If you're like my husband and I then when you can't ever decide what to eat...."what do you want for lunch"...."I dunno, whatever" that will go back and forth for probably a good half an hour until finally we either don't eat or we go and grab fast food because we don't feel like making anything we have in the house...NOT GOOD. We were probably eating out 8 or more times per week...starbucks every day...sometimes twice a day..that is a lot-o-calories...so the hubs and I decided that enough was enough and we have made a huge life change, we eat out no more than 2x per week, when we do go out its smaller portions and healthier selections and we're planning out our meals daily...so there is no more "what do you want" now, its "what is on the board" and then we make it..it has saved is so much time and arguing...i don't know why we didn't do it before! Now we buy a week's worth of food at a time and plan our meals around what we have instead of leaving things in the cupboard forever because we don't have anything that goes with them. Along with meal planning we're also re-introducing fruit into our lives....I realized that we didn't really have any...we would eat veggies...but hardly ever fruit and having a balanced diet is part of getting healthy and we are determined to get healthy this year..and stay that way. We're over the binge eating and buying junk food and all that terrible stuff and I couldn't be happier. My hubs is a big meat eater (sorry vegans and vegetarians) so we try to get each meat type in each week (pork, beef, fish, chicken, turkey) I am a BIG fan of turkey...and that is pretty much it. I could probably go without eating meat ever again...but I'm pretty sure my husband would have a heart attack...plus it would be terrible for his blood type. He needs LOTS of protein and he is one of the most carnivorous, carnivores I know. We were also spending a ton of money buying drinks for work...sodas, energy drinks, teas, water...whatever...we would go to the gas station next to the house and spend $5-$10 a day just on drinks...so we've also started buying them at the grocery store, where they are much cheaper and often offer a wider flavor selection. My husband is trying to introduce more fiber into his diet and I'm trying to introduce more Omega 3...aka fish....blech. Great for the skin, great for the brain...but not too friendly on my taste buds.
A normal day for us consists of 100% fruit smoothies made with frozen fruit (berries, mangoes, pineapple...ect) and 100% fruit juice, lunch is usually a meat with a starchy side like rice, potatoes or pasta and a veggie...corn, green beans, peas, mixed...whatever complements that meal best then for dinner we usually keep it light like soup, sandwiches or salads...we're being oh so European and eating our big meal in the middle of the day. I suggest everyone do it...We usually take a small snack and a low or no calorie drink to work with us and then when we get home I like to have some apple sauce or a 100 calorie can of fruit...its like dessert :)
I just thought I would share this with those of you looking to get organized and get healthy in the new year...this is working great for us and it may work for you too!
Our meal board...
hubs the "tetris master" organizing the fridge
We're getting more "do it yourself" things to try at home...this veggie soup mix is super tasty and easy to make.
mmmmm fiber
fruit
veggies, these steamer packs are great...these ones have sauces and other fancy things...we thought we would try something special this week. Next to it is our fruit for smoothies..YUM. Such an excellent thing to have in the morning. I'm not a fan of breakfast food and we stay up late and get up late so it doesn't leave too much time to make "breakfast" and I'm so burnt out on cereal and oatmeal...
Yes...i still have a heavy coffee addition..I'm trying hard to ween myself off of it...I'm doing it by mixing decaf in with my grounds...a little more each week to let myself down easy.
my kitty likes to help organize too....but she is not very good at it...
I hope you're all having a wonderful 2011 so far!
A normal day for us consists of 100% fruit smoothies made with frozen fruit (berries, mangoes, pineapple...ect) and 100% fruit juice, lunch is usually a meat with a starchy side like rice, potatoes or pasta and a veggie...corn, green beans, peas, mixed...whatever complements that meal best then for dinner we usually keep it light like soup, sandwiches or salads...we're being oh so European and eating our big meal in the middle of the day. I suggest everyone do it...We usually take a small snack and a low or no calorie drink to work with us and then when we get home I like to have some apple sauce or a 100 calorie can of fruit...its like dessert :)
I just thought I would share this with those of you looking to get organized and get healthy in the new year...this is working great for us and it may work for you too!
Our meal board...
hubs the "tetris master" organizing the fridge
We're getting more "do it yourself" things to try at home...this veggie soup mix is super tasty and easy to make.
mmmmm fiber
fruit
veggies, these steamer packs are great...these ones have sauces and other fancy things...we thought we would try something special this week. Next to it is our fruit for smoothies..YUM. Such an excellent thing to have in the morning. I'm not a fan of breakfast food and we stay up late and get up late so it doesn't leave too much time to make "breakfast" and I'm so burnt out on cereal and oatmeal...
Yes...i still have a heavy coffee addition..I'm trying hard to ween myself off of it...I'm doing it by mixing decaf in with my grounds...a little more each week to let myself down easy.
my kitty likes to help organize too....but she is not very good at it...I hope you're all having a wonderful 2011 so far!
5 comments:
I am trying to cut back on how many sugars I have with my coffee, and how much butter I have on my toast etc... little changes. I also want to introduce more fruit to my diet. I think I might copy your smoothie idea! My antidepressants make me a little nauseous sometimes in the mornings so I don't like to eat a big breakfast, but that might be a nice alternative.
oh my goodness this is soo me and my boyfriend! what a good idea... i might attempt this too considering i need to lose weight and stop eating so much junk!!! :D
p.s. long time reader first time commenter!! :D XOX
you should try flax seed pills for omega 3 :)
My husband and I used to be the exact same way!! I'd get too tired to cook, he "wouldn't care" what we ate so we'd get burgers or pizza-very bad!! I started planning weekly menus and shopping lists too and it has helped SO much. Now, we eat out once per week on date night and the rest of the time, we eat in! We both love to cook so once per week, we choose a new recipe to try out, just for fun. I also plan a lot of quick easy meals to end the temptation of going out when we're too tired to cook anything. The shopping list also helps prevent impulse buys, which used to add up to over $50 per week! Check out campbells kitchen.com, the veggietable.com and martha stewart, They all have loads of yummy, cheap recipes! The veggie table is all vegetarian but I'm sure you could add meat to some of those recipes and they'd be awesome! I'm really excited because we got rid of a bunch of excess junk after Christmas and now have room for a small deep freeze so I can buy in bulk and save more money. I hope to use that deep freeze to store summer fruits and veggies for the fall and winter. Good luck to you!!
What a great way to start off the new year. It's awesome that you're both in it together and should make your transition to a healthy lifestyle much smoother! Best of luck and happy eating!
MaryD
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