It's one of those things that I keep hearing over and over... "Preparation is key to success." I often read that in the magazines, in the blogs all the diet and nutrition books along with tips on how to stay on track. Even my coworker, who is a busy salesman, preps portioned ziplock bags of chicken, tuna, grape tomato and baby spinach to eat on the go.
The Mo and I squeezed in 2 great gym sessions this weekend, another saying..."Couples that
work out together...stay together." Yeah right.. we just drive to the gym together to save gas and ignore each other until our agreed upon time to meet at the door.
Afterward our sweat session, we went grocery shopping at Market Basket (BTW, LOVE that they are offering a 4% discount on grocery purchases until the end of 2014). Last week, I was successful sticking with a low calorie diet and eating mostly portioned frozen food and dropped a few pounds.
This week I wanted to change it up a bit with the suggestion of the fitness director at my gym. He was appalled when I told him I didn't eat anything before the AM "Boot Camp" and that's how the conversation started. Evan is super cool and he walks around the gym and actually exchange conversations with the members. We found out we knew some common people all the way down on the south shore.
Here is my GOAL for the week:
5:30 AM Toast or Thin bagel with a tablespoon of peanut butter
6:00 AM Workout Session
7:30 AM GNC Lean Shake
9:30 AM Plain Greek Yogurt with almonds and apple
12:30 PM Lean meat, rice or sweet potato and veggies
3:30 PM 2 Hard Boiled eggs
7:00 PM Lean meat and veggies
I wanted to prepare as much as I could so that I would have options for both lunch and dinner instead of scrambling around the office like a ragamuffin as I did last week. I also love having a variety so I wouldn't get bored of eating the same thing for a week.
Just in case I was still hungry in between those meals, I picked up some light rice cakes, Laughing Cow cheese wedges, granola and light string cheese.
I boiled 10 Eggland's Best Eggs, (which really does taste better than the conventional eggs) by boiling a pot of hot water and turning the stove off, I then add the raw eggs, and turn the heat back on to medium to let it gently boil for 5 minutes. (You don't want to add the raw eggs when the water is boiling because it may crack the eggs.) After the time is up, I turn off the heat and let it sit in the hot water for another 4 minutes and refrigerate until its cool enough for me to peel.
In additional typical romaine and field greens salad, I wanted some cooked vegetables. I know that sweet potatoes can be microwaved before eating but I didn't want to hog the microwave at work. I thought the quickest solution would be to steam it on my stove top with the skin intact.
I sauteed fresh kale with fresh garlic, a small amount of extra virgin olive oil, chili flakes and 2 types of balsamic vinegar, one being a honey-orange blend.
I roasted asparagus with a little olive oil and Italian seasoning in my over the counter "Nu Wave" type oven so I wouldn't have to turn on the big oven for such a small dish.
I am not a fan of grilled chicken breast and I wanted something with lots of flavor, preferably something ethnic. I whipped up a chicken curry dish that I call "Confused Curry" because its not quite Thai and its not quite Indian but a fusion of the two. The plan is to eat this a few nights for dinner sans rice or naan. I pretty much sliced the chicken breast, pepper and onions and threw it in the slow cooker with all the other ingredients for 3 hours on high. * I did use a mortar and pestle to crush the chili peppers, garlic and dried shrimp.
I put all the ingredients into the recipe builder on MyFitnessPal and it came out to about 345 calories with 18 grams of carbs, mostly from the coconut milk and onion.
Wish me success, the goal is to stick with the plan until Friday afternoon, I say afternoon because the Mo and I love to go out Friday night. That's the light at the end of the tunnel.