What the plan looks like

A lot of people have been curious about what my plan looks like, and what my prep looks like.
I've talked a little about how I prep but I thought I would show how it goes down.

My day is broken into five/six meals.
Meal #1: I usually eat breakfast between 5:30 and 6:00am. This is what breakfast looks like:

Breakfast is one of these three options^^  I mix it up just a little, but this week since I've made the muffins, I will just eat two a day with my eggs. The eggs are 3 egg whites plus one full eggs. Sometimes I make my full egg a hard boiled egg and eat my egg whites scrambled. 

Meal #2: I usually eat this meal when my kids go to specials. That's at 10:15, so usually I get to eat it around 10:30AM. This meal is 4oz. of chicken (baked), 60 grams of rice (Jasmine) and some veggies. When I prepare my chicken breast, I trim the extra fat off and then coat them with Head Country BBQ seasoning. I put them on a cookie sheet and into an oven set at 350 for about 25 minutes. This meal looks like this>> 

Meal #3 is "lunch" I eat at 12:30ish, while my third graders are at lunch and my second graders are at recess. This consists of either one can of tuna or one cup of cottage cheese and a Mozz stick. Looks like this: 

I put a ton of pickles in this and some mustard 

 Meal #4 is 4oz. of meat (chicken or turkey) ... I eat deli meat at this time, easy to eat on the go. And 1oz. of almonds (and honestly some days I don't get to the almonds) >>

<<Meal #5 is 'dinner' and sometimes it is at 4:30 or 5:00... sometimes it's at 6:30, depending on what I have going on for the evening. Dinner is 4oz. of lean beef (ground sirloin 90/10 is what I've been getting)

When I prepare my beef, I put it in the skillet and then sprinkle it with a packet of taco seasoning... gives it flavor and it's not over-poweringly "taco" ... I usually heat it up and throw it into a salad or into some veggie soup I've made....


Last week and this week, I made up veggie soup. I used veggie broth and added in a whole onion, celery, carrots and garlic. Then I put in a package of pre-shredded cabbage, and a bunch of kale and spinach. I dumped in a can of diced tomatoes and mushrooms and let it all simmer together. It's a nice base to add the beef to to make a meal!

I also made the 'muffins' for breakfasts. They're super easy to make!
2 Bananas
2 Eggs
1 cup fat free milk
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup sugar free syrup
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbl cinnamon
3 cups Oats
Mix it all together, spray muffin tins really well, fill them 2/3 way full, top with chocolate chips/blueberries/apples/whatever, and then bake at 350 for 25 min. Viola!

 So after doing this for a few weeks, I am seeing results. The major change has been this "diet" and really just trusting it and what my trainer has told me to do. You have to believe and trust in the process of it all, and remember that it will take time. I keep telling myself that I didn't get to that "start weight" by knowing everything. So I've had to re-train my brain and do the things I'm learning that I need to do. With the results I have been seeing I am so excited to see where I am at the end of the year!!

Slow and Steady

This whole Healthy U process has only been going on for about a month, but I have already learned so many things and made so many changes.

I've been asking myself "Why was this so hard before?"
Well... for one, I know that I am being held accountable not just to my team but also to my coach and the community. I want to do well for everyone invested!

So far, I think I have re-trained my brain in some aspects of life.
I prep my meals each week for the week ahead. Because I have a plan (not calling it a diet) I know what I am eating and when I am eating it. And because I have this plan and meals prepped, it takes away the guessing work for food for the week. I can now focus on other areas of my life because I have food simplified. {I feel like I've said that before, but it was worth repeating.}

Fridge Stocked for the Week! 

This week, I have mixed things up just a tad. I put my veggies into a broth, to eat like a soup. And I've eaten it so far where I just add my meat to the broth and make it a meal! It's yummy and filling :)

I've also taken my "lunch" meal and done 5/7 days of cottage cheese and 2/7 days tuna. That gets in some seafood for the week.

So far during this process I have lost 14lbs and I've lost a little over 19 inches total.

But the real gains have been in my bank account. Now that I am prepping meals for the week and have taken the guess-work out of it all, I am not wasting food.
In the past, I would have gone to the store and bought all my "healthy" foods for the week. Then, on the way home I would have stopped through the drive-thru. When I got home, I would have put away my food and then scarffed down my Large Value Meal and not even been satisfied. So I would have picked out the "easy" foods and snacked on them!

