I really don't have any trouble hitting the roads for my workouts. I love to jump in the water any chance I get. I am very motivated. I am excited for Clearwater. But, there is one area in which I'm which I'm struggling.
Food.
I am intrigued by nutrition. I love to shop for healthy foods. I love to eat healthy food. I am obsessed with feeding my kids all the right things and teaching them Why they should do it for the rest of their lives.
I don't eat junk. Well, I do eat cookies from time to time. Love cookies. Love them. Oh, and Peanut M&Ms.
Here's the deal. I'm in a rut!! I can't seem to figure out what to eat day to day! I eat the same things all the time! I am bored with my food. I know I'm missing some key things. I know I eat too many carbs...probably too much peanut butter. It's just that I'm really not big on sandwiches. I'm not likely to make a good ole' turkey sandwich for lunch. So I struggle with what to eat at lunch.
Can you guys share some of your breakfasts &/or lunches? I need some ideas.
I am almost always grabbing something as I head out the door to drive the kids to school in the a.m.: Oatmeal wolfed down in 60 seconds or maybe rice cakes with peanut butter..yum.. ;o) I do love this.
I almost always grab a snack mid-am as I'm running around town...a Luna bar? Banana? Nectarine?
I sometimes make lunch: yogurt/fruit/granola mix
These thigns don't sound so bad. But I am hungry a lot. I nibble on this and that a lot. That's probably my problem. I do snack after dinner....bad bad bad I know. Sorry Marn. Bad bad habit. I try to keep it under control!
I feel like if I could have some better/more filliing daytime meals, I'd do better overall. I need ideas!!
I really appreciate any of your ideas. I'm in a rut!
13 comments:
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Ange:
It is tough with kids in the house, I think, because their diets are high carb and high glycemic. I've noticed that even the vegetables that Lelia likes are the ones highest on the glycemic scale.
How about hard-boiled eggs as something to keep around? Easy to eat in the car for breakfast and you can cut them up and toss them on a salad for lunch. I put them in school lunch, too.
-Danielle
It's ok to eat after dinner, just keep it small. I've been noshing on green apple slices after dinner with vanilla yogurt. Yum!
As for breakfast, switch it up..smoothie, oatmeal, PB and J, egg white and veggie wrap, waffles/whole wheat pancakes, granola and yogurt, fruit and cheese. HOw about a 100-calorie bag of popcorn for a snack or cheese slices and veggies w/ hummus. Have hard boiled egg whites w/ cheese for a snack or a few pieces of lean meat w/ a few crackers (Wasa, triscuit, wheat thins, etc.).
Spice up your meals with salsa or add marinara sauce for a stir-fry of veggies. Swap out bread for a wrap or use a different type of bread (rye instead of whole grain). SO long as you focus on a well-rounded diet, 30 extra calories from bread or a carb with less fiber will not make that much of a difference in an overall healthy diet. PLus, finding similar foods and keeping with your routine will make eating the "same" foods more exciting. :)
you're awesome Marni. Thank you!! I'll hit the grocery store...I'm just in a rut! These are great ideas.
Ange! Whoa, what a hard spot with having a family and always being on the GO! I am with you, I LOVE food and just because it is usually healthy food I grab I still know I can't eat ALL of it...but I want to :)
Here are my favorites, hope they help!
Breaky:
If I am about to hit a long ride or run I eat any flavor of the Ezekiel toast (it is made of nuts/seeds, not flour, and has loads of protien), I toast it with a bit of almond butter and honey.
And a banana for the second I get done running or riding...
Smoothies are VERY popular in my house, Kainoa loves them too, but them in coffee travel mugs and you can have it on the go, he feels so grown up in the car with it (like daddy having coffee).
And if you have time, I make scrambled eggs, toss in sun dried tomatoes & spinach, as a woman we need the iron in the spinach, top with feta if you like, takes only 5 minutes to make.
Lunch-We do A LOT of tuna and marinated veggies. or chicken salad, we like the stuff you can toss on a salad or put on some bread or in a pita... way easy and good way to load in the veggies.
Good luck :)
I have been really into Greek yogurt lately. I like the 2 % Fave with peach puree on the side that you can mix in. It's expensive, but worth it, I think.
Also I have been trying to make salad for lunch with as much in it with substance as I can muster: dried cranberries, almonds, goat cheese, peppers, thawed, previously frozed corn and peas, carrots, tomatoes, sesame seeds, apple pieces, strawberries and I mix it all with cottage cheese for dressing.
I hear you, though. Very tough. And I shouldn't be handing out advice since I sport that damn, round, faux pregnancy belly all the time!
Ange:
YES, I think alot of us get into a rut with our daily eating...since I work from home mine is BAD and the last thing I tend to grab is fruit, which is what I should!
Here is what I usually eat:
Breakfast:
Always oatmeal (but REAL slow cooked - I realize you may not have time for this but put it in a crock pot the night before with apples, cinnamon!) with dried cheeries and walnuts, nutmeg and cinnamon. Always hot tea and OJ.
If I workout before breakfast - like at 5 am or so I grab OJ + banana.
Lunch: I HATE lunch..I am not a lunch eater and I wish I could eat PBJ everyday - but that does not work. DO you have a Trader Joe's near you? Anyway, I do enjoy turkey/ham sandwhiches on WW and avocados, lettuce, hummus and tomatoes. OR I have tuna or chicken in organic brown rice from Trader Joe's w/ grilled spinach. Like Bree, I am very careful to make sure I eat a ton of green spinach for the Iron.
Snacks:
yes, of course the fruit...but, i like the Organic (I do not eat that way all the time of course) Fig newtowns, HUMMUS (big for me, but NOT the one with all the perservatives....YOGURT (like Mary said NOTHING with High fructose corn syrup-try that Greek Yougurt it is amazing and good for you!!!
Like Bree, we do a lot of fruit smoothies - I put vanilla yougurt in there and just throw in fruit all the time - blueberries, strawberries, bananas and it is fast and easy!! Kids love it too....
Dinner: Boring, but the usual - but I made homemade low fat turkey chili last night and we keep it for days and re-heat it and I eat it all the time:
Black beans, kidney beans, corn, peas, red/green/orange, onion satuated (sp?), lean turkey ground, tomatoes, tomatoe chunks...etc and you just put it in a big pot and cook it (after cooking the turkey separately) and let it simmer all afternoon...VERY good for you + easy to make if you have 10 minute to cut up the food in the middle of the day.
Ok, this is long! but, I hope this helps a bit...Jen H.
i eat luna bars, balance bars, zone bars.... eggs, turkey bacon and lowfat cheese on ezekiel bread (yay that the fab bree wee recommends it too!), frozen berries w/cottage cheese, frittas w/spinach and feta...
French toast: use the cinn raisin ezekial bread or we have Breadsmith Flax cran bread sliced thin. 3whites to one yolk and let it soak up into the bread. Then when it is done if you havent eaten all of it, freeze it. It reheats really easily in the am and I just put some agave nectar on it and cinnamon. Yummy!
Snackie snackie I like graham crackers with ALmond, PB or soy nut butter.
And who can resist leftover grilled meats or faux meats or veggies in a corn tortilla with salsa and avocado slices?
Good luck and thanks for posting this, I think we all get in ruts so it is nice to hear other people's ideas.
I boil a dozen and a half eggs and eat hard boiled eggs several times a week in the AM. I start my day with a whey protein shake (just mixed with water). I eat a shit ton of fruit, grapefruit, nectarines, apples, banannas. I have lean cuisines a lot at work, turkey sandwiches with romaine and lite mayo. Pretzles for snacking. Try not to eat late at night - have green tea instead o0f snacking too, that works. Wheat thins are good to snack on tho, but ry to stop by 7pm. Yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese sticks, are all good stuff. Chips and salasa too. Hope this helps!
In the morning I try to have some sort of fiberous cereal, peanut butter/jelly toast, or a smoothie w/ frozen berries/vanilla yogurt/cranberry juice/protein powder. Lunch is typically a sandwich of some sort and a yogurt - the daily snacks are usually cranberries and almonds, banana and peanut butter, other fruit, cottage cheese and pineapple, or a luna bar. I know what you mean about getting in a run - sometimes it is just easier to eat what you always do; but it does get a little boring.
Snacking kills me!!! I feel your pain.
great post! i have been bored with my food lately too! i'm big on broccoli & carrot sticks in a low-fat dip for snacking and i keep a tub of mixed nuts to which i do add some m-n-ms & raisins for a little kick (and chocolate fix) by my desk for snacking.
i've been making quesadillas lately with a quesadilla maker - filling them with veggies, chicken, salsa etc. it's fun, gives you a variety and the kids will find it fun too. it even came with a recipe book...cheap at target.
and for breakfast i've been mixing up my oatmeal routine with homemade carrot cake muffins and pumpkin muffins made with buckwheat i found the recipes under elie krieger on the food network site.
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