Disclaimer: I am NOT a health, fitness or diet professional. I am simply providing ideas and meal planning that have worked for me along my weight loss journey. ALWAYS consult a professional before beginning any weight loss plan.
Before you read more, make sure you’ve read…
You GUYS! Once again blown away by the response to my weight loss and meal planing posts. As I said before, I honestly did not expect so much interest in this topic on my blog. Nice little break though once in a while from our house renovation madness. Plus, it’s been great lately because we have one flip on the market and our personal house renovation (OHW) is at a standstill waiting for materials to arrive. I have a feeling though (I pray) that… the flip will sell, our current home will sell and OHW will be full speed ahead… all at the EXACT same time. So I will enjoy this lull. If you can even call it that. But as Mark and I always say “Bring. It. On.” I love it too because as you know, I share most of what we have going in our lives and healthy living has become a huge part of my life as well!
So far, 111 of you have pledged to join my “AW Weight Loss Group” in my post “Who Wants to Join Me?” How amazing is that?!? I will be the first to admit that I am not a professional in any aspect of weight loss, fitness, cooking or anything even remotely related to any of those topics. I am simply a girl that hates to cook, hates to grocery shop yet loves to eat healthy. So basically my meal ideas are super easy with minimal ingredients and are usually made in bulk. I LOVE to cook enough for two to three nights in one dinner prep. Also, as I mentioned in previous posts, I want these posts to be an OPEN FORUM for feedback, progress updates (from me AND you!), things you’ve loved, things you haven’t loved, questions, etc…
First things first, if I want you guys to share YOUR progress, I guess I must share my own! And I must also say that this is an open AND honest, judgement free zone. So to be honest, I lost and then gained so I am basically back to where I started on post one (134lbs w/ a goal of 120-125lbs). Boo. I did SO good leading up to our trip and was down about 3lbs and even started off our beach trip good as well. BUT by day four, it was all out the window and mojitos became my beachside drink of choice. Not to mention the smoked tuna dip that Mark ordered for appetizer at every single restaurant all week long. And then we were off again to Aruba several weeks later. So basically yea… Not so great. LOL. Soo, I begin again…
I will call this the “Crazy Busy, “You Are Lucky to Even Have Dinner on the Table”, Mom Edition 😉 Otherwise known as, school is starting back, work has been crazy and life has been busy… meal planning! Maybe it’s just me but these last couple of weeks of Summer have seriously been a huge mix of emotions. I feel a rant/confession/real life post coming on. In the meantime, here is my newest healthy eating/meal planning post! And like I said before, PLEASE let me know how it is going for you!
Here’s a look at my last grocery shopping trip as well as this first 2-3 weeks worth of meal and snack ideas! Check back again in in a couple of weeks for Round 3!
GROCERY LIST
Printable Version: Healthy Eating Grocery List- Part Two
BREAKFAST
Mini Egg Frittatas
I was a total slacker and did not do my own photography for this week’s breakfast idea BUT I found a similar recipe via I Heart Naptime to share with you. Basically, it’s a muffin pan, an egg and then toppings of your choice! Pop it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes and you literally have breakfast for the entire week! This week I used one egg and diced mini peppers in each muffin tin. So easy!
SNACK IDEAS
Fresh Fruit
Brad’s Crunchy Kale
SuperSeedz Pumpkin Seeds
Lara Bars
LUNCH IDEA
This is honestly one of my faves! I simply cook an entire box of frozen turkey patties at the beginning of the week and then each day I heat it up and load on the fresh salsa, a slice of Sargento Thin Cheese and half of an avocado. Super filling and SUPER easy!
DINNER IDEAS
When I first embarked on my weight loss journey in 2008, I learned SO much about reading labels. And one of the lessons that has stuck with me most is the amount of sugar in most everything. I remember I was shocked to read how much sugar was in spaghetti sauce alone! That was when I started to make my own homemade spaghetti sauce. I honestly cannot say that I have a “recipe” for it because I change it up every time but it’s simply…
Canned Organic Crushed or Diced Tomatoes
Canned Organic Tomato Sauce
Onion
A Dash of Stevia
Spices
I typically make a HUGE pot of the sauce and add ground turkey (usually four containers) to last at least 2-3 evenings. From there, I change it up and create several different meals from that same pot of spaghetti sauce. Here are two…
Turkey Spaghetti w/ Zoodles
Ground Turkey Spaghetti Sauce (ingredients listed above)
Zucchini (spiraled) (DO NOT cook the “zoodles”)
Fresh Basil
Fresh Mozzarella
Addie loves to help me make the zoodles and then we season them with olive oil and different Italian seasonings. Top it off with the pre-made spaghetti sauce and garnish with fresh basil and fresh mozzarella. Both of my girls LOVE this meal!
Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
So remember the ground turkey spaghetti sauce you tucked away in the fridge or even froze? Well here is the second recipe where I use it in a whole new way!
Ground Turkey Spaghetti Sauce (ingredients listed above)
One Can Drained Black Beans
2-3 Cups Cooked Quinoa
Heat up spaghetti sauce on the stove and then add one can of drained black beans and desired amount of cooked quinoa. Cut off the top of 5-6 green or red peppers and remove the seeds. Fill each pepper with the heated mixture. Add a thin slice of fresh mozzarella to the top of each pepper. Pop them into the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Turkey Burger, Salad and Sweet Potato/Beet Slices
If you aren’t completely over turkey burgers yet come dinnertime, this is a fave in our house. We add several sides and make it a meal! I am still OBSESSED with the Taylor Farms salads that I shared on my last post. We love the Sweet Kale version the most and then I add sliced cherry tomatoes and diced avocado. For the potato/beet side, I simply thin slice one sweet poatato and one beet. I drizzle it with olive oil and then add salt, pepper and cumin. Pop it in the oven and seriously so yummy and healthy! I love when I can get them super thin and crunchy.
The Plan
So you have the grocery list and the meal ideas, so now what? For breakfast and lunch, I usually eat the exact items above… One Egg Frittata for breakfast and a Turkey Burger and/or Taylor Farm Salad for lunch… every single day for about two weeks.
Here’s what I typically do for dinner… I prepare enough of the two meals above for two nights each and then alternate with a simple fish, veggie and salad dinner to change things up. So for six nights of meal planning, I would do something like this…
Monday- Turkey Spaghetti w/ Zoodles
Tuesday- Grilled Fish, Veggie & Sweet Potato/Beet Side
Wednesday- Quinoa Stuffed Peppers & Salad
Thursday- Turkey Burger, Salad & Sweet Potato/Beet Side
Friday- Grilled Fish, Veggie & Salad
Saturday- Dine Out
Sunday- Turkey Spaghetti w/ Zoodles
The plan above means I am MAYBE cooking 3-4 nights a week and the other 2-3 nights are leftovers from when I over-prepared earlier in the week. The superfood salad side we eat at dinner is leftover from the salad I prepared that day for lunch or even vice vera if you need a quick lunch to grab on the go!
So are you ready for a workout too? Here is what I have been doing for the last two weeks…
10 Push Ups
25 Squats
25 Sit Ups
40 Lunges
80 Jumping Jacks
30 Second Wall Sit
REPEAT THREE TIMES!
XOXO, Brittany Hayes
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