Weekly Menu Plan

I've found recently that having a menu plan for the week helps me not only eat healthier because all my meal and snack options are laid out and I don't "forget" what I have only to go get fast food. But it's helped me stay within my grocery budget.
 

Breakfast

Easy Egg Sandwiches

Muesli with apples

Whole Wheat Protein Pancakes


Lunch

Turkey Avocado wraps w/veggies and White Bean Hummus

Red Beans and Rice


Dinner

Homemade Pizza (recipe for best Whole Wheat Crust coming this week)

Mango Salsa Chicken w/broccoli

Chickpea Crockpot Pie (will be made Sunday for lunches next week)

I have several leftovers of the Lentil Soup and Whole Wheat Gnoochi with Sweet Potato Sauce I made last week and there are a couple lunches at work where food is provided, so this week's menu is once again skimpy, but I'm excited to try the Mango Chicken - it's something I haven't made before. And the turkey avocado wraps are the perfect compliment to the hot weather Nashville is experiencing this week - highs in the 80s all week!

Weigh in & A Dark Place

Weight Last Week: 264.6

Weight This Week: 263.4

1.2 pounds LOST this week

Lowest Weight Recorded: 232.2 on 4/22/12

66 pounds lost since June 2010





Sure, a technical loss, but it's been a sh*t pile of a week. Trying CrossFit on Tuesday left me more sore than I have ever being in my life - today is the first day I can *kinda* sit down without wincing in pain.


Is that an excuse? Sure it is. If I would have been out and active - even if my quads, shoulders and abs all wanted to die - I probably would have recovered earlier.


I just feel like I am in a vicious cycle of emotional eating and not wanting to do anything about it.


It's spring, the weather is nice, I should feel refreshed and recharged and instead I have to talk myself into getting myself out of bed in the morning.


I know this post is negative and it's not all "butterflies and puppies" so I'm sorry to those of you who are looking for inspiration. But this is what's real and I know I'm not alone, so I'd love for you to comment if you've experienced this vicious cycle of regaining weight-depression-emotional eating. If so, how did you get out of it?

This one time I tried CrossFit...

I had a moment of insanity and forgot all about my fear of CrossFit, and signed up for an Iron Tribe Nashville (ITF) class during the Nashville Scene Fitness Crawl.

It's never a good sign when your quads start to hurt IN THE MIDDLE of the work out.

The Iron Tribe Nashville franchise has two locations - Belle Meade and Brentwood. I chose to take my pain at Belle Meade location where Maxwell Jones and Eli Martorana are the co-owners.

The Belle Meade location has been open for a little over 2 months and is situated along one of the busiest roads in Nashville - Harding Pike. This is a great location for them and the place seems to be a hit.

I somehow coerced my co-worker and office mate, Megan, into joining the fun with me. I'm still not sure how I accomplished that, but GO MEGAN for going through with it!

I'm not going to lie - it was intimidating during the 10-15 minutes we were waiting for the class to start. I was clearly the biggest person there (guys and girls) and probably had twice the weight on me compared to the other women in the room. Most people already looked in shape and had arm muscles to prove it. More than once we talked about leaving.

But it was so hard to leave because Maxwell and Eli were so welcoming into their community and so we stayed. Can't say we didn't pay for it later.

Yesterday's WOD (or Workout Of the Day) was:

10 Burpees
20 Jump Squats
30 Crunches
100m run with weighted medicine ball (10#)

AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible)

We were partnered up and went to work. Thankfully, I got a really nice ITF member as my partner (I regret her name escapes me). She was encouraging and didn't seem to get frustrated at how SLOW I was - especially at burpees - OUCH!

"Rug" burn and bruising from the burpees

What I liked:
I loved the community aspect of CrossFit. I don't normally like group fitness situations, but the encouraging atmosphere and friendly competition aspect of ITF motivated me when I wanted to quit 5 minutes into the workout.

I also love that the actual workout was only 15 minutes. Yes, it was 15 minutes of intensity, but it was more mentally doable because I "only had to do it for 15 minutes".

What I didn't like:
The competitive aspect of trying to do "as many rounds or reps as you can" leads me to poor form, and I could see how I could potentially hurt myself.

I didn't feel like we warmed up or cooled down in any real way - and definitely not enough stretching at the end of the class.

All that to say, is if it was an affordable workout option, I would probably more seriously consider joining a CrossFit gym. The workouts seem like exactly what I'm missing (strength training) in my weight loss and fitness routine. However, it's just not in the budget as it stands right now, so maybe it's time to figure out how to incorporate strength training on my own?

Have you ever tried CrossFit? What did you think?

Weekly Menu Planning

Since I spent a lot of money eating out last week, I'm trying to use up things I have on hand for my menu this week - I previously had on-hand asparagus, lean ground beef, potatoes, lentils, and frozen veggies.

My grocery list this week consisted of staples - milk, bread. And fresh fruits and veggies - grapes, bananas, and spinach.

Not a very exciting menu this week, but everything is pretty healthy and I still have lots of veggies incorporated - two goals for myself every week.

