What do I eat?

     I have been asked by one of my "Awesome people" to give some examples of what I eat. I am happy to share that with everyone because diet and nutrition is so important when it comes to succeeding.
    
     I never looked as the "24 Day Challenge" as being a diet that I would do and quit. I used it to my advantage to change the way I think about food and nutrition. One of the trainers at my gym posted this on facebook this morning and I love it:

"Did you know that God made food for nutrition. Although, He did make food enjoyable, He didn't expect for every meal to be more enjoyable than the last. Nor did he mean for us to over stuff ourselves. Look at what he was feeding His own people, the Israelites in the wilderness. He feed them Mana. Boring and bland. 3 meals a day for an extremely long time! But it served His purpose.....nutrition."- Diane (Trainer at YMCA)

    I really liked this because I have had a hard time with my diet my whole life because I was raised eating everything on my large plates, eating fried and fast food, and drinking sodas. I am happy to say that for the past month I am soda free!!! It feels so good. I drink SPARK, water, and mineral water. My friend for the longest time has told me how much she loves Perrier. I drank it a couple of time when I drank sodas and thought it was gross. After I gave up soda I tried it again and now I am hooked! It is natural, has no calories or anything in it....a little pricey but worth it.

   
       OK..getting to the point of this post..what I eat. I keep a food journal every day. I think it is important because it is easy to lie to ourselves about how much and what we eat if we are not writing it down. Even Carrie Underwood does this...it is a good habit to continue even after you are done with your weight loss journey. This type of journal works perfectly because it fits right in my purse and I can put my pencil right down the side. Yes..I use a pencil..I hate when something looks sloppy and it is much easier to erase and re-write rather than write the whole thing over again ((which I have done)). I do not write the calorie of each thing just because then I feel like I am "dieting", and I do not want to do that. If you feel like you want to do that to keep up with your calorie intake, I think you should do it then. If you look at my example, you will also see that is where I write up my workouts for the day. I actually have a few places that I put that, but this is one of them. Where it says "Shake" that is a chocolate AdvoCare meal replacement shake..they are so delicious and filling and only 220 calories. I have vanilla flavored coming and I can't wait to try them. They are perfect for this mommy who is always on the go.

 

   I was lucky joinng the AdvoCare team that I joined because my mentors provided me with so much more than I paid for. When I signed up they gave me two meal plans plus nutrition and fitness advice. I have heard from other 24 day challenger's that not everyone does that. I never followed the meal plans to a T, but I came really close, and made a few of the recipes that I now love.

This is what 3 days of eat looks like for me:



Food Diary-

Monday:

Breakfast- oatmeal and watermelon
Lunch- Baked Potato with corn, Cayenne pepper, salsa, stick of string cheese
Dinner- 100% whole wheat flat bread, carved turkey, serving of avocado, mustard

Tuesday:
Breakfast- low fat cottage cheese, 1 egg, 1 egg white, 5 strawberries
Lunch- lettuce, grilled chicken, red wine vinegar and olive oil, banana
Snack- handful of almonds
Dinner- turkey chili, steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Wednesday:
Breakfast- Whole wheat English muffin, watermelon
Lunch- lettuce, grilled chicken, red wine vinegar and olive oil, pepper, and banana

After work out snack- handful of almonds
Dinner- bowl of chili and pickled red cabbage

***only drinking SPARK, water bottles, mineral water***

    

     You may remember this from an earlier post, but one of my FAVES, I eat almost daily, is 100% whole wheat flat bread or English muffin with natural peanut butter and either fresh strawberries or banana. I will have this for breakfast or lunch depending on which one I have my shake for.  It is fast and so delicious. I do not use jelly at all..just fresh fruit.

Some examples of what I eat:

     I love Cuties!! They are easy to peel and great for traveling. I never have just one, but because they are so tiny, having two is just fine. I always have these in my house because not only do I love them, my children love them too. I love Almond milk! Someone once told me that it is the "whole wheat" of milk and that was enough for me to try it...now I am hooked! Since my husband and I are the only ones that eat rice in our house there is no reason to make a large serving of rice.  He and I will split one of these single servings of rice, and there are no left overs. Rice is never good the next day anyway.

     I hope that this helps someone. If you think that the 24 Day Challenge is something you would like to try, or any of the AdvoCare products, please feel free to contact me or click the link and look around. If you sign up for the 24 Day Challenge with me you will get the meal plans and guidance like I received. I have changed my life! Rather than "falling off my diet plan" now that my challenge is over, I am getting better at making even smarter choices.

     What are you favorite heathy meals and foods? I am always looking for new ideas and new recipes.