Monday, September 13, 2010

Having a huge set back the first week!

So, last week I decided I needed to reevaluate where I am and where I am going. I decided to rejoin the challenge and seriously do it this time. It was going great for the first two days and then on Thursday, the stomach flu!! Now I am not sure if any of you remember, but when I joined this blog the first time I also got the stomach flu, so I am wondering is HLHW causing this sickness?!? Kidding!! But very ironic. So it was a rough week and I didn't even post on the blog, there was too much sickness and then catch up and then a baby sick.

I had been reading about everyones lunches and I must say I am pretty impressed. I am a scrapper and go to crops when I can, but i have never even thought to bring measuring cups or a scale, ingenious! I find my lunches consisting of the same thing every day, usually pbj, because its fast and easy and relatively lo-cal. I need to have a more balanced lunch but I have such a hard time actually making something yummy because of the time. Even reading about Mindy's left overs, too much time. I am already making lunch for 4 kids. Maybe I am just not able to do it. Maybe I just can't do this?!? I don't know. Just venting today!

7 comments:

  1. Emily, I'm so sorry! And you can do it (the challenges, I don't know about lunch)! I don't eat "fancy" lunches like everyone else on here, I just eat...well, usually fruit, or nuts. Or sometimes even a bowl of cereal. I save the leftovers for dinner. In fact, tonight is leftover night, everyone can pick something out of the fridge and eat it! My husband hates leftover night but understands that we don't want to waste the food.

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  2. Emily, just try to do one thing the first week. Maybe the water. Then on week two, water and no soda. Then, on week three, water, no soda and vitamins. You can't build a house in a day. One brick at a time. Good intentions is the first brick!

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  3. Emily,

    I had a breakdown a few weeks ago too, life can be, well, CrAzY! Don't get down on yourself, just try to pick yourself up and keep going. I really like Melissa's advice of just taking it one thing at a time.

    Don't worry about fancy lunches either, simple is good and necessary sometimes. You shouldn't feel bad about PB&J. I actually had a nutritionist tell me it was one of the best lunches I could make for my family. I have never felt bad about that staple food ever since.

    I don't know if this will help you or not, but I was just thinking today that I am going to try writing down all my meals for the next day, the night before. I am hoping that if I know what's on the menu ahead of time I can plan accordingly. Of course I can deviate from the plan if I want to but when I don't have time to think about what to eat it would be nice to have a plan.

    You can do it! Good luck.

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  4. Cottage cheese and fresh tomatoes with a few wheat thins is easy and delicious. Find staples you like and can plan on and do it without having to really plan. Use you change up for dinner. Make it as easy as you can.

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  5. Yes, absolutely!! You can do it!! Honestly, when it comes to a special post about food, I think we all tend to wear our "Sunday best" and showcase healthy, somewhat gourmet food, but the truth is probably more basic. We all have a short list of things we eat over and over for breakfast and lunch. My veggies tend to be either lettuce and tomato salads or a bag of frozen veggies for dinner, simple. Nobody wants to perform brain surgery everyday just in order to eat. I keep a stock of frozen veggies and fresh fruits to make sure I get enough fiber and vitamins each day, and after that, I just eat whatever is convenient throughout the day, keeping an eye on my calories.

    Hey, Audrey, here's another great challenge idea: have everyone list their top five convenient meals/snacks for breakfast, lunch, dinner or 10 most commonly used foods in the house and what their caloric value is. Just so it would give everyone more ideas of quick and easy things to eat, even if it doesn't really involve any real food prep.

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  6. P.S. Check out my blog at http://battlefor200andbeyond.blogspot.com/, and you can see what I've been eating for the past few weeks or so. Most of the time, it's pretty simple, and I have a lot of "convenience" foods in there like crackers (I have a weakness for them.) But I'm still in my calorie range. The trick is managing your portion size.

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  7. Emily! First welcome back. Second, rest, get well and start again next Monday. If you get the stomach flu again I say quit doing this challenge, it's not healthy for you:-)

    Next, I think the idea that Becky had about what's you're convenience food in your house is a good idea. I think some people have different things than others. I always have lunch meat, low cal chips and fruit in my house. For me that is my lunch no brainer just like PB&J is for you. Maybe putting a lunch you want together the night before and covering it saran until the next day or making your lunch when you are making the other 4 would be helpful.

    NOW THIS IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO:
    I don't want you to get overwhelmed by this challenge. You have more on your plate than I can ever imagine doing and sometimes making to many changes at once just doesn't work.

    So, I want you to pick one or two things that you want to work on and then when I ask for you to post your points I want you to post 20/25 or whatever the total would be if you were perfect on doing what you chose during the challenge period.

    Does that make sense. That way you can evaluate yourself against yourself and not anyone else. Then when you start to get a hang of it you can go hog wild without the frustrations.

    Sound good? If not that's ok too. I just want you to find your own success!

    Good luck and don't give up!

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