Breakfast

Egg Sandwiches

Apple Museli

Scrambled eggs with black beans


Lunch

Leftover blue cheese burgers & asparagus

Potato soup with spinach

Turkey Sandwich w/grapes


Dinner

Chopped Chickpea Salad

Lentil Soup w/french bread

Whole Wheat Gnocchi w/Sweet Potato sauce and broccoli


Snacks

Carrots w/white bean dip

Bananas w/almond butter

Apples

Unsalted Almonds

Grapes

2% Fage Yogurt

Weekly Weigh-in

Weight Last Week: 259.0

Weight This Week: 264.6

5.6 pounds GAINED this week

Lowest Weight Recorded: 232.2 on 4/22/12

64.8 pounds lost since June 2010


Still on the rollercoaster...


I went into last week knowing what I needed to do, and I didn't do it. Unfortunately, it continued through the weekend. The only thing I can do turn it around faster than normal and not let my patter of lose, lose, gain, gain continue.

Nashville Food: Rolf & Daughters

Ever since I was clued into the culinary secret that is Rolf & Daughters, located in the Germantown neighborhood of Nashville, by my friend who works as a chef there, I have been dying to go. Until last night, the closest I'd gotten was a beer at the bar and a taste of the bombolino-Italian doughnuts that are filled with a vanilla cream and served alongside a chocolate dipping sauce - both which left a pleasant first taste and an itch to return. Since then, I'd made it my life's mission to get a dinner seat here.

And last night it happened.

Tucked in a corner of the Germantown neighborhood, where industrial meets residential. The space itself is a converted industrial building and many of the rustic and metal elements of the space are showcased.

Even though the menu isn't large, it's hard to choose what to order!

 Milano Mule - Gin based and made with their homemade ginger syrup - spicy and delicious! Also tried the cucumber sour

(L-R, Clockwise) Chicken liver pate, carrot marmalade, cacao; Crostini, whipped ricotta, beets;
Baby octopus, black garlic, pork belly, celeriac, Sourdough, seaweed butter

(L-R, Clockwise) Turnip greens and polenta; Hanger steak, spring onion, swiss chard, olive, rosemary;
Garganelli verde, heritage pork ragout, parmesano; Heritage chicken preserved lemon, confit garlic

(L-R, Clockwise) Even the coffee creamer presentation is awesome; Olive & Sinclair chocolate torte with sea salt;
Vanilla panna cotta with almond cookies; Bambolino-Italian doughnuts with vanilla cream and chocolate dipping sauce

There wasn't one thing that disappointed any of us at the table. Every bite we took was divine and so well crafted. You can certainly drop some money at this place, but every dollar is worth it for the quality of food they deliver.

I hear their menu is coming up for a change with the seasons, so I know it won't be soon enough before I can get back here!

Easy Peasy Breakfast Sandwiches

This post by Jen over at Prior Fat Girl, made me so want to share something I've been doing for a LONG time to make a quick, healthy and filling breakfast that also packs a punch of veggies first thing in the morning - microwave egg sandwiches!

• I spray a normal cereal bowl (about an 8 oz size) with non-stick cooking spray





• Add 2 eggs, dash of milk (non-dairy is ok), salt, and pepper, then mix





• Add a handful of spinach on top (sometimes I throw random veggies in the egg mixture, if I need to use something up)





• Microwave for 2 minutes, flip egg "patty" over in bowl
• Microwave for 1 more minute, remove
• Add egg to bread (toasted if you like) and top with cheese (also optional)





• Wrap in a napkin, to eat it in the car!

In 5 minutes you get a nutritious breakfast, that will stay with you until lunchtime!

You could also top with your favorite low-calorie condiment, add a couple slices of lunch meat or bacon, or even a sausage patty, if you wanted. This morning I added a few dashes of hot sauce.

What are some of your favorite, quick, filling and healthy breakfast ideas?

Weekly Menu Planning

One thing that makes me feel on track and in control is planning out my meals each week. By habit I am a weekly grocery shopper. I enjoy having fresh fruits and vegetables in the house at all times (seriously, if there aren't slightly green bananas on my counter, I'm lost) and by going to the grocery store weekly, it let's me do this.

I've been using The Peaceful Mom's Printable Meal Planning Tools to write down my menus and then hang them on the refrigerator as a reminder. Since I usually go to the grocery store sometime over the weekend, my menus are from Sat-Fri.

I'd like to start sharing my menus on the blog, along with recipes, so those of you reading can get a better idea of what I'm eating. In theory, I try to eat a well balanced diet of as many veggies as possible, fruits, whole grains, carbs high in resistance starch, lean protein, and low-fat dairy.

That being said, here's what I am eating this week.

Breakfast:

Egg, spinach and roasted red pepper pita pocket

Biggest Loser Oatmeal Pancakes

Carb Lover's Banana Shake

Easy Egg Sandwiches

Lunch:

Black Bean and Veggie Tacos (made up on the fly: flour tortilla, black beans, diced carrots, grilled peppers and onions, avocado, and hot sauce)

Carb Lover's Banana Shake

Carb Lover's Chicken Pita Sandwich

Tuna Salad w/Wasa crackers, carrots and an apple

Carb Lover's Chickpea Chopped Salad

Dinner:

Baked Salmon w/Parmesan topped baked potato and broccoli (inspired by this Carb Lover's recipe)

Crockpot Chickpea pot pie, Deviled Eggs, and Salad (Easter Sunday)

Carb Lover's Grilled Burgers and 3-bean salad

I've been drawing a lot of inspiration from the good ole' Carb Lover's Diet book because their recipes are well-rounded, healthy, easy, and taste good. This is also an odd week because I have things after work three nights this week, plus my friend is in town Wednesday-Friday so I expect more eating out than normal. That is why I only have 3 dinner varieties listed.