What I've been up to...

I know I haven't been posting much these days. Lots of stuff going on but mainly I have been making some changes for my health. Last month I started back regularly exercising. I also bought some meal prep boxes to help me stick to eating the right portion sizes. My family decided to try this with me for support.

Each weekend I cook up all of our meals and prepare our snacks for the week. We eat 6 small meals a day. We have breakfast, lunch, dinner, 3 snacks, and drink plenty of water. I learned from others who do this that it’s best to limit the number of ingredients, prepare meals that you can use the same types of foods, and stick with eating the same meals each day for that week. This has tremendously helped me not get overwhelmed with all the food that needs to be prepared for a given week. It just means that I cook up enough of the same breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc. to eat for 4-5 days straight. I change up the menu each week so we have something totally different from the previous week. No one in our house has complained about eating the same thing every day (5 days only) so it’s working so far.

Here is what I have planned for this month:

Breakfast-
1. Smoothie Packs- (these will be consumed 3 times each week using Kefir, protein powder, flax and/or chia seeds and fruits like bananas, strawberries, and blueberries (or whatever is on sale and in season. Some days will include Dates, Kale, or Spinach too)

2. Hearty BF Bowls (we will eat these twice during the week using scrambled eggs, roasted sweet potatoes with diced peppers and onions, cooked ground sausage, cheddar cheese, and salsa.)

3. BF Bowls (we will eat these twice during the week using scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, sautéed spinach, oven-roasted sweet potato rounds with everything bagel seasoning, and oven-baked bacon.)

4. Apple Cinnamon Quinoa BF Bowls (to be eating twice a week using cooked Quinoa, skillet cooked cinnamon apples, chopped pecans, and a Maple cinnamon yogurt topping.)

5. Hearty BF Bowls (we will eat these twice during the week using scrambled eggs, roasted red and sweet potatoes, cooked ground sausage, cheddar cheese, and top with salsa as well as chopped green onions)

Lunch-
1. Korean Beef Bowls with sautéed spinach (to be eaten 3 times during the week with brown rice)

Pesto Chicken (to be eaten 2 times during the week with roasted Brussels Sprouts and baby carrots.)

2. Chicken Teriyaki Bowls with brown rice, sautéed zucchini, mushrooms, and red bell pepper. (to be eaten 5 times during the week)

3. Chef Salad with Lori Alexander’s homemade salad dressing (to be eaten 4 times during the week)

4. “Big Mac” Salad with homemade sauce (to be eaten 4 times during the week)

Dinner-
1. Taco Pasta Salad (to be eaten 3 times during the week)

BBQ Pulled Pork, rice pilaf, and green beans (to be eaten 2 times during the week)

2. Baked Pork Chops, Quinoa Pilaf, and oven-roasted veggies (to be eaten 3 times during the week)

Baked Tilapia, Quinoa Pilaf, and Pea Mash (to be eaten 2 times during the week)

3. Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs served over coconut rice (to be eaten 3 times during the week. These are made with chicken cubes, bell peppers, red onions, pineapples, and Hawaiian BBQ sauce.)

Hawaiian Ham Kabobs served over coconut rice (to be eaten 2 times during the week)

4. Asian Garlic Steak Kabobs served over Instant Pot fried rice (to be eaten 2 times during the week)

Bang Bang Chicken Kabobs served over Instant Pot fried rice (to be eaten 3 times during the week)

Snacks-
1. Classic Snack Box: grapes, pretzels, deli meat, and cheese cubes (to be eaten 2 times during a week)

2. Homemade Trail Mix (to be eaten 2 times a week each week)

3. Sweet Classic Snack Box: apple slices, peanut butter yogurt dip, pretzels, and deli meat (to be eaten 2 times during a week)

4. Homemade Protein Bars (to be eaten 2 times a week every other week)

5. Mediterranean Snack Box: Artichokes, grape tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Salami, and Monterey Jack cheese cubes (to be eaten 2 times during a week)

6. Homemade Energy (Bites) Balls (I'll only have 2 at a time. These are to be eaten 2 times a week every other week)

7. Veggie Snack Box: Baby carrots, celery sticks, snap peas, grape tomatoes, boiled egg, and Homemade Hummus (to be eaten 2 times during a week)

8. Meat and Pickle rolls (with cream cheese), cherry tomatoes, and wheat thin crackers (to be eaten 2 times during a week)

9. Black Bean Dip with tortilla chips (to be eaten 2 times during a week)

10. Chia Pudding (small bowl) or Fresh Fruit (to be eaten 2-3 times during a week)

Bonus---Fat Bombs (eat no more than 2 a day)

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