Let's Dish

I haven't talked about food very much.  It's a pretty important part of this whole equation and needs to maintain a prominent spot in my brain.  In order to be successful, I need to ask, "What am I eating tomorrow?" before I go to bed and remind myself again first thing in the morning.  It would be too easy to grab something fast, unhealthy, and convenient.  And since my goal is to be healthy from the inside out, that choice would be decidedly inconvenient!

So I try to plan a couple of days in advance.  Fortunately, I have some easy "stand bys" that I can do any meal, any day.  For instance, a McDonald's fruit and maple oatmeal is not ideal, but absolutely can see me through a meal.  Or the MickeyD yogurt parfait with fruit is a great snack choice since there's a McDonald's on every street corner around here.  For lunch, a cup of Wendys chili with a side salad is a great choice, or a cup of chili poured over a plain baked potato if I am super hungry.  The deli down the street makes a killer cobb salad and I could eat it every day without growing tired of it, so I'm really covered.  No excuses for all-out bad choices!

That speaks to one of my earlier posts:  Plan to succeed.  Failure to have a plan is the equivalent of planning to fail.  Life is going to upset the daily routines and we need to have a plan in place for dealing with it.  That's why I also keep lowfat string cheese, apples, Kashi TLC healthy 7 grain bars and LiveActive cottage cheese both at home and at work.  I can snack (and do every day) on something healthy.  That keeps me satisfied and not weak looking for a quick fix from the vending machine.

I also keep at least one Kashi bar and apple with me in my pocketbook in case I am in a meeting that runs long somewhere, or somehow get detoured from my master plan.  Remember, failure is NOT an option!

So what's a sample day look like?  Here's today's menu:

Breakfast

• Plain oatmeal
• Stoneyfield farms organic yogurt
• Carrington Farms Organic Ground Milled Flax Seed, 12-Count Easy Serve Packets (Pack of 3) (will talk about flax in a later, post, I love this stuff and it's SO GOOD for you!)  I buy these individual easy serve packs because flax seed have a fairly short refrigerator shelf life and I can take these in my purse, store them at work, etc.

Lunch

• Tuna with Mayonnaise, Canola, Light, Eggless, Vegan, 16 oz.
• Broccoli
• 3 Lightly Salted plain rice cakes (love them with the tuna on it mmmmmmm)

Dinner

I just snapped a picture of what I'm making this morning to enjoy when I come home tonight.  I cannot stress the joys of crock pot cooking enough.  I am a single, working mother with a good 45 minute commute.  I don't have TIME to come home and whip up a nice homecooked healthy meal.  So I can throw it in the crockpot in the morning and it's like mom was here cooking all day when I come home to the smells of a nice home cooked meal.!  Mmmmmmm

Pork roast, onion, pepper, Goya apple soda
in crockpot all day.

• Pork Roast cooked with onions and goya apple sauce on "low" all day.  Will drain it and then add an organic barbeque sauce to it and pile it on a weight watchers whole grain roll
• Broccoli slaw

Snacks

• Apple or two
• String cheese or cottage cheese

See...eating healthy doesn't require deprivation.  It requires creativity to get what you want in a way that you REALLY want it...healthy and getting you closer to your goals!  It takes some time and effort, a lot of repetition for the healthier choices to become habit, and an eye focused on the prize.  But it can be done.

That was a pep talk to Carly.  Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Carly!  You CAN do this!  You ARE doing this!  WOOHOO!!!!

Bon Appetit!

Carly

♥♥♥