Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner...and a few snacks too

I am LOVING my Women's Health Magazine that I recently ordered. It has kept me extremely motivated and has helped me find so many new recipes and workouts. So far I have 3 issues (because when I ordered them I got two issues for free) and I look to each of them often to boost my workouts. The Shred and C25K are going GREAT! Today I start week 4 of running and I'm a bit nervous b/c it has a straight 5 minute run and I'm hoping my mind will hold out...it's been talking smack lately and I might have to turn the I-Pod up to drown it out. You see back in March, for those who don't know, I did the Biggest Loser Challenge through my kids school. Well, I successfully lost 12 pounds during the 10 weeks. The challenge ended in May and so did my exercise. The kids were home for the summer, 2 boys were playing all-star baseball, and I just couldn't seem to get on any type of schedule for working out. And we ate out over the summer...A LOT! So, stating the obvious, I put those 12 pounds right back on.

I weighed myself back at the beginning of September and was surprised...well not really...but I guess I was praying for a miracle. So, slap in the face, I realized I had to get back to it b/c nothing was stopping that scale from continuing to go up.

Anyway, back to my mind talking smack, I have lost 5 pounds in the last two weeks and I want to be excited and pat myself on the back and say "You can do this. Again". But then my mind creeps in and says, "Duh you idiot it's 5 pounds that you had already lost. You still have 6 pounds just to get back to where you were and then lost the rest from there." So, it's hard to be excited when it's 5 pounds that shouldn't be there in the first place. But if I don't reward myself I'll give up again and so continues the Yo-Yo.

Ok, back to what this post was originally about anyway, FOOD! One thing I've learned from Women's Health is that women don't get enough healthy proteins...which is key to losing weight. We should be getting 115-150 grams of protein a day...that means we should be eating it with every meal.

Breakfast I have loved lately...
*Oatmeal, w/ all natural P'nut butter, apples sauteed w/ Smart Balance and Cinnamon
*Oatmeal but sub bananas instead of apples
*Kashi Go-Lean Berry Blend
*Omelets w/ spinach and sliced string cheese w/ variety of fresh fruits on the side
**I want to try oatmeal this week w/ pumpkin in it...the others are tasting like warm pies or oatmeal crisps, so I'm imagining pumpkin pie...mmmmm

Lunches...
*Tuna salad (made w/ Greek Yogurt instead of Mayo), on spelt asiago toast from Trader Joe's, string cheese, apples
*Roasted red pepper hummus w/ tons of sliced veggies and peppers
*All natural p'nut butter and all natural strawberry fruit spread on toasted Ezekiel, raw veggies, and fruit
*Turkey roll ups w/ bell peppers, Babybel, yogurt

Dinners...
*Grilled chicken, grilled zuch. and squash, rice pilaf
*Grilled Talapia, Quinoa (cooked in Thai Coconut Curry broth), sauteed tomatoes and onions
*Chicken Primavera
*Pork w/ mushroom gravy, sweet potatoes, cous cous
*Chicken curry, Basmati rice, and Naan, and sauteed fresh green beans

Snacks...
*Honeycrisp apples w/ raw almond butter and cinnamon
*string cheese and any fruit
*Fiber One yogurts and organic granola
*almonds and fruit
*oh and yummy Trader Joe's Meringue

Most of the recipes have come from Women's Health, Publix Apron's meals, and somethings I just throw together b/c they sound good:)