I suck at lunches
I am good with dinner..
breakfast is the same nearly every day..
eggs and toast.
Much like the book Bread and Jam for Frances...I never get tired of it
But lunch.
I never know what to eat.
So I tend to 'throw away' the most calories in the middle of the day
Calories I can ill afford to lose
I need to feel full-or sated
When I go to bed at night.
I have issues sleeping.
I always have.
So it behooves me to make myself as comfortable as possible.
So I have to be very tight with my calories to fit them under my 1500 calorie cap for the day
My latest attempt at this effort is pre-making my lunch.
I don't much care what I eat for breakfast and lunch
Dinner is a different story.
So on Saturday I made 7 meals
Yes, they are all the same meal.
I sauteed four zucchini, four bell peppers of different colors...mushrooms and one onion.
Then I baked about 21 ounces of chicken breast....boneless and skinless.
then in each container I put 1 and 1/2 cups of veggies and 3 ounces of chicken and topped it with spicy szechaun sauce..each meal clocks in at around 250 calories including the oil and sauce in my calculations.
Today when I was done at the gym I was hungry.
Instead of doing what I had been doing for next to a year and a half...overeating after a strenuous workout...
I went home and had a meal.
Pre-planning.
It's vital.
For my workout I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and a one mile walk and then upper body and lower body toning for about 20 minutes
I don't know If I mentioned it here..but I jacked my knee up a month ago while doing sparring in my self defense class..then got the flu.
It's been a long month.
Well, yesterday I was on the elliptical, and my knee that had refused to bend in any substantial way for nearly three weeks made a strange clunking sound.
I stopped dead and waited...then stepped off the elliptical.
and realized that while my knee was sore in a muscle sore kind of way...
It no longer felt unaligned.
I think my staying in bed for two days with the flu this past week, allowed the knee swelling to go down and my knee to heal itself.
Maybe the flu was God's way of getting me to stop long enough to heal.
I am stubborn.
Well, I will write more tomorrow..this is becoming a novel.
Chris out.
9 comments:
I completely agree, Chris. If left to my own devices, I do exactly as you describe. Pre-planning, preparing and pre-packaging are what I call "pressing the easy button" - making the decision when it's easy, and not waiting until it's hard.
Glad you knee is doing better, but so sorry you've been suffering with the flu.
Planning is the only way I can survive the landmine of a workweek and all the activities around that. I differ in that it's my evening meal I really have to plan and be careful not to overeat at.
Sounds like you definitely needed rest. Sometimes being stubborn can actually work against what we're trying to accomplish!
My breakfast is nearly always the same too! And lunch is always a wild card too---and mid-day is when I spend calories quickly, putting the brakes on to leave enough for dinner...
I'm going to follow your lead and pre-plan my lunch and mid-day a little better... It's clearly the time I need to focus on "tightening" my routine.
Glad your knee is better! The flu as a blessing--wonderful perspective--and I bet you're spot on. ;)
I'm in the same boat. On the days that I work in the office, lunches are my downfall. I have not been one to plan or prepare. Instead I choose from the high-fat foods our cafeteria puts out. Ugh. I should follow your example and prepare ahead.
I'll make preplanned meals for hubby's lunches, but I hate reheated chicken. Doesn't matter how tasty, once it's reheated, I gag and puke. My sister and brother are the same. Something in poultry, when leftover and reheated, affects our taste buds. And I don't much care for beef. Sigh.
This past week, I made slowcooker chicken, and just used it for toppings, without reheating. That's fine for a couple days.
I wish I didn't have such a sensitive overpicky eating thing about proteins.
But breakfast, eggs. I don't get sick of eggs and veggies and fruit.
a very interesting novel it is
You'll have to let me know if eating the same thing for lunch works... I have thought about it many times, and actually tried it once, but day 3 I just could not bear to eat the meal again. But lunch time is my vice. I'm the same as you. So I need to come up with something! Pre-planned of course. I know it'll work. Perhaps two diff flavours, or combinations of veg... Crap I don't know...
But yay for your knee!!!!
In program we say, "Failing to plan is planning to fail." I do what you do, Chris, and even plan for vacations (bringing certain foods to make sure I'm not depending on things that won't be available. I have a lot of "go to" meals - like low calorie and highly filling - that I can interchange at night and that helps too.
Isn't it funny how so much of this comes down to giving ourselves time? So much of what people with food issues do comes down to some form of self abuse, even if it is just not putting ourselves near the top of our list. Good for you that you are figuring out what works for you and giving yourself what you need. I wonder how much of the nations weight problems could be solved by teaching our kids to truly value themselves, not the hokey 'everybody wins' way but the truly getting to know ourselves way. You make a fine example of how to listen to our bodies and what we need.
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