Are you ready for a new challenge this week?  After years of following the low fat/non fat train, followed by low carb only way to live lifestyle I had almost forgotten that at the end of the day it’s calories that count.  I think I demonstrated that to myself pretty clearly when I lost weight eating 100 calorie Oreo packs 3 times a day (way before I got into nutrition).  (See my post  here—-> Calorie Counting Journey Part One:  Weight Loss)  The difference is that the quality of calories you put in makes a difference in how you feel.  That can be translated into how well you are able to maintain your current weight or weight loss.  Anyway, a couple a weeks ago I was thinking about how many days I probably eat less than 50 grams of carbohydrates (someone my side should be eating around a minimum of 135 grams)  and what effect that would have on my body.  Could it be affecting the healing time for my injury?  Yep.  Could it be affecting my craving levels?  Yep.  Could it be affecting my energy/stress/mood?  Yes, yes, and yes.  Given those realizations I started trying to balance my meals better last week, my goal was to include a significant source of high quality carbohydrates at two out of three meals.  What happened?  I can tell you I didn’t feel that different BUT I did notice that all of a sudden I didn’t care if I had chocolate at night after dinner…. that is almost UNHEARD of for me.  So take that for whatever you think its worth, but for me it was motivation to keep going.

Although I didn’t plan it, this challenge nicely fits in with National Nutrition Month (see cool widget on the right????).  The theme is “Enjoy The Taste Of Eating Right” and one way I’m going to do that this week is by trying to enjoy more balanced meals!  Join me if you’d like and we can recap next Monday!

Past Healthy Habits Challenges

• Week 8:  Be More Present
• Week 7:  Avoid Soda
• Week 6:  Spend 15 Minutes Playing and Cuddling with Missy Daily (my cat)
• Week 5:  Throughly wash all produce
• Week 4:  Meditate Daily (at least 10 minutes)
• Week 3:  Get enough good quality sleep (at least 7-8 hours)
• Week 2:  Limit tasting during cooking and food preparation 
• Week 1:  Wait one hour between dinner and dessert 

Grocery Shopping

Costco

Trader Joe’s

Sprouts

Menu Options

This week I took a little extra time to plan our menu because this Wednesday is Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of Lent.  On Ash Wednesday and Friday’s during Lent Catholics abstain from meat (fish, shellfish, and eggs not included).  At first I thought no problem we never eat read meat anyway and we eat fish and eggs as meat substitutes ALL the time, but I ran into a problem with lunch.  Typically lunch is a chicken salad, sandwich or its dinner leftovers.  So this week I was careful to plan to be able to have meatless meals for both lunch and dinner on Wednesday AND Friday.  I also included a “free night” which is when we just make stuff from whatever staple foods we have lying around.  I always have a few easy meals in mind for those nights though!

Breakfast

–  Whole Grain Waffles (buy one get one free at Sprouts!)

–  Cranberry Quinoa Breakfast Bars (recipe coming soon, similar to—> Cinnamon Apple Quinoa Breakfast Bars & Pumpkin Quinoa Breakfast Bars)

–  Overnight Oats (my most recent recipe fav—> Blueberry Muffing Overnight Oats)

–  Green Chile and Cheese DIY Frozen Breakfast Burritos

–  Quick Nut Butter & Banana Wraps 

Lunch

• Deli Meat Sandwich/Salad
• PB & J Sandwich
• Leftovers
• Breakfast foods like nut butter fruit wrap, egg scrambles, or wing it!
• Tuna Sandwiches

Dinner

Sunday- Hot Italian Chicken Sausage Stuffed Sweet Potato for me, Cranberry-Jalapeno Meatball Stuffed Pita for the hubby

Monday-Hot Italian Chicken Sausage Stuffed Sweet Potato for me, Cranberry-Jalapeno Meatball Stuffed Pita for the hubby

Tuesday- Asparagus and Leek Frittata

Wednesday- Shrimp Stir Fry Quinoa Bowls with Peanut Sauce

Thursday- Wing it/free night: Homemade Baked Corn Dogs, Pita Pizzas, Quesadillas, Egg Scramble

Friday- Salmon and Veggies

Saturday-  Wing it

*Prep ahead includes pulling breakfast bars, meatballs, chicken sausage out of the freezer and being done with it.  I bought pretty much all pre packaged veggies this time around because ain’t nobody got time for that when they buy a house and have to move even though their husband is gone every other weekend…. 

Fitness Plans

I got an email about the 30-Day Upper Body Challenge in my email from Eat, Drink, and Be Skinny which I immediately downloaded, printed and put on the fridge.  I think Paul may even want to do it too!

http://www.eatdrinkandbeskinny.com/upper-body-30-day-challenge/

Of course I’ll also be testing my limits with rehabbing my lower back/hip with light strengthening and run/walking.  Let you know how it goes!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s meal planning post, I hope we all have a fantastic week!