Working Moms, HELP PLEASE!

I have found success with cooking on Sundays for the week. This Sunday, we cooked chicken for lunches and dinner. This way I only really concentrate on sides. It has helped soo far, and has kept us from eating out since I started.

I am also a working mom. I ate pretty poorly up until the last little while and my body felt it. I drank lots of Diet Coke, ate chocolate and doughnuts almost daily, and suffered from stomach aches, fatigue, etc. A couple of things I've added to replace the bad stuff...water for Diet Coke. I bought some nice water bottles and keep them in the fridge at work so that I always have something cold and refreshing. I also keep on hand, bananas, apples and caramel dip, Fiber One 90-calore brownies, and Reese's Puffs cereal. All appeal to my sweet tooth but do no damage to my diet. I just keep in mind that eating well makes me appear disciplined and that's a reputation I like. I have also felt so much better. Stomach aches are practically gone and I feel more energetic which helps motivate me to get to the gym 3-4 times per week. I keep my workouts to 30 minutes (if I do only cardio) or 45 minutes (if I do cardio and lift some weights). If I overdo it, I dread going back, so these short workouts are perfect.

Try www.skinnytaste.com for some yummy and healthy recipes!

I use Body By Vi Meal Replacement Shakes for breakfast & lunch. When I make my morning shake, I make a lunch one too & pop it in the fridge at work. These shakes are busting with nutrition! I am not overweight and was always eating under my calorie goal, but I too was concerned with my nutrition - not getting enough of the right things. Now I don't even think about it! The shakes have me more than covered! When my girlfriend recommended them I did a google search and didn't find a single negative comment on them. The company, Visalus, does work as a pyramid, but you don't have to go that route. I just enjoy the shakes!

Oh, in addition to the shakes they recommend 2 100 ish calorie snacks throughout the day. I generally eat 2 different frult or veggie snacks, but you can have anything. Then they recommend a sensible dinner - 500 ish calories.

The Body by Vi shakes, combined with myfitnesspal.com has been a winning combination for both myself and my husband. He's lost 17 pounds in the last 5 weeks and I have lost 6. I highly recommend it!

mummy to two girls 2.5 & 4.5

meals for youngest are provided by her nursery.

Eldest's lunch for her holiday play scheme

1 slice of bread sandwich - billy bear sausage meat, ham or chicken
cheese straws/baby bell or other stick cheese
1 yoghurt tube
1 apple or grapes or the supermarket snack bags of mixed apple & grape
1 other fruit - today its a little pot of strawberries
1 pot of raisins
1 mini packet of sweets,little chocolate bar, sweet biscuits or a small fairy cake
1 mini packet of crisps, cheese biscuits or torillias
1 large bottle water.

eldest is very small for her age (only in age two clothes!) she does better if she grazes all day rather than eat a larger meal.

lunch for me - varies

so today was left over boiled rice with chicken & cashew nuts.
other weeks I will buy a pack of cooked chicken breast chunks, a bag of mixed salad leaf and some cucumber & cherry tomatoes
this goes in the fridge at work and I make myself a salad at lunch time.
i alternate using a balsamic reduction as a dressing with light mayo on other days.
I will also switch out or add radish, onions, carrots depending on what I fancy or what is on special - e.g king prawns instead of chicken!

Evening meals are a little harder - we tend now to eat after the children are in bed as they don't really want that much, so they will often have a slice of toast, toasted tea cake, houmus and carrots or just chopped fruit before bed.
Then hubby and I eat around 8pm - both of us like salads, or rice & pasta dishes but we make them with more veg, less pasta & rice and less fat - so very similar to what we used to do but with smaller portions.
I am in the process of setting up to do batch cooking so one evening or at the weekend I will cook lots of meals and then pack them in the freezer to reheat during the week nights. I am sure our eldest will need to eat more than she is now as she starts primary school in September.
I have just bought a vacum sealer for the meals - it says you can keep raw meat in the freezer if vac'd for 2-3 years!
it should certainly extend pre-cooked food to 3-6 months I would have thought so I might only have to do it once a month.
When it gets colder I also bring out my slow cooker to give us more options.

I have a 6 and 8 year old. They know that if they want candy, chips or some other treat at the end of the day, then they have to have 5 servings of fruit/non starch vegetable, as well as 3 servings of dairy.

With their breakfast (which is often cereal or a cereal bar), I usually cut of an orange or apple. They get milk for breakfast.

I hate packing lunches, but I usually pack a sandwich, a piece of fruit (or a container of grapes, berries, watermelon, pineapple, etc.), pretzels and maybe a cheese stick. You can freeze peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ahead of time and just pull them out as needed. Sometimes, I will buy big containers of pretzels, trail mix, goldfish crackers and bag them up into single size portions. Its cheaper than buying them prepackaged that way. It makes packing lunches during the week.

It's too hard to come in the door at 6:00 or 6:30 pm to start a meal from scratch, do homework, get baths and get the boys in bed by 8 or 8:30. I usually cook meat the night before for dinner (often while we are eating tonight's dinner or while I am cleaning up). Then, when I get home, I just have to heat up some frozen or canned vegetables, cut up some fruit, pour the milk and we are ready. I also keep washed and cut up lettuce, raw baby carrots, cut up celery sticks, etc. If I don't have time to cook vegetables for dinner, these are quick. I also count pickles as a vegetable.

I try to follow a similar routine and goals for fruits/vegetables/dairy as the boys for my meals, but I hate to sit and eat breakfast. I never have time. I prefer to have something that I can eat on my way to work -- or at work. I keep instant oatmeal in my desk. I also have been known to eat a pb&j on the way to work. Or I just stop and get an egg mcmuffin. I figure it counts as my protein and dairy.

For lunch, I try to pack a salad for myself. If I have cut up meat, then I will make it a chef's salad to get my protein. I also use the baby carrots, cheese sticks, pretzels (or nut thins). I keep nuts and protein bars in my desk.

I just eat really really basic meals, no fancy cooking. Grilled lean meat, throw some frozen veges in a pot, or a handful of greens/salad, and then make some rice or sweet potato. Uncle Ben's rice sachets are good and kids love it. Also cooking ahead, like maybe cook a pot ful of rice and have a cup of that with a can of tuna mixed through for lunch. Protein shakes and hard boiled eggs (once again cook a half dozen eggs and keep them in the fridge for snacks). It really doesn't have to be about elaborate cooked meals. I'm lucky as my daughter eats the bulk of her meals at nursery but I don't see why she needs to eat differently from me.