What I ate Friday...

Since you have been asking, my typical day includes 1,200-1,500 calories. I don't call it a diet, just a healthy eating plan or a lifestyle change.  I've done the diet route and gained it all back too many times to count, plus the word diet really makes me hate what I am eating!  

I now pretty much know the calories in all my regular foods, but when I'm in question or go outside of the box I use the My Fitness Pal app (thanks Lauren!). Breakfast usually consists of a chocolate Shakeology with 1 T of PB2 (which is an amazing powdered peanut butter). My morning snack is almost always a banana. Lunch today looked like this...

All those colors make me so happy, plus that 9" plate is full!  It was a heart of romaine chopped up with some fresh spinach, blueberries, mushrooms, yellow tomatoes, rotisserie chicken, cantaloupe and watermelon with a splash of seasoned rice wine vinegar.  At first I was eating boars head turkey on Ezekiel bread with plain greek yogurt or avocado, carrot sticks and pickles everyday, but I'm pretty tired of turkey these days.  Some other favorite lunches include PB2 and honey on a sandwich round with a glass of skim milk or cottage cheese or an egg mixed with some egg whites, 2 pieces of Kroger brand turkey sausage and 2 kashi blueberry waffles or a flat out with some tomatoes, turkey sausage, turkey pepperoni, mushrooms and a bit of mozzarella cheese.  I'm lucky that usually I get to come home for lunch, but if I get stuck at work I usually have a plain turkey burger and sun chips.
My afternoon snack depends on my evening activities...if I know it will be awhile before I eat dinner I usually have a Fiber One Protein bar or 1/4 cup fruit/nut trail mix.  Otherwise I have some fruit...berries, apple, grapes, etc.
Dinner is usually meat and veggies.  We grill a lot of chicken, fish, and turkey burgers.  I fall back on rotisserie chicken alot (plus then I have left overs for lunch).  I