Back at it....Again

NurseSteph2015

Hey everyone! It's me, Steph! I'm back on the app and trying to find some motivation. Only 110 days until I get married and I haven't had to motivation to do anything! It sucks. Working as a nurse in the hospital during a pandemic, going back to grad school full time, and trying to plan a wedding doesn't leave much room for food prepping or working out. I am in search of some fabulous humans to help keep me on track and who are willing to give me a swift kick in the rear. Who is in? It's free!

Pool_Boy

You can do this!!!!!

nanastaci2020

You certainly live a full & crazy life, especially with this pandemic. But you can do this even though your time is limited. You have to eat, and so the trick may be to find a staple of quick & easy, lower calorie but still filling, meals. Think about the things you typically eat, and look for changes/substitutions you can make that can help you eat in a reduced (but healthy) calorie range.

For me, I can handle repeating the same meals to a certain extend. Some of what I do for meals:

Breakfast:
low sugar oatmeal 120 cals (from the packets where you add water, stir and microwave) and
breakfast sandwich that is a 1/2 pita pocket with turkey sausage & egg white (frozen section of Costco) 150 cals

Lunch
French bread microwave pizza from Kroger $.88 each 350-400 cals
Or peanut butter & jelly sandwich on low calorie bread using no sugar added jelly 250-275 cals and an apple (50-75 cals)
Or tuna w/ light may on crackers 200-250 cals with raw veggies 25-50 cals
Or microwaved soup chicken noodle, clam chowder, vegetable beef, etc. 150-300 cals

Snacks
App slices w/ a dab of peanut butter on each (150-175 cals)
Pretzels and carrots (150 approx)
Snack packs that are prepackaged to include cheese, nuts, dried fruit for about 180 calories
Chips & salsa - 140 cals approx for 1 ounce of chips and 15-30 for salsa

I have access to a microwave and fridge at work, and tend to eat breakfast & dinner there. So all of these things are quick & easy, require very little prep. I'll often use my food scale at home to portion out things like pretzels or tortilla chips. I do admit to estimating quantity on low cal items like carrots.

My dinners tend to have more variety. We are a household of 7. We typically do 1 chicken meal each week. 1 pasta. 1 seafood meal such as shrimp, tilapia or salmon. One tex-mex type thing, such as taquitos, tacos, etc. A takeout meal. One night will be something like soup/sandwiches/leftovers. We often grill hot dogs or burgers or sausages on Saturday.

When eating with the family, I do adjust for my own needs from time to time. That may mean a smaller portion of some things, and sometimes I'll make a slightly different meal for myself. Example tonight is spaghetti and meatballs but I have a small spaghetti squash to make for myself. If we're having sausages, I'll buy 'regular' for the family and get a box of chicken sausages also. They are a little higher price per each, so I kind of hoard them for me lol. I think of caloric needs as a budget, and I tend to preplan my day and then make updates/changes as the day wears on.