This week was kind of a bust for me because life threw several curve balls. However, I did partake in the fitness challenge and did more than half of the crunches, and this weekend I started being more intentional with my eating again. Oh, and I bought a resistance band to start doing some toning exercises.

I struggle with setting up a meal plan and sticking with it. What resources are you all using to create your meal plans? Are you doing mostly fresh foods, or, for example, Lean Cuisine frozen meals? Help a sister out!

I think routine is the key to success. Figuring out how to stay on a healthy eating/workout routine when life is anything but, now that's the tricky part!

Thanks for the link; I'll be taking a look and seeing what I can adapt for myself.

It's weird...I used to know all this stuff. Like, I didn't even have to think about it, I just ate healthy every day and got in 3-4 workouts each week as part of my routine. Then ish happened and life got super complicated and super stressful and then more ish happened and here I am, trying to remember what I used to eat that wasn't cheeseburgers and french fries every day.

On a positive note, I had zero fast food today. Even turned around when I was headed toward Sonic after helping LilBro with a house project tonight; came home and drank some ginger tea instead of getting the shake I (thought I) was craving. Also, LilBro made me dinner as a thank you for helping him. Homemade black bean-spinach-jalapeno burgers with FF Swiss and turkey bacon plus steamed veggies.

My digestive system isn't sure what to do with all that fiber. :laugh:

This week was kind of a bust for me because life threw several curve balls. However, I did partake in the fitness challenge and did more than half of the crunches, and this weekend I started being more intentional with my eating again. Oh, and I bought a resistance band to start doing some toning exercises.

I struggle with setting up a meal plan and sticking with it. What resources are you all using to create your meal plans? Are you doing mostly fresh foods, or, for example, Lean Cuisine frozen meals? Help a sister out!

Don't I know it. Same happened here this weekend for me. But I will say that I sabotaged myself, and didn't lose ANYTHING this week (which was hard to handle as I have been having 4 lb weight loss weeks), but I know EXACTLY what I did wrong and wanted to share it with you all.

I ate too few calories! Two days this past week I didn't eat any more than 500 calories per day. I also only ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and cut out my two snack periods. I worked out every single day last week Mon - Fri for 45 minutes a piece and burned 400 calories minimum with each 45 minute workout. You would think that I'd have seen a weight drop akin to what we see on the Biggest Loser, but nope....that scale didn't budge!

So word to the wise, make sure you are hitting your daily caloric intake goal, or you can sabotage your burn process like I did! My body got scared, went into starvation mode, and held on to fat. I worked out so hard for nothing, and that is what makes me the most angry!

This week I am going back to the regime I was on before. Just to share what a daily meal plan looks like, I'll give you a day out of my dairy from when I had a four pound drop week:

Breakfast:
7am
Made in five minutes
Two large eggs over easy (pam spray) served atop 1 cup of Dole baby spinach leaves
Two slices of bacon (made in microwave)
Water

Morning Snack:
10am
Made in two minutes
1 cup of broccoli florets
3 cherry tomatoes
2 TBP of Litehouse garden ranch veggie dip
Water

Lunch
1pm
Made in five minutes
2 ounces tuna fish in water (which is the whole can)
2 TBSP kraft mayo
1/2 celery stalk chopped
3 cherry tomatoes
1 tsp sweet relish
1 hard boiled egg peeled and chopped
1 TBSP chopped onion (I don't really measure out the onion, I just know its no more than that)
Water w/ packet of crystal light

Afternoon Snack
330 pm
Made in two minutes
Celery stalk
1 TBSP of Peter Pan crunchy peanut butter (this is what I look forward to! seriously! lol)


Dinner
630pm
Made in ten minutes
6 ounce chicken breast (basted with 1 tsp of olive oil and seasoned with seasoned salt, garlic powder, parsley flakes)
cooked on George Foreman grill
Served on a bed of tomato slices (3)
Topped with a slice of HEB thin slice Swiss cheese w/ three avocado slices on the side (or you can do a small side salad ((spinach leaves, romaine lettuce, arugula)) with 2 TBSP of ranch dressing).
8 ounce glass of home brewed Lipton iced tea sweetened with one packet of stevia in the raw

Let me tell you, I was NEVER hungry eating this way, and I was seeing 4lbs of weight coming off per week. On days when I wanted something sweet, I'd add a sugar free chocolate vanilla swirl jello pudding snack after dinner as a dessert (only 60 calories) or for breakfast, I'd make some cream cheese pancakes (OMG they are divine AND SIMPLE - 2 ounces (or 4 TBSP) of cream cheese (I would use the HEB brand cinnamon pecan cream cheese) softened, two eggs, and a packet of stevia in the raw. Beat until smooth, spray pan with Pam cooking spray and pour half in pan, flip, set aside, and then second half of batter, flip and set aside. I'd add a TBSP of butter, and 1/4 cup of Maple Grove sugar free maple syrup. You're looking at 440 calories, but you can eat only one and cut that in half to 220 calories, or if you plan on working out that day, it can erase some of the calorie intake. The BEST thing about it is that since it is made out of cream cheese and eggs it's easier to burn the PROTEIN you're in-taking as opposed to the flour based pancake batter which allows the carbs to sit on your hips and behind! Try it, it GREAT!)

Anyway, that's a basic example of my daily meals...pretty simple, delicious, and most importantly NEVER take very long to prepare!