On the go lunch

Help me brainstorm more "on the go" lunch ideas over at facebook.com/notaneffingdiet

I have to head back to work for a new scho year, and I need some delicious lunch and snack ideas!

Thanks in advance!facebook.com/notaneffingdiet

Back to reality

           I made it back from Nebraska yesterday. Overall, it was an awesome trip; your grandma only turns 90 once so you have to get there for that! I love to see my family and I always have fun with them. I love being in a small town and being away from the internet. My cell phone barely works while I’m there! It was hard to post while I was there and I couldn’t get enough reception to read other blogs! Last night I was speed reading to catch up on everything I missed!

            So, the eating was a little difficult. I did the best that I could. There is not fast food close to where I was staying, so that was easy to avoid, but my family is full of amazing cooks! Even taking a small scoop of all the different foods was way over my calorie limit! I was still able to refuse seconds, pass on deserts, and drink a lot of water!

            I’ve been following meal plans for over a year now and I’m really good at following my plans. My trip to Nebraska was the first time I was following the meal plan without following the meal plan. (I hope that makes sense.) To put it another way, I had to rely on my body to tell me when it was time to eat and when it was time to stop eating. I feel like I did pretty good. I wasn’t totally perfect, but for the first time, I was pretty good.

            I had one aunt who was trying to sabotage me! It was kind of funny and she was joking more than anything. I pretty much told her she was the devil and everyone agreed. Anyway, I didn’t give into her temptations. I refused the fried chicken, I refused the sweets, but I didn’t refuse her pad thai. She makes the best pad thai ever. It was full of tofu, shrimp, chicken, and veggies. I know I ate too much of that, but there is no way I can ever refuse her pad thai.

            The working out was difficult too. I really wanted to take more walks, but there were so many people to visit with and I also wanted to see my grandma as much as possible. She’s not super mobile these days, so taking walks with her was out of the question.

            Overall, I had an awesome trip. I think I may have set myself back just a little, but I had to see my family. I will get back on track this week. Today starts my regular eating every three hours and following the calorie amounts for each meal. If I have to work double time in the gym this week, I will. 

Me and Grandma July, 2009

Me and Grandma March, 2011

I totally packed my own snacks!

More snacks!

Temptations

             Eating every three hours is actually easy to do. I can plan all of my meals the night before and I know exactly what I’m going to have and when I’m going to have it! However, there are tricky times.

            When I walk into work and I realize that it is a carry-in day; my heart usually skips a beat. I panic a little because carry-ins have the best snack foods. People bring brownies, taco dip, meatballs, cheese balls, etc, etc, etc. I usually stare longingly at the food; thinking about what I’m going to eat and how delicious it’s going to be, and then I decide to eat none of it.

            Now, most people would be able to eat a tiny amount of these things and be ok, but not me. I know that if I eat a little, I will keep going back. It is like the snowball effect. It will just get out of control. I have to walk away from all of it and that is when I know that my self control is at a ridiculously high level.

It’s also a mixed bag of feelings after that too. I’m really proud of myself for passing up the temptation, but them I’m pissed that I can’t have any. I start to run through all the typical thoughts:

1. Everyone else can do it, why can’t I?
2. I’ll just have a taste.
3. Stupid meal plan…I should just go back to being fat and eating what I want.
4. Oh my god, why am I having these thoughts. I think I’m addicted to food!

I really think I am addicted to food. I love food, it’s no secret, but I even think about food when I’m not eating. Sometimes as I’m eating, I’m thinking about the next time I’m going to eat and what I’m going to eat! I think that’s insane behavior.

The worst temptation is when I’ve had a bad day and I really don’t want to cook; I just want to go get some delicious fast food. I just want to go home and do nothing but eat. Before the meal plan I would go get fast food and not worry about the day. Now, I have no choice, bad day or not I’m making my own meals, dirtying my dishes, and cleaning when I’m done. That does nothing but make my day worse. Who wants to clean when they’ve had a bad day? Not me! I just want to lie around and do nothing!

No matter what, there are always going to be temptations around, and for the rest of my life I’m going to imagine myself stuffing my face with delicious, fatty, deep fried foods. Then I’m going to have to snap back to reality and get on my way. I just don’t think a Whopper with cheese is in my near future.  

This gum tastes like ice cream!

          I have discovered so many foods and snacks that I never knew existed. I guess when you can’t eat or drink whenever you want; you come up with new favorite things. My latest favorite thing is gum that tastes like ice cream. Not only does is taste like ice cream, it tastes like mint chocolate chip! I love all things ice cream and I consider myself an expert on all things ice cream, so take my word for it when I say it is awesome. 

          Also, people ask me from time to time what I eat. It’s hard to tell people, because I eat what I want, but I eat in smaller portions at certain times. The other day I was thinking about some of my new favorite foods and snacks and thought I would share with you some of my favorites.

***All of these things are pretty low calorie and the all have no more than 2 grams of saturated fat per serving.***

1. Whole wheat eggos or low fat eggos. Serving size for both is 2 eggos and they are 140 calories per serving.
2. Laughing cow cheese wedges, all varieties. All flavors are 35 calories per wedge and it is great with crackers.
3. Craisin 100 calorie packs. This is pretty self explanatory for serving size and calories.
4. Flavored Craisins, especially the Cherry Flavored and Pomegranate Flavored varieties. Serving size 1/3 cup and they are 140 calories per serving.
5. Planters NUT-rition, Digestive Health Mix. Serving size 3 tablespoons and it is 140 calories per serving.
6. Planters NUT-rition, Energy Mix. Serving Size ¼ cup and it is 190 calories per serving.
7. Morningstar Farms Grillers Tomato and Basil Pizza Burgers. 120 calories/burger and these are freaking awesome with some fresh tomatoes and other veggies, seriously.
8. Morningstar Farms Grillers California Turk’y Burger. 90 calories/burger and these are also awesome with fresh veggies and Sweet Thai Chili Sauce.
9. Clif Bars, all varieties. 240 calories/serving. These look gross, but they are fantastic, I promise.
10. Greek Yogurt, all varieties, all brands. I’ve tried a lot of different brands and they are all good. I’ve also found different brands with different calories. Some were 120 calories/serving and others have been 11o, 100, and even 90 calories/serving.
11. Extra Mint Chocolate Chip Gum. This stuff is amazing and I chew a lot of gum between my eating times.

So, these are some of my new favorites. I feel like there are more, but I can’t think of them right now. Maybe you eat some of these things or maybe you know of other delicious things I have not come upon!

 I made myself laugh while I was making this list because I could rattle off the calories without even looking. I guess I eat a lot of the same foods over and over! I wasn’t even going to put the calorie content of anything, but I knew all of them without even going to look, so I decided I might as well put it out there!

I also feel like this makes me look like I eat super healthy. Truthfully, sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. Like I said, I often get asked what I eat and I think sometimes when I say pizza, Taco Bell, Chipotle, etc, etc people look at me like I’m lying. All I can tell them is that it’s really portion control so I have the freedom to eat what I want!