Happy April!! I can't believe how time flies. It occurs to me tonight that it has been ages since I have written and I figure its about time I do. Things have been busy here in the frozen north. Since my last post, we have moved our baby in with her big sister and that is presenting some challenges for big sister (and mommy and daddy). However that is a blog for another day. Today I thought I would provide an update on our "Clean Eating" plan.
We are now on week 12 and my husband is down over thirty pounds. I am still down twenty, haven't lost any weight in a while. Its my fault though, because I cheat way more than my husband. How are all of you doing with your resolutions? I must say that I do struggle a little more with the eating plan than my husband, but I know it is worth it in the end. For anyone who is thinking about making a change to their eating habits, here are some of the challenges we have had and how to overcome them. I hope this helps.
The first challenge we faced was that it was expensive. Initially it was. We started buying things like Ezekiel bread--we first had to figure out what it was then figure out where to buy it. Also, because the menus never repeated a meal, they called for many ingredients that were used in one meal then rotted before we rolled around to that meal again. We way over bought produce. We also did not account for things we like and would eat (for example buying the ingredients for a sardine and spinach salad was a wasted expense) In addition we also did not account for things like going out and having leftovers.
The fix? this is a fix to the next challenge as well, but we have decided to stop following a menu plan and automate what we eat. In other words we basically eat the same things every day, so we each week we are buying basically the same things.This makes the grocery list easy to do and the shopping quicker. We now have the layout of the store memorized so we are in an out in about an hour. Previously we would plan each meal for the week then buy the ingredients to make each meal. Not a bad way to do things, but I find on a Sunday morning that last thing I want to do is think about the next seven days of supper. Now I am making suppers that have a protein source, salad and a couple of vegetables and a grain. So now each week I buy two kinds of fish--usually salmon and talipa, two red meats usually pork and fast fry steak--or whatever is on for about four dollars. Sometimes I will buy one large T-bone or Sirloin and cut it into four pieces or cook it and cut it up for a Thai beef salad. I also get two pre-cooked BBQ chickens (the hot ones ) I take the skin off of them and cut up the chicken in a container in the fridge. This then becomes the lunch meat for sandwiches, the protein for salads and wraps and the topping for pizza or filling for fajitas. I also keep some sort of ground meat in the freezer--usually extra lean beef or chicken or turkey.
For vegetables it is hard to find ones we like, but so far we are enjoying broccoli rabe, asparagus carrots and celery. For fruit we buy apples, oranges bosc pears and bananas we eat loads of bananas. We also buy a fair amount of frozen berries--blueberries, mango and strawberries. Round it out with some milk, plain greek yogurt and some kids stuff like cereal, whole wheat bread for sandwiches, and wraps. We also get almond butter or all natural peanut butter, and some sort of beans--black or pinto or kidney. That's basically the list, more or less the same each week--we are coming in around $150 dollars which is way better than the $350 we spent the first few time we did this.
The next challenge we faced is the time commitment. At first and as I have posted before, suppers were taking over two hours to prepare because many recipes had many ingredients (most of which I did not know what they were let alone how to cook them). Now I find that dinner takes about 10 minutes or so to prepare--the meat cooks in about 10min and sometimes we don't bother to cook the vegetables so they go from fridge to plate. I am starting to love dinner again. Packing school lunch takes no time either. We usually pack a cheese string or two, a "cutie" orange, a pear, a sandwich and a banana, and two drinking boxes. I know, we should be packing milk, but we have a special request for drinking boxes and since my poor child is coping with the loss of his beloved "lunchables" I don't have the heart to take away the juice or-- gasp--sometimes kool aid.
So now you might be asking what we eat in a day. Well I can tell you that if I spend ten minutes on dinner I don't spend that time on breakfast or lunch. Here is our basic meal plan. It may sound boring and to some extent it is, but it is easy. Plus, there are millions of combinations to the same basic outline for the day. For breakfast: Smoothie. I was never one for smoothies until I started drinking them. Now I love them for many reasons. They are quick, easy, can have them on the go, on the phone, while feeding a baby..and they are so tasty. There are millions of combinations to go in a smoothie, so no need to get bored. Morning snack: Fruit with a table spoon of almond butter. Lunch: Salad and a fruit. Yeah I know, but salad is quick to prepare (we buy pre washed baby spinach and pre washed spring mix) and again, lots of combinations. Afternoon snack: Green tea and fruit with almond butter. Supper as I mentioned above, a meat a salad and a vegetable. Bedtime snack: Either oatmeal with berries and protein powder or three cups light organic microwave popcorn. Of course, plenty of water. This is how my husband has lost thirty pounds and is now a couple of pounds below his goal weight.
My challenges have been that I am skipping the all important snacks, so then that leads to hunger and once I am hungry, I am ordering pizza or going to MacDonald's. So starting tomorrow, I am renewing my commitment to eat six times a day (small meals). However, if I find myself at a restaurant and craving funnel cake, I am going to get the funnel cake. I believe that this is not an all or nothing endeavor. Its what you do most of the time that counts. If you are wanting to make a change to your eating habits but don't because of the obstacles, I hope you will find hope in our plan and try it for yourself. I would love to know how it works for others. Also I would love any comments on simple ways you have found to eat healthy with little time and little money. We are in this together.
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