (which is fancy for seasoned mayo). We season the beef with herbs, spices, and often diced jalapenos and onions.
Tacos take like 5 minutes, as they can just be microwaved and ready to eat asap. Chicken and rice soup or rice and beans is also pretty quick. The soup can be made in one day and then stored for about a week, or longer if frozen. Rice and beans only takes as long as boiling rice. Add a little seasoning to make it more interesting.
Snacks:
My thoughts on snacks:
I think it is far too easy to snack enough throughout the day to be considered additional meals. I can easily snack out of boredom, so I like to keep my options limited. I decided to always have mixed nuts with raisins with me where ever I go. When I am out running errands, there is a jar of nuts and a bottle of water in the cup holders. They come with me to work or over to a friend's house. By doing so I eliminate the excuse to eat junk because "I had no other alternative". If I don't want mixed nuts, then I'm not hungry.
I recently started bringing fruit with me, as well, for long days away from home. If I'm going to be working for 8-10 hours, then I'll have a fruit (banana, apple, or jar of blueberries, cherries, or grapes), and my jar of mixed nuts, as well as my salad. This way I can snack if I'm getting hungry before lunch break - just enough to satiate. Or I can choose to eat the fruit and save the mixed nuts for later, should I get hungry before arriving home.
All of this took many adjustments to get it into a working routine for me. It is still a learning process and I am figuring out what works best for me as I go. I am not at a point where I'm looking to alter anything else dramatically, as I am not entirely convinced that I have this nailed down as my new habit. It's only been 3 months. I still want to keep tabs on myself and make better choices as I am presented with them. Over the past month I have eaten a cake pop, a tiny cone of ice cream and a cookie. I can remember each time I ate them because they were a conscious choice. It was something outside of a normal day. Like a little reminder of what a 'treat' is. If I fed my dogs treats instead of dog food I think we'd have different looking dogs. Especially if their treats were as junky as mine.
I think that making dinner can be exhausting. Many things require a lot more time that I'm used to spending on it and so we have a few things that are quick and easy and others that we love so much that they're worth the effort every other week or so.
For example, cauliflower crust pizza takes about an hour and a half to 2 hours to make, since you have to prepare the crust first (time consuming), and then the actual pizza part takes like 20-30 minutes to whip together and bake. It sooooo good though, so we find it worth it to go through the process. Especially when we're craving pizza. It tastes better than most pizzas I've had and it doesn't give me the wheat bloats. We don't eat much pasta anymore for the same reason. Bread products seem to make us both feel bloated and sluggish. Since I don't enjoy either sensation I have no trouble justifying my aversion to it. Is it hard to say no to a pizza party? Sure. But mostly because it's a social thing. I don't miss eating pizza at home.
The quickest things we make are hamburgers, which we eat wrapped in a big leaf of romaine with avocado, tomato, and sometimes I make a garlic aioli (which is fancy for seasoned mayo). We season the beef with herbs, spices, and often diced jalapenos and onions.
Tacos take like 5 minutes, as they can just be microwaved and ready to eat asap. Chicken and rice soup or rice and beans is also pretty quick. The soup can be made in one day and then stored for about a week, or longer if frozen. Rice and beans only takes as long as boiling rice. Add a little seasoning to make it more interesting.
Snacks:
- Mixed nuts & raisins
- Fruit
My thoughts on snacks:
I think it is far too easy to snack enough throughout the day to be considered additional meals. I can easily snack out of boredom, so I like to keep my options limited. I decided to always have mixed nuts with raisins with me where ever I go. When I am out running errands, there is a jar of nuts and a bottle of water in the cup holders. They come with me to work or over to a friend's house. By doing so I eliminate the excuse to eat junk because "I had no other alternative". If I don't want mixed nuts, then I'm not hungry.
I recently started bringing fruit with me, as well, for long days away from home. If I'm going to be working for 8-10 hours, then I'll have a fruit (banana, apple, or jar of blueberries, cherries, or grapes), and my jar of mixed nuts, as well as my salad. This way I can snack if I'm getting hungry before lunch break - just enough to satiate. Or I can choose to eat the fruit and save the mixed nuts for later, should I get hungry before arriving home.
All of this took many adjustments to get it into a working routine for me. It is still a learning process and I am figuring out what works best for me as I go. I am not at a point where I'm looking to alter anything else dramatically, as I am not entirely convinced that I have this nailed down as my new habit. It's only been 3 months. I still want to keep tabs on myself and make better choices as I am presented with them. Over the past month I have eaten a cake pop, a tiny cone of ice cream and a cookie. I can remember each time I ate them because they were a conscious choice. It was something outside of a normal day. Like a little reminder of what a 'treat' is. If I fed my dogs treats instead of dog food I think we'd have different looking dogs. Especially if their treats were as junky as mine.