I was doing a crappy job of using what I had: Because I didn't prep meals, each night would become "oh, I'll just swing by (insert fast food location) and it will be warm.." And then a lot of my "healthy" foods I had bought would go to waste.

I would spend $100+ on food at the store for the week and then throughout the week, spend another $100+ on eating out as well not to mention lunches ($2.50 for a school lunch <yuck!>). So wasteful.

That has been a motivator in itself, to save that money to spend it on something fun!

The gym was a bit of a struggle for me this past week, and by that I mean that I didn't get in to the gym every day. I *try* to get to the gym each morning. If I'm there by 3:30AM then I get my workout in before 4:30 and can be home and in the shower by 5AM ... which is perfect for me.

Me. At the Gym. At 4ishAM... It's nice and quiet!! 

BUT sometimes that doesn't work out.
So I've been also going in in the afternoons somedays to make up for not getting in in the morning. Afternoons means a class (Body Pump or Turbo Kick) I love classes. They provide a group atmosphere and are fun!

I have had to speak some truth to myself lately as well. First of all, slow progress is still progress. I haven't seen the scale go down in quite a few years so anything that is less than it previously was is good.
Next, I didn't put all this weight on over night or even in a month... it's taken years. So it is going to take a while to get it off. And I am finally in a headspace to allow myself to do it.
And also... I have learned that I am going to make mistakes. I am going to eat something that wasn't on the plan. Or miss a day's workout. I am not on "the Biggest Loser" and I can't expect their results. I can expect the results that are right for my body.

And remember... 

Triumph

I have had a lot of exciting things happening in my professional life lately: Being chosen as the Teacher of the Year for my elementary school, and then on Wednesday being announced as the Teacher of the Year for my entire district was extremely exciting! I was overwhelmed the rest of the week with cards, flowers, comments, tweets, likes and shares... honestly it's been completely overwhelming!

Our school week was pretty hectic also: Scott Joplin Assembly, 100th Day Celebration, Character Assembly, Valentine's Day Parties... changes in routine have always added stress which then causes me to grab quick snacks or whatever's easy.

But this week, I am claiming triumph.

I was prepared with my meals and everyone around me has been extremely supportive.
For the 100th day, I bought snacks to give to my students: ya know, cheese balls, pretzels, cookies, etc. I decided I could have just a few of the cheese balls (my fave) and I scooped out a serving, and that was all I had. (In the past I would have mindlessly eaten a ton)

This week I was down 6 lbs.
That means since being chosen for Healthy U, I am down 15 lbs.
Which is extremely exciting!

Without noticing, I have basically cut out sugar from my diet.
I am learning to fuel my body and not just eat food because.

My skin is better, and I feel better overall from the changes I have made in this short time!

I know this week will bring with it its own challenges and and excitements ... and every week will, because that's life. But if I can claim triumph over more weeks than weeks that I feel defeated, I will be successful! And I have to remember that we still have 325 days left on this journey! I don't have to have it ALL figured out at this moment in time!

"Diet"

So we're technically two weeks into Healthy U.
(Our class has had a lot of unique situations already!)

We had our first weigh-in this past Thursday. I was down 3 pounds! And down 9 pounds since I first weighed in for my physical to be cleared for the program.

I had made it a personal goal for myself to do really well on my diet, because that is where in the past I have always really struggled. And I haven't been PERFECT, but I've been pretty close! And now that I have done a better job with my diet, I am seeing faster results in the gym since my body is being fueled proper nutrition and not just whatever I want whenever I want it.

I can feel the composition of my body changing: which is what I'm most interested in.

My family has been asking me a lot of questions about what I eat, when I eat it, how much, etc. And I answer their questions the best I can... and one day my cousin asked if I would prep meals for her if she purchased the food. I said yes (because I literally can't say no when people ask me to do them favors) and then several other family members joined in.

So, today we had a meal prep party. We prepped meals for 4 people, 6 meals for each for the upcoming week. That's 168 meals! We did it in 5 hours, which is pretty good. I haven't prepped for myself this week yet, but I am getting ready to.

I told my nutrition coach that I have really enjoyed this so far because I know exactly what I'm eating and when. So it has curbed my need to drive through the drive-thru and get meals that are thousands of calories. My blood sugar stays pretty steady, so I don't have crashes and cravings like in the past. Over all, my meals have been going well! Which I'm excited about. Like I said, I wanted to really focus on my diet/nutrition at first and then get the gym thing figured out.

Yay for the new week!