FAST FOOD and Restaurants are waiting for ya! Can you avoid them this week?

Are you prepared to avoid the vending machines, fast food breakfast, lunch, snack, and /or dinner because you have nothing with you?  YES....First there are no vending machines at my work, just the drink vending machines and they have soda, so I do not waste my .60 on that machine..  HOWEVER I have tons of snacks for the school in my office; I am proud to say I stayed out of them all last week...crap snacks I do not need anyways....I have my week planned out already...cooking all week and bring home grown foods to work with me this week!
Do you have food cooked at home or ready to cook quickly to keep from stopping on the way home? YES I do...everything is planned out for the week, chopped and diced, and placed into plastic baggies or containers!!!

Do you have a bag that is loaded with provisions like protein bars, or jerky, or beef sticks just in case you are stuck in traffic, or hung up at kid practice or a meeting?  YES my bag is packed each morning and I always have something in the bag for "just in case"


I am very prepared this week like I was last week~it felt really great to be in control with my eating; this week again I will have either yogurt or fruit or protein drink for breakfast; Lunch will be a chicken tender breaded 15 grams of protein with seasoned green beans, and fruit; Dinner will be different each night with all the prep work already completed.  The one thing I HAVE to work on this week is getting in more water; I was only able to get in about 28 oz of water last week I know this sucks...new week new goals....

Thank you becky and all the others that have kept me on the basic track of my crazy journey...I will try and post as much as I can, but please know I am cheering each of you on everyday!!!

Love to all
Mel :)

Mel the lack of water is my main thing right now too. 

I have to share my new concoction with your today, lol.  I had leftover veggies and threw this together today, it's yummo.

2 yellow squash
8 mushrooms
1 cup snowpeas
1/2 pack of Onion Soup Mix (dry package)
1 tsp. EVOO
1 can Rotel Tomatoes


I cut up with squash and mushrooms, sauteed them a bit in the EVOO, added the snow peas, onion soup mix and rotels and let it simmer until it was cooked.  Of course, I had to taste it to make sure it was good, lol.  It'll be on the menu for the next couple of days.

Dana, that sound wonderful...I have all of these in my fridge and pantry I too will be making this veggie dish this week!

I just do not understand WHY I can not get in all my fluids; I know I am running all day long at work, and never really seat down, but I can still walk around with my "MUG"  I am just really going to have to work on this issue this week......oy...

Enjoy your week~I too made a roast tonight, along with season green beans, carrots and mashed potatoes with sweet potatoes mashed into it..YUM-O!!

OXO
Mel

I'm happy that I've lost 3 pounds since Monday-that's not alot to most of you, but its a good start for me. Esp since I've not been perfect this week. I am trying and that's a good thing for me. I'm tracking my food now. I've been packing snacks-fruit and stuff, and I've got snacks at work in my desk. We don't have vending machines but CVS and Fiesta grocery are within a few steps of my office building. The good news is I've been too busy to take a break!
Fast food-here's where I differ I guess- I can eat a grilled chicken salad with no dressing- I don't like dressing- and no cheese (don't like) at Sonic for 300 calories and 29 grams of protein and it feels like I'm eating a ton of food.And most grilled chicken salads at other places aren't too bad, esp because of what I leave off. Its quick and easy and fits into our life.  I mostly do Lean Cuisines for lunch-easy and hot. I can't do lunchmeat for some reason-makes me sick.
Where i have the most trouble is home. I get home so early, lots of time for snacks to lure me into the kitchen. I need to work on having good things at hand. I've got Chris's snacks all bagged up for the week- now I need to work on mine.

This week though what I'm going to focus on is water- because I don't get nearly enough. I was taking the stairs last week, and I can continue to climb up but not down-too much pressure on the bad foot. I start PT on Tue/Thurs-each week for 4 weeks-hopefully the PT can give me ideas of what to do for exercise since walking has been restricted.

I don't post everyday, but I am recording my food-good and bad- so I can change those habits, one by one!

Hey Alissa,

Ya know every step back is good and it takes time to get there. Some of us can be more instant with it and others not. It's good. You are 3 pounds lighter than last week. That's HUGE. I only hope and pray that I can 3 less as well.  My struggle is the scale and actually eating carbs.  All I can see and feel is guilt for the No Nos.

So it looks like you have a plan. Maybe every week you can try to eat out one less time a week. If that's a challenge for you, like the scale is for me, then it's 'baby steps'.

I am proud of you for the weight and the effort, but most of all for knowing and be accountable for the food that is not the best for you. That is going to get you further than anything else.

I look forward to hearing how this next week works for you.

Are you prepared to avoid the vending machines, fast food breakfast, lunch, snack, and /or dinner because you have nothing with you?

*I don't ever get tempted by school vending machines or ff brkfst; don't eat much ff period.  I drink all morning and don't usually  eat until lunch; keeps me full and I get 2 protein drinks in in the am.

Do you have food cooked at home or ready to cook quickly to keep from stopping on the way home?

*have leftover chinese chicken salad and meat stuffed eggplant plus quick salad makings and bought stuff to make mandarin beef one night this week.

Do you have a bag that is loaded with provisions like protein bars, or jerky, or beef sticks just in case you are stuck in traffic, or hung up at kid practice or a meeting?

* I keep nuts and / or protein bar for emergencies in my purse

I also keep decaf coffee, lt. creamer and splenda, tea bags, and bottled water in my offices as well as chicken broth makings.  I keep gallon water jugs that I lug back and forth home to fill up for the broth and hot drinks.

Karla

 Some very good points there, Ms. H.   

   Unfortunately, our office building that we recently moved to finally put in a vending machine last month ..   It is completely stocked with all kinds of "Satan's treats" ..     (the landlord - who is next door to our office - is a big guy, almost as big as I was, pre-op) ..   It's a floor above our office, but still much too convenient to pop up to and back down, via elevator ..     I regained 3 lbs. alone last week (dang, Alissa ..  I think I found the 3 you lost  ), and I wonder how much of that was due to our new mechanical demon .. 

  When I do visit upstairs, I try to get something out of the machine that is the least injurious (usually) ..  It has beef sticks and little packets of trail mix (but the high carb version that has M & Ms, raisins, etc. in it  ), but that's about the best it can seem to do for me  .. 

  I've been bringing protein bars, beef sticks, etc. to work in hopes of avoiding temptation, like you suggest, but I still feel the machine calling my name sometimes ..    

Paul, you have to plan.  Bring the good stuff to work so the evil vending machine doesn't call your name.  Beef sticks are good, and they have the beef/cheese combos for .99 at most stores.  Heck you can have high-fat foods.......cook bacon and bring it with you.  I love bacon but have to watch because of the fat.

I'm not sure if you say my post to Jessica the other day but I participate on a Yahoo board and something one of the ladies said 2 weeks ago when I told myself enuff is enuff is.....

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

It's all about Planning and admitting your choices aren't the best to stay successful.  Denial is a bad thing, I know if I don't log and be accountable to someone else then I can lie to myself that I'm not doing the right thing.

Something to Ponder........be strong, make good choices, you deserve to be successful.....BUT it takes work. 

 Thanks, Caj .. 

 I noticed a week or so ago our local Walmart store apparently stopped carrying the entire Slim Jim line of beef sticks and strips ..  My Kroger store is down to just a few cans of them, too ..    

 Has anyone heard whether the co. is going out of biz?        I would feel so lost w/o them, come snack time ..      I guess I could go back to making my own jerky strips, as I still have my dehydrator, but the sodium content in those jerky seasoning packets is SO high .. 

Make your own seasoning with Mrs. Dash. There are several flavors and they have no salt.