Meal Planning

Hey!!! This week's weigh in was as to be expected.....1lbs up! Boo! But its my TOM so that's all water I hope! How many of you meal plan?? I am very hit or miss! I have found that it helps me stay on track! What's the saying? If you don't plan, you plan to fail? On the days that I'm not in the mood to cook, or worry about what I'm gonna cook, I end up snacking away a lot of my calories! If i have a plan, and have most of the ingredients pre-made and on hand, I rock it! The last time i mapped out a meal plan was this past January. Malarie's wedding was coming up and i wanted to look good! It even helped me lose 8lbs for it! Here's what it looked like....

My 4 year Anniversary is in two weeks. So I decided I'm going to do a "South Beach Diet" based eating plan for the next two weeks! Last time I lost 7lbs doing it so we will see what happens this time around! Its pretty much a high protein, super low carb, zero sugar diet. Which works wonders for my body! I LOVE carbs, i blame it on the fact that im 1/4 french. Carbs however do not love me back. So this diet is great for me. My co-worker really wanted to do this diet with me so it will be fun to have a partner in crime! 

A great first step to meal planning is writing down all the dinners/lunches/sides you normally make. That's exactly what I've done here. I even went through and dotted the ones that have carbs.

(since that's something I have to watch)

Then you use a planner or make a calender and fill in each meal. I try and make sure my meals are placed strategically. For example if we have spaghetti on Monday ill make sure i plan another meal that uses ground beef on Wednesday. On Monday i cook enough meat for two meals.I put half of it aside and use it on Wednesday. It saves me time, and helps me not waste ingredients. 

This is my, half way done, two week meal plan. I planned out my breakfasts, lunches, and dinners! Normally I only plan dinners, but since I'm dieting I planned for the others as well.

Once you have everything planned out you can make a grocery list based on the meals for the week. Lists help me not buy items on impulse that usually end up going bad before i get around to using them. Which saves me money, and fridge/cupboard space! (which is hard to come by in my apartment)

So there you have it! Meal planning at its finest! haha! Now I'm off to the grocery store! I hope you guys are having a good weekend! I know we sure are! I love sleeping in and watching football! 

Wish me luck with my diet! Well actually you should probably wish my husband luck, i'm normally not the easiest person to be around when i don't have my carbs! haha. 

(at least i can admit it right?)

Meggan

Weigh ins, Refletions, and Fall!

Here is this week's weigh in! Still at 154lbs! I am soooo annoyed, but i really shouldn't be. I need to remember that it takes time. Losing weight the healthy way is slow and steady. And muscle really does weigh more than fat. I'd rather be muscular in my size 8 pants then flabby in a size 7 i guess, right?

I did really well tracking my calories on My Fitness Pal this week! I found some friends to follow and some friends followed me back! I was able to get in 3 workouts. I would rather get in 5 or 6, but this past week was super busy. It was also a really stressful week. I have some big decisions to make. More on that maybe next week! Also to top it off it is my PMSing/Craving/Bottomless pit week. Luckily i survived it without making poor eating decisions! Hooray!!

 

 

Two and a half years ago I lost 32lbs on that treadmill. I did it without a gym membership, fitness coach, or fancy diet pills. I did it day by day 20min run by 20min run. I was working 40+ hours a week and still found the time. I was making smart eating choices without restricting myself too much, or without falling victim to eating disorders. I went from 172lbs to 139lbs. It took me 10 months. That's just under 1lbs a week. There were weeks the scale stayed the same, but it eventually went down. I need to remember that. I did it once and can do it again. Sometimes i feel like my body hates me. Like it can't lose weight, like this is the weight it wants to be no matter what i eat or how much i work out. BUT if it changed then, it WILL change again! Right?

 

This is our beautiful fall tree outside of our apartment! I LOVE it so much i had to share! Do any of you have amazing and healthy fall recipes? I'm gonna start experimenting with some soon! Look for some recipe posts in the future! Hope you guys have a great weekend!

 

Meggan

Meggan Weigh In #1

Hey! I'm going to start doing a Weigh In Wednesday post every week! I think it will help motivate me, as well as keep me accountable! So here it is..................

I have been stuck at this weight for the past 4 weeks!! GRRR! My husband and I are going to start getting up early and going to the gym before work on our busy days! So far we have actually made it twice in one week! Yay!! I have been eating pretty healthy this past 4 weeks, so i guess that's why im a little frustrated! But at the same time i have only averaged like 3 small workouts a week, and my body does not lose weight if i don't workout as well as eat right! I think we have all seen or heard the saying 70% diet 30% exercise?

Well I am the exact opposite! I am 30% Diet and 70% Gym! I just need to do it! No excuses! I have a treadmill in my apartment and a gym 2 mins away! Im going to post my before pics, and my inches next Weigh-in Wed.! Oh yeah and to help me stay motivated I just got the app MyFitnessPal! Anyone else a member!? You should totally join and add me, my user name is Hawkeyemeg! Hope you guys are having a great week! I am LOVING this fall weather!!

Meggan

Back in the Midwest!!

I'm BACK!

Wow what a crazy summer i had!! It was full of fun! We enjoyed being in the humidity-less West! We went everywhere from Connecticut, Utah, Las Vegas, to Idaho! Normally on a two week vacation i would gain at least 10lbs so i was really worried to be gone for a whole 10 weeks!! That's 50lbs at that rate!! haha! I tried really hard to stay active, hit up gyms whenever possible, and watch what i was eating. Doing the "Real Food" Diet really helped keep myself in check! I ended up only gaining 4lbs, and i'm happy to report that after being home 2 weeks i and down the 4lbs! Woo Hoo!

 I am starting at square one again! I'm still trying to stick to Clean/Real Eating as much as possible! I'm not a Nazi with it, if i was i'd probably last two weeks, get bored and give up. I want my clean eating to be a lifestyle change!! This past week i renewed my gym membership! I'm super excited to start using it everyday!    The last two weeks have been hard on my working out routine, I've had 50 hour weeks on top of getting my house unpacked, but this next week should be better! As far as working out goes i still plan on lifting heavy weights along side cardio training. I love muffintop-less.tumbler.com and am using her for motivation and tips! I plan on posting before pictures soon! eeek! Don't say i didn't warn you! I also have a lot of new recipes to add! I'll be posting more regular now that i'm done playing! Until then here are some pictures from my summer!

Blueberry Greek Yogurt Bread

Blueberry Greek Yogurt Bread:

1 C. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour                1/2 C. Honey (or 100% Maple Syrup)
3 Tbs Whole Wheat Pastry Flour              1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 C. Vanilla Protein Powder                   3 Ripe bananas
1/2 tsp. Salt                                              2 Eggs
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder                         3/4 C. Plain Greek Yogurt
                                       1 C. Blueberries

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Mash bananas with a fork until they are liquidy.
Add bananas, eggs, vanilla, honey, and greek yogurt to kitchen-aid. Mix until there are no lumps.
In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients.
 Add to the wet ingredients in the kitchen-aid.Mix until combined.
 Fold in blueberries gently by hand.
 Pour batter into 2 greased loaf pans.
Bake for approx. 1 hr. or until top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
*We use convection oven and it takes about 47 mins.

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Greek Yogurt Pancakes:

2 Eggs                                            1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 C. Plain Greek Yogurt            2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 Caps of Vanilla

In two separate bowls:
Mix wet and dry ingredients.
Combine and fold together.
WARNING: The batter looks crazy/weird, don't be scared!
Spoon onto a sprayed pan or griddle that is heated to Med/ Med High.
Flip when they start to bubble on the surface.

Makes about approx. 6 fluffy, super filling, fast, easy and fool proof pancakes.

*I love to top mine with brummel and brown, and 100% maple syrup, or greek yogurt, fruit and a drizzle of honey.*My husband loves them with natural peanut butter and maple syrup, fruit and whipped cream, or nutella.

Malarie's Week Three!

I haven't weighed myself since Day One. Next week I will be taking 1 month pictures and checking my measurements to see how I am doing. I can already see some pretty awesome changes in my body, energy levels etc. My clothes are fitting looser, my belly bloat is diminishing. All in all I am getting really excited. My Mr. is still in his walking boot, but has been able to work out with me. It has been really fun doing the same work outs with him, it makes working out fly by so fast. I have so many fun, yummy recipes to post! We feel like we really haven't had to give up "good tasting" food. I am usually so full from meals its hard to get snacks in, let alone post work out protein.

{My goals for next week}
Consume more protein and veggies
Increase water intake
Continue to work out hard 5 days a week.