Excuses Excuses!

"I just don't have time to eat healthy"
"It's easier for me to just eat out"
"I don't want to eat cardboard"
"Healthy food doesn't taste the same"
Sound familiar?

If you want to eat healthy, are trying to shed weight, lower cholesterol....whatever your health and fitness goal....this mentality will NOT work. 

Case in point...today, after a long trip, my boyfriend and I decided to stop at the nearest restaurant and get something quick.  I fired up my iphone to check nutritional info and ...WHAT?!  A grilled chicken dish has 55 grams of fat???  Yup - that's the norm when you eat out.  Grilled, baked - doesn't matter.  Restaurants cook with butter and lard and add fats for flavor.  You simply cannot make eating out a regular habit if you wish to eat healthier.

So what is the secret?  PREPARATION!  But guess what?  It doesn't take that long to make meals for the day!  I pack my lunch, AM and PM snacks and dinner each day and always eat breakfast at home in the morning.  Yes there are days where eating out is necessary but those are reserved for special occasions and 'treat meals'.  Packing your food is KEY if you want to eat better and lose weight (and even gain healthily). 

What if I told you, you could prep ALL your meals on Sunday for an entire week?  That there are actually healthy things pre-packaged to make your life easier?  That you can literally spend no more than 5 minutes packing your lunch at night, have 3 meals and 2 snacks for under 1600 calories and never be hungry during the day....because you CAN.  And I know this because I did it.  And the best part?  IT WORKS!

So this first post doesn't become a novel - try this list next time you go to the grocery store:
- Old Fashioned Oats
- Skim Milk
- Berries
- Frozen Green Beans individually packaged (if you live in Denver - get the King Soopers 'Private Selection' brand in the frozen veggie isle)
- organic salsa (I LOVE Newman's Own black bean and corn organic salsa - veggies taste SO good with some on top)
-Organic pre-cooked brown rice bowls (Cosco in the dry rice isle)
- rotisserie chicken
- luna bars
- pears/apples
- natural almond or peanut butter
- fresh asparagus
- raw chicken breast

On Sunday: Put the chicken breast in a crockpot and cover with 1/2 cup salsa and 1/2 cup water and cook on low 4 hours.  Steam asparagus in the microwave with lemon juice and black pepper and store in container in fridge (Thats IT)

Pack a lunchbox with an apple sliced and 1 TBS peanut butter, a luna bar and a pear (these are your two snacks), fill a container with 3 oz (fist size) all white meat rotisserie chicken and 1/2 the organic brown rice bowl and cover with lid - also your frozen green bean package and some salsa in a small container (this is your lunch), fill another container with 3-4oz of chicken/salsa crockpot and steamed asparagus. 

Make your oatmeal in the morning (1/2 cup dry covered in water and microwaved for 2 mins, top with 1/4 cup skim milk, berries and some stevia)

VIOLA!  1560 calories, less than 25 grams of fat, 110 grams of protein and you have yourself a days worth of meals in 5 minutes.

Now.....Was that DIFFICULT?  Did that take too long?  Doesn't everything taste pretty dang good?

Thought so.