We all admit to having good days and bad days when it comes to food intake and workout plans. Since I specifically called myself out yesterday and promised to refocus my efforts to “do better”, I figured it would be good to review yesterday and acknowledge what went well and what could have gone better. This is all about accountability, right Lisa E?
Today the scale read 165 but it had to think about it. I don’t have the tenths position on the scale so it wavered a little bit flipping between 166 and 165 but it finally settled on 165! Whooooop, I’ll take it! One step at a time, right?
Right Vs “Could Have Been Better”
|
RIGHT |
COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER |
| 4 mile run before work | 2 shortbread cookies with Michael while packing his breakfast |
| ProBiotic from my Cleanse kit before work | Starbucks Skinny Peppermint Mocha after a chilly walk to work |
| Banana & Greek yogurt for breakfast | Cheese curds (non-breaded) as a snack while “warming up” dinner |
| Baby Shortcut Carrots for AM snack | Leftovers for dinner, which were from a restaurant, did not include any fresh “green” ingredients |
| Salad with fresh veggies & 2 low fat cheese sticks for lunch | Late dinner – 8:30pm since I worked late |
| Protein Drink for PM snack since I worked late | No PM workout since I worked late |
| Tons of water throughout the day | More time between dinner & bed |
| Herbal caplets from my Cleanse kit before bed |
I’ll never have a prefect day and that’s certainly not my goal but it would be better for the columns to be imbalanced, in favor of the good. As a general rule, I focus on drinking my water,
Eating fresh fruits and veggies,
Consuming lean proteins,
Focus on whole grains and avoiding processed (canned, packaged foods). I do my best to use fresh ingredients, even for cooking. I also change up recipes that call for “frozen” veggies and use fresh and I normally steam fresh veggies to serve as a side dish for dinner (thank you Ziploc Steamer Bags!) rather than using canned or frozen options.
I do need help in identifying more lean proteins. I don’t eat a lot of meat, mostly just chicken and pork and I rely heavily on dairy to pull in the protein that I need. Do you have any suggestions for good lean proteins?
Do you try to avoid the “inner” section of the grocery where the processed foods are located? I know it is difficult to eliminate all of that stuff with kids and a husband in the house but I personally TRY to keep from eating the processed in favor of fresh.
Please share any tips you have for eating fresh and/or let us know of those non-traditional lean protein options which you incorporate into your diet.
** Happy HEALTHY Eating ** Amanda – TooTallFritz ** amanda@tootallfritz.com
TooTallFritz 
Don’t beat yourself up about having a few cookies or coffee! It keeps us sane. 🙂 Also, I usually eat frozen vegetables, for this reason: http://www.livestrong.com/article/362685-frozen-vegetables-vs-fresh-vegetables/ — Is there a reason you avoid frozen? Just curious.
Great article! I try to buy local, or use things from my parent’s garden, but that’s not always possible. I know when I’m at a big store, those veggies are shipped. I think fresh vs frozen just makes me “feel” better, like I’m not coping out. I also hope more $$ goes directly into the famers pocket vs big business food processing companies. I don’t know if that is realistic but that’s always a concern of mine.
For lean protein, you could also try fish, black beans, edamame or tofu. I keep telling myself to try cooking with tofu, but so far I only have it at restaurants.
Trader Joe’s had a great smoked tofu sold in a cube in refridgerated section. Slice and use like chicken on salads. I swear it tastes the same as chicken. I don’t eat red meat, so always looking for protein options. (BTW, TJ’s has awesome cocoa almond spread that probably has no good nutritional content but tastes amazing on toast. That has nothing to do with protein though!)
I like black beans and eggs for protein sources as well as cottage cheese and greek yogurt, but I am horrible on variety as well.
I always focus on the positive, rather than negative (i must eat this! rather than I shouldn’t eat that!) Usually by the time i eat everything i am supposed to, there is less room for the candy. I think you are framing it perfectly 🙂