Meal Prep for Sept. 16 - Sept. 20 + Quick Recap of Last Week

My goal for the Back to Basics Challenge was to track what I eat this past week. I didn't track anything! Maybe being half on track and half off plan has a part in it... Anyway, I do plan on remedying it this week. I have done WW online, My Fitness Pal, and Lose It! They are all good if you like using them, but I'm not so big on tracking each little ingredient I eat, especially by calories. My goal is to start tracking by posting photos of everything I eat. That is what I did the first time I was successful at losing weight. I might not write a post on my blog everyday, but if I don't I will post something on the Facebook page for this blog.

I did manage to take a picture of one cute outfit from last week. I wore it on Monday, since I have class and there was one little Purdue P on the dress. I actually felt cute wearing this outfit.

I got some cheap ballet flats to wear with skirts, so I still look dressy. I can fit my orthodics in them, but the back of my feet and top of my feet had blisters from the shoes rubbing on them all day.

I enjoy ear cuff earrings, so I was glad I was able to wear them in a "classier" way for work.

I also wore a nice necklace that the hubs got me for Christmas a few years ago.

The only other pictures from the week are of what I spent my Saturday night doing. Reading for class in bed with the dogs fighting and not helping me concentrate. I didn't realize my chapter for Monday was 82ish pages long and put it off until this weekend. I won't do that again!

I did mange to get a quick food prep in as well today. I made turkey burgers for my lunches with whole wheat sandwich thins, toppings (lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese), and sweet potato fries.

I'm still struggling with craving McDonald's Egg McMuffins for breakfast. I once again made my own and my goal this week is to eat more of my homemade ones that McDonald's ones.

I also got some snacks ready for the week.

I didn't prepare dinners, because my hubs cooks two days a week and I typically eat leftovers the other days.

Here's to a week of tracking!

Back to Basics Challenge: Improving Spaces

This week in the Back to Basics Challenge, we were supposed to "clean up" two or three spaces to help us on our weight loss journey. You can read more about it here. I decided to clean up my little kitchen space in my office at work and my kitchen at home. I do have plans for a workout area in my basement, but I might run out of time to set that up this weekend.
 
I am a teacher, so I spend a lot of time in my classroom and am lucky enough to have my own office. All I need is a bathroom and I would never have to leave! (Although seeing and interacting with other adults once in a while is nice.) Anyway, I have a microwave and a mini fridge along with some cupboard space above the fridge. I looked at expiration dates and threw out expired items. I also organized things so it was easy to get to what I use the most. I decided to bring my own real plates and silverware from home instead of reheating items in plastic containers (not good for you) or paper plates (wasteful).

Inside the mini fridge. Lunch is in the bag, flavored water in the stainless steel water bottle, and snacks in the door.

 

This is the cabinet above the fridge. The things I use the most or are for me are on the bottom shelf. The top shelf has some leftover plates, cups, baggies, and treats for the students.

I have a set of jars with glass beads at home to visually track my weight loss and decided to make a set for work too. I have a problem with emotional eating, so I often eat when stressed. Although I love my job, we all experience stress at work. Combine that with the ability to sit in front of your computer on plan period and eat with no on seeing you is not so good.

 

 

The second place I tackled was my kitchen at home. I already got rid of all the unhealthy stuff except for what is my husband's. He doesn't keep much in the house since he eats out a lot, but does have some unhealthy snacks such as cookies and candy. I have learned to just ignore his stuff and not even touch it. The big problem in my kitchen is the lack of storage space and how everything somehow became a big, jumbled up mess. I organized dishes, spices, appliances, and food. Here are the end results:

 

Everyday dishes are organized.

Moved the pots above the stove along with olive oil and cooking spray.

Spices and less used items on the top shelf.

What I call my husband's pantry space. You can see how little he keeps around and the Goldfish crackers and candy is sitting out.

My cabinet with my snacks, drinks, etc.

Two shelves have dog stuff and one shelf has my vitamins and oatmeal.

Big pans and appliances. It is really sad that my fancy, expensive food steamer is still in packaging. Got to use it one of these days. Also, don't judge me by my crock pot. I got it at a garage sale for $4 and plan on spray painting it a cute color.

I moved the pans to a drawer hoping it would make things easier.

All my measuring cups in a drawer with other odds and ends.

The fridge was clean already.

 

 



August + Back to Basics Challenge

I know it has been a long while since the last post. The two grad classes I took as summer sessions took over my whole July. I learned a lot, enjoyed them, and also got A's, but man were they draining. I had three weeks left after my last class until work and grad school started again, so I felt like I had no summer. I spent the last week before work school running around trying to get some things in order in my classroom. I still have things I want to work on, but the classroom is looking pretty good. So that was the end of my summer break in a nutshell.

Work school and grad school have been in session for about two weeks now. I'm starting to have a routine going, so I feel it is a great time to start getting back on track with healthy eating, working out, and blogging. I have been either not following my plan or very wishy-washy since the end of April. That is when I had a group project for one of my grad school classes that was extremely stressful along with my spring music program at work. And I also ended up in a boot due to my Achilles tendon injury acting up again. It sucks that all that happened at once, but I should not have used it as an excuse to eat whatever I want and not exercise. This summer I was bound to get on track and let the stress of summer classes take over. The most I lost all summer was 3 pounds. When I weighed in at the beginning of the school year, I lost only 1 pound over summer break. I have lost another pound since school began. Things come up all the time, and I have to be more determined to not get off track and find better strategies for dealing with stress.

I found a challenge through a blog that I read that is called "Back to Basics." That is exactly what I need right now. You can find out about this challenge here. I tried using the "Lose It!" website this summer when I was tracking my food. It is a great website, but I am no longer going to use it. I want to get "back to the basics" of what was working for me when I lost that 35 pounds. And tracking calories was not what I was doing. I instead took pictures of what I ate and posted them on here. I would like to start doing that again along with some kind of weekly progress (weigh in, measurements, pics, non-scale victories...) I would also like to get in some kind of extra movement or exercise at least 3 days a week, if not more. This is how I started my successful weigh loss of 35 pounds and I am going to try it that way again.

I am also challenging myself when it comes to spending and money. There were a lot of expenses in August, so I would like to keep myself more accountable and stick to things that are truly necessary in September. The first part of this strategy is planning out my meals for the month. Second I made a huge list of groceries, toiletries, household items, etc. that we should need throughout the month. I am making one big shopping trip to get this items. This means I should only have to go out once a week on a small trip to buy fresh ingredients and my husband's staples of milk and break and bake cookies (the joys of being skinny and eating what you want...). This should give me more time on the weekends to read and study for my one class I  am taking this semester. I'm taking only one class because of all the changes at work, but it is a way to spend less money a month and make more time for healthy living.

Now that you are caught up with my August, you should be seeing many more posts this month!