Everyday Systems

I noticed I do not consistently eat breakfast and often do not eat lunch. I know that skipping meals, especially breakfast is NOT good for me.

I did not realize how frequently I resorted to quick-to-fix foods that came from a box or a can. I must do better. Keeping healthy breakfast foods, fresh fruits and veggies and planning my dinners is a better way for me to eat healthier.

I spent the better part of yesterday cleaning out my pantry, cabinets, refrigerator and freezer. I tossed all of my half eaten bags of snacks. I am not much of a sweet eater but chips and salsa, pita chips and hummus or Baba Ghanoush are more my weakness. I got rid of all of my easy to fix foods.

Now I have brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa and millet. I have canned fruits, soups, broths, jello and green tea. I have bran muffin and whole grain muffin mixes, Uncle Sam’s cereal, walnuts and flax seeds

I have stocked my fridge with yogurt, melon, eggs, Green Goddess juice, OJ, Pomegranate juice and 2% milk. There is a case of Retro Pepsi’s but I save them for the weekends.

Local produce is plentiful. I have cabbage, yellow and zucchini squash, asparagus, cucumbers, Swiss chard.

I have a freezer full of those frozen veggies you steam in the microwave. I have Lima Beans, Pinto beans, Butterbeans, Butter Peas. There is chicken, sirloin pork chops, ground beef, ribs and fish.

Starting tomorrow I will begin my days with yogurt and walnuts, either a bran muffin or a bowl of cereal a slice of melon and some green tea.
I will plan the rest of the week’s lunches and dinners around grilled and steamed veggies over brown rice with ca little grilled hicken or fish.

I have been walking my pups two sometimes three times a day and I have lost 5 pounds since I started on May 16. Since I am already beginning to walk my dogs more frequently, I think I can get into the Urban Ranger thing without too much effort. I will post on that forum to get some advice.

Good, sensible post! I kind of did the same thing last night as far as getting rid of stuff in the pantry that I'm better off without. There's a bunch of snack food in there but it's for my husband and stepkids. Most of the time it doesn't tempt me. I usually get tempted when I haven't eaten enough at the prior meal otherwise I can look past all their junk.

ams09 wrote:I usually get tempted when I haven't eaten enough at the prior meal, otherwise I can look past all their junk.

Well said! This is such a key No-S insight for me. It has taken some time for me to figure out how much I need to eat at each meal, and am doing pretty well with having the right amount. But you're absolutely right -- if I try to "go light", or inadvertently don't have enough, at any one meal, I start thinking about snacks, junky or otherwise. In addition to clearing out the pantry, it's well worth it to pay lots of attention to how much food you need to eat at any meal. And checking to see if you feel the snack urge between meals is a great tool to monitor your progress on that.

jenglish wrote:I did not realize how frequently I resorted to quick-to-fix foods that came from a box or a can.

Me neither! And even though my weight was doing well, my cholesterol and triglycerides weren't. After switching to less processed food, not only did I continue doing well with weight, the blood work improved by leaps and bounds! I always told myself that I didn't have time to cook real food, but found that when you do the prep work in the pantry, have a plan, and a backup plan (there are lots of healthy foods that are quick to prepare), I have plenty of time! I really enjoyed your post. It is very helpful and re-inspiring to read such a great summary of steps-to-take! And congrats on the five pounds!

Regards, Winnie

Good for you!

I call what you've done "creating a No-S Friendly Environment." Basically, getting rid of (or putting out of sight, if other folks are involved) all the junky stuff, and stocking up on real food for real meals.

I do keep a couple of "pantry meal" ingredients on hand, for quick meals. It's so easy to fall into the fast-food trap when you're tired... unless cooking at home is actually EASIER. That helps a lot!

Congrats on such positive steps - and on the results you've already seen.

winnie96 wrote:

jenglish wrote:I did not realize how frequently I resorted to quick-to-fix foods that came from a box or a can.

Me neither! And even though my weight was doing well, my cholesterol and triglycerides weren't. After switching to less processed food, not only did I continue doing well with weight, the blood work improved by leaps and bounds! I always told myself that I didn't have time to cook real food, but found that when you do the prep work in the pantry, have a plan, and a backup plan (there are lots of healthy foods that are quick to prepare), I have plenty of time! I really enjoyed your post. It is very helpful and re-inspiring to read such a great summary of steps-to-take! And congrats on the five pounds!

Regards, Winnie

Real, whole food is the key or as close as you can get to it. For me that includes not eating any sort of breakfast or protein bars like I used to. I've found that the closer I get to whole foods, the better I feel and the better my body does on them. If I want my sweets on S days, I am more inclined to bake something myself. That way I know exactly the ingredients that are in it.

jenglish wrote:I have stocked my fridge with yogurt, melon, eggs, Green Goddess juice, OJ, Pomegranate juice and 2% milk. There is a case of Retro Pepsi’s but I save them for the weekends.

Jenglish, I want to thank you for your remark about the saving the Pepsi for the weekends. I'm not that much of a soda maven, but I do enjoy a Diet Coke now and then. That doesn't really fit with my attempt to focus on whole foods, but I think it's ok, in moderation. And one way to moderation is to save it for weekends.

My S-Days are Fridays and Sundays, and N-Day Saturdays can be a bit precarious because some corner of my mind says "aw, it's the weekend, go ahead and snack". But having a can or two of soda in reserve has been quite helpful, and it kills two birds with one stone: it keeps my soda consumption very moderate, and it helps me to avoid S's on Saturdays.

(Don't you just love the way there's always some helpful tip on these boards! It continues to astonish me!)

So thanks for the tip and best wishes, Winnie