Sunday, January 16, 2011

Menu Planning, Two Weeks at a Time

Breakfasts: Granola, fruit, yogurt, muffins. We have some blueberry,  banana chocolate chip and cornbread muffins to eat up. Yummy!

Lunches: Leftovers. We have a bunch of things in the fridge from last week- chicken and rice, chicken burritos, dinners from Hangar 19 and Gladstones. And of course, there's almost always leftovers when I cook dinner since the kids rarely eat much of what I make. :(

As for dinner, here's the plan-
Sunday:
  • Chili (I made this at the beginning of last week, but forgot that the recipe makes twice as much as I can fit in my crock pot, so we're having it again!)
  • Cornbread muffins
Monday:
  • Pesto pasta with chicken (I'm going to base it off of this recipe and use pesto we picked up at the Farmer's Market.)
  • Steamed veggies
Tuesday:
  • Leftovers
Wednesday
  • Meatballs
  • Mashed potatoes
Thursday
  • Going out with my sweets
Friday
  • Leftovers
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
  • Leftovers
Tuesday
Wednesday
  • Leftovers
Thursday
Friday
  • Leftovers 
Saturday
  • Macaroni and cheese (looking for a yummy recipe... let me know if you have one!)
  • Green salad

Sunday, January 9, 2011

I'm not ready for New Year's Resolutions...

...Or maybe I am ready. I mean, I only have one: Finding Balance. It's not very specific, but certainly important considering how my year ended up (with me feeling like there wasn't nearly enough time for any of the things that I thought were important). I feel like I'm doing okay balancing so far, although we're only a week into the year.

But I think it's also important to revisit my goals from last year- the ones that I wrote when I started this blog back in March. It was Brody's birthday, which is quickly approaching again. My baby is going to be two soon! Before that anniversary, I figured I better check in to see how far I've gotten (or just how off track).

So here's my original list of what I wanted to change:

-Lose weight
-Have a more active lifestyle
-Cook food at home
-Eat healthier food (less fast food)
-Find a hobby
-Spend less money at Target
-Improve the world (volunteer)
-Drink less soda
-Use reusable bags
-Spend less time on the computer
-Stop reading emails, etc. while driving
-Let Chris know that I appreciate him
-Keep my car clean

The biggest success? I lost the weight that I wasn't sure I was ever going to lose. And more importantly, I've kept it off for several months and didn't even rebound during the holidays. Hurray! I'd like to say that I'm eating healthy and exercising and I've changed my whole life around to be far more healthy. I'd like to, but I can't. No, what really happened is I went on Weight Watchers, semi-starved myself for a few months, and then have tried not to binge-eat since then.

I think part of my problem was that I eat when I am stressed or bored, and at the time when I started this blog, I was stressed out about being pretty much a full-time stay at home mom to an infant (which also made me a little bored). Some stay at home moms are amazing at their job and think that's the best thing in the world. And I know that there are other moms who have to work full-time and just wish they had the option to stay at home. Neither of those are me. I need to work part-time in order to have a break from a life revolving around sleep schedules and breast feeding and dirty diapers.

Now that Brody has gotten a little older, life has gotten a little easier- no more breast feeding, and the sleep schedule (although certainly not perfect) is much, much better. Even potty training is on its way. And starting last fall, I was able to pick up a few more hours at work, which gives me less time for boredom (at the eating that goes with it). Which all adds up to a skinnier me! I mean, I'm certainly no super model, but I do feel much better after leaving behind that extra 25 pounds I've been carrying around for way too long.

And as for the other goals on my list? I don't think I was nearly as successful with those, although there was definitely at least some progress in each of them. There are a few that I am trying to revisit as this new year has begun- making time to cook at home for most meals (and therefore eating healthier and drinking less soda), spending less time on the computer (although hopefully blogging with a little more regularity since it helps to keep me sane), and having a more active lifestyle (I need to find at least one class at the gym that I can commit to on a weekly basis). I was doing all of these fairly well for awhile last summer, but then I got caught up in working more hours and volunteering at Jake's school and wasn't quite able to balance it all.

Time to start balancing...

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Menu Planning... Starting Afresh in the New Year

Okay, new year, time for new resolutions. This is my year of trying to find balance. I want to continue working, volunteering at Jake's school, being home with the kids... but I don't want to feel so stressed out trying to fit it all in. I need to revisit my goals from last year. Things were going pretty well until the school year started in the fall, and I no longer seemed to have enough time for everything. I stopped cooking, didn't make it to the Farmer's Markets to buy fresh produce, and our eating habits suffered. And I honestly don't remember the last time I made it to the gym. Miraculously, I haven't really put any weight back on (at least not yet), but now seems like a good time to get things back in line before they go quickly downhill.

Finding Balance. Not sure how to make it happen yet, but I do know that it all goes better when I plan everything out ahead of time. Maybe it's just the act of making the list itself that helps me feel more organized. So, here's my first list for 2011- meal plans for this week and next. Happy New Year!

Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
  • Leftovers
Monday
  • Chicken and rice casserole with broccoli
Tuesday
  • Leftovers
Wednesday
  • Dinner out
Thursday
  • Soup and grilled cheese
Friday