Tomorrow's daily menu: getting back on track

I'm going through an emotionally tumultuous time, in addition to being very busy outside of the house, and I've fallen back to my old standby of food to comfort me. I knew I did poorly last week and skipped a meeting, and this morning I weighed myself. I'm up again, no big surprise. I am not making any more excuses. I am not skipping any more meetings. I am not letting myself regain all the weight I've lost. I just have to push myself to do what I know how to do and let the rest work itself out.

I'm posting tomorrow's daily menu. And then Saturday's. And then Sunday's. I'm just doing it. I can't keep putting it off and hoping that I'll wake up in the mood to be on plan. I can't eat my way out of emotional discomfort.

Daily menu
Breakfast:
Crock pot oatmeal with peaches (oatmeal from Windborne Farm, peaches frozen from Frog's Leap Winery)
2 c. milk (Organic Valley in Modesto)

Lunch:
Lentil-rice soup with kale and leeks (kale and leeks from the Full Belly box)
Sliced tomato salad with olive oil and vinegar

Dinner:
Egg curry (eggs from Glaum)
Bulgur
Carrots and green beans (from Full Belly)

Busy wreaks havoc on the best laid plans

This has been a very busy week, and I have not kept up with my plan. I know that without following it, I will not be successful. I know that by eating out instead of cooking, I'm wasting money, wasting Points, and wasting good vegetables that sit uneaten in the fridge. But still, after being busy all day, it's HARD to get up the energy to prepare a healthy meal. Sadly, I'm finding it difficult to even reheat my frozen meals and add a fresh veggie on the side. I'm slipping and I am not sure how to pull myself out of it. It's like the diet-honeymoon mentality has ended and my motivation slacks, but I'm only 20% to my goal and can't give up now!

I'm embarassed to even post my menus these days, since they're not menus, just the junk I've picked up in the school cafeteria, or fish sticks with the kids I baby sit. Not Locavore, not Core, not healthy, and not what I want. I don't feel as healthy, I'm sluggish, and I'm grumpy.

What do I do? What is the best way of sticking to plan when you're busy and tired?

The first thing I need to do is eat breakfast at home. I am so much better at staying on plan when I've eaten healthy food to start the day.

And I have to exercise! I feel so much better when I exercise, and I lose so much more consistently. I'm going to do my exercise video first thing in the morning.

I'm done eating for the evening, but start over tomorrow morning. I know I can do this - I've done it for months - I just have to DO it!

Daily Menu for October 15

I've been off track for the past few weeks, and as a result I've gained 2.8 lb. I need to nip this in the bud and get right back on track, because I'm not willing to let myself regain the weight I've worked so hard to lose. There is a sign in one of my classrooms that reads:

The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what we want most for what we want in the moment.

It has resonated with me and I'm thinking about it again in relation to my weight loss efforts. Why do I let what I want in the moment defeat my long term goals? It's too easy to think, just this once... Just this once I'll have a cookie (or 5). Just this once I'll get French fries from the drive through on the way home. Just this once I'll skip exercising. The trouble is, just this once leads to more and more, and before I know it, I'm completely off track with French fries wrappers piling up in the car, feeling sick to my stomach and guilty to boot. Not worth it.

So I'm back to posting my weekly menu and daily menu, which has been a great tool for me to date. I've used my Weekly Points Allowance already on a pointy dinner out last night (not the best move!), so this will be a strict Core week. The only extra points will be activity points. This is also a busy week with school, babysitting, and other obligations, so I'll have to be really on my game to pack lunches and stay on track.

Weekly Menu:
Monday - Snapper Veracruz, brown rice, green salad
Tuesday - Chili, polenta corn cakes with fresh corn, carrots
Wednesday - Curried eggs, brown rice, kale
Thursday - Chicken cacciatore, barley, acorn squash
Friday - Lentil taco salad, green beans
Saturday - Home made egg drop soup and pot stickers (Points)

Daily Menu

Breakfast
2 eggs from Glaum
peach

Lunch
Snapper Veracruz with locally caught snapper
Brown rice from Lundberg
Green salad with lettuce and tomatoes from Full Belly Farm and olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Hare Hollow

Dinner
Leftover quinoa picadillo
2 c. milk
grapes

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 0
WPA points available: 0
Activity points today: 2 (Walk Away the Pounds)
Activity points this week: 2

Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 5+
2. Whole grains - brown rice, quinoa
3. Milk - yes
4. Healthy oil - 2
5. Protein - yes
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes

Confession

I've been really off track this week. I haven't packed lunch for my days at school and babysitting, and have bought junk at the school cafeteria and eaten the kid food I prepare for the boys. I've eaten too much junk food, and it's a slippery slope: when I eat junk, I want more junk. When I eat healthy, whole foods, the cravings all but disappear. And I haven't exercised. At 29.6 lb. gone toward my goal of 31 lb. next week, I feel like I'm sabotaging my own efforts. It's been a lot of work to get so close, and I really WANT to reach the goal, so why am I letting dusty packaged cookies get in the way?

I am back on track this morning but still feeling gross from my week of junk. I'm planning a big cooking day on Monday to make a bunch of meals to freeze so I don't have to cook on busy nights, and then will have lunch to pack from leftovers. Hopefully that will help me to stay on track when everything feels hectic.

Daily Menu

Breakfast
Shredded wheat and milk

Lunch
leftover bean soup, apple

Dinner
big batch of grilled veggies with olive oil, brown rice