What it looks like

So this is what it looked like on Monday. This is what I ate. Starting with the top left, my breakfast was 2 eggs+egg whites with sautéed spinach, tomatoes and onions. Meal #2 was cubed chicken on spinach topped with salsa. Meal #3 (after my work out) was a whey protein shake with almond milk, a banana and super green food powder (sneaking in vegetables here!), Meal #4 was tuna with a dab of olive oil, tomatoes and olives and meal #5 was lamb meatballs in organice tomato sauce w/ Moroccan seasoning, steamed broccoli with rice wine vinegar, a side salad and a glass of red wine.

Because of prepping most of the food on Sunday, the only thing that took me more than a few minutes was dinner. So, planning really is the key to sticking to clean eating. Chop your vegetables, separate your salads, boil your eggs, and have some "go to" meats already cooked. Buy some good, organic salsa and some organic spaghetti sauce. Don't keep junk food in your house and you won't eat junk food. If you want something sweet, eat fresh fruits and some good quality dark chocolate. It isn't about restriction.....it's about not putting crap into your body. If you are working out and you aren't losing weight........look no further than your plate. Don't go around hungry! Eat good, fresh foods and exercise.

Mondays I get in a short mile run in the a.m, then a good 45 min weight work out in the afternoon and  I take a walk in the pm either before or after dinner. I always find meal #4 to be the one that I can really take or leave. I'm not actually HUNGRY yet, but if I don't eat it, I will be ravenous by dinner and then I am much more likely to eat something that wouldn't be optimal for my goals. My focus is on building muscle right now, so that is the way I am eating and training.

Today I have a much harder cardio circuit to get through this afternoon, so my day will include more carbs, but still I'll end up with about the same # of calories at the end of the day.

Top right: breakfast was a toasted "Everything" bagel half topped with a fried egg and salsa, along with a greek yogurt, Meal 2: steamed leftover broccoli and leftover lamb meatballs, Meal 3:(after work-out) whey protein shake with a banana, almond milk and "super green food" powder and Meal 4 was london broil, on brown rice , topped with sautéed onions and a side salad (and a glass of red wine).

I have had a question recently about how to deal with food for those who are away from home all day. Leaving at 4:30 am and not returning until after dinner, commuting, etc. This does make it much more challenging to eat well, but I am working on a "plan" or guidelines to help those who simply aren't ever home and are sadly eating too many meals from their dashboard. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

I hope that all of this tedious talk about food, is helping those of you who just don't seem to be able to conquer that part of a healthy lifestyle yet. Please know that I am actually much more interesting in real life, and I don't share pictures of my dinner to my friends!:-D  But this is such a key component in getting fit and healthy and feeling good and it is the number 1 thing that I am asked about the most, so hopefully.......this helps. 

Oh- and BTW.....those 2 pounds on the scale? They're gone. And I can tell you for absolute certain that I did not burn 2 pounds of fat in a day. See what I mean? Throw out your scale! :-)

Just keep going!

~Melissa