First Two Days...

I started totally fresh Monday morning. Sunday afternoon, we went grocery shopping and stuck strictly to the "Family Meal Plan" from the book 'Eat Clean Diet Recharged' by Tosca Reno (which I think EVERYONE needs to own a copy of this book!! It's amazing and so full of information on food, health, excerise and so much more!!). In this book, she has a grocery list for this meal plan, so we knew exactly what to buy for everything that we would be eating this week.
On Sunday night, we prepared all of our food for Monday (in the exception of dinner). We knew that Craig was leaving for work at 7am, I leave at 11:15 and neither of us return until 5:15pm. So this meant we'd have to pack lunch, pm snacks, protein shakes (since I leave to teach fitness classes) and all the water we needed for a day. This made Monday run so smoothly! Everything was in containers and all we had to do was grab it and go. I had no temptation to eat out because I had a healthy meal prepared and waiting in my lunch bag. It felt good to have a game plan and execute it. So here is what I have been eating the past 2 days:

Monday:
Breakfast 7:30am- Veggie Frittata (on my recipe page), 16oz of water, and a cup of black tea with a little agave nectar. (We were also supposed to eat a piece of toast, and forgot, but we were so full from the frittata)
Am Snack 9:30am- 1/2 cup baby carrots, 1/2 cup celery sticks, 2 hard boiled egg whites, and 16oz of water
Lunch 11:30am-Chicken wrap (whole wheat tortilla, 4oz of all natural canned chicken breast, 3 baby carrots shredded, 1 handful of fresh sprouts with 1 teaspoon of lite ranch dressing), 1 green apple and 16 oz of water.
Pm Snack 1:30pm-Chocolate Protein Shake mixed with 1/4 cup of grounded oatmeal and 1 tablespoon of grounded flaxseeds and 8oz of skim milk. 1 banana and 16oz of water.
3:30pm- I had an additional Protein shake (Phormula-1) after my second fitness class. I knew that I wouldn't be eating dinner until about 6pm, and didn't want to go nearly 5 hours between meals. I also needed the additional protein from working out. 16oz of water.
6pm-Asian Noodle Bowls (posted on my recipe page) (Which were so FAB!!! You HAVE to try these!!!!). 16 oz of water.
9pm- 1 green apple with 1 tablespoon of dark chocolate almond butter. Yum!!! Plus 16oz of water and 1 cup of green tea with a little agave nectar.

Tuesday:
Breakfast- Whole grain pancakes (3) topped with an all natural, unsweetened applesauce (1cup), 2 scrambled egg whites, 16 oz of water, and 1 cup of black tea with a little agave nectar.
Am Snack-Lentil dip with 1 cup cherry tomatoes and 1 cup of sliced cucumber (Craig really liked this lentil dip, but I did not. I'll try it again, but wasn't crazy about it). 16 oz of water.
Lunch- Leftover Asian bowls (we still had a ton of food left over from Monday's dinner!!), 1 orange, and 16 oz of water.
Pm Snack- 1/2 cup of 2% cottage cheese and 1/4 of a cantaloupe. 8oz of water.
Dinner-Sloppy Joes (Yes, this was on the menu!!!) on whole wheat buns, 1 cup of steamed carrots, 1 cup of steamed corn and 8oz of water. For the sloppy joe mix, we used 1 pound of lean ground turkey and 1 can of manwich (it's mostly natural mixed, so I didn't feel that guilty about us using it. For the next time, I want to find a homemade sloppy joe mix)
Pm Snack- 1/4 cup of an organic, all natural plain yogurt, 1 cup of mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries), about 2 tablespoons of a Kashi granola, and a couple dashes of vanilla extract (I think plain yogurt is too tart with the berries. So I put a few dashes of the pure vanilla extract to sweeten it a little and add a little extra flavor without all the added sugar and calories).

So that's what I've been eating these 2 days. Tomorrow will get a little bit trickier as I will be gone from 11:15am until about 8:30pm. So I'll have to make my dinner in the morning and pack it for the day. I found these great bags at Schnucks the other day. The look like the cloth reusable bags, but they zip and are insulated!! They work perfect for packing 4-6 bottles (on Monday I packed 4 water bottles and 2 protein shakes) and my lunch and snacks. I'm sure my dinner will fit easily in it tomorrow also. To top off the greatness of them, they were only $2!!! Lunch bags are so much pricier than that and don't hold that much. :)

The biggest thing I'm realizing right now is that I have to eat every 2-3 hours. I start to feel that starving feeling if I go longer than 3 hours, which means I would over indulge.
I've also realized that if I have a game plan and tell myself that I am going to stick with it, and I have no desire to go digging through my pantry to see what I am find to eat or stop for food. I know that my next meal is always 2-3 hours away, and I look forward to what I have planned. Or if I packed my food for the day, I have no need to stop for food.

So make a game plan (a menu or packing your food before you leave your house) and put it in your mind to stick to it!! You can do it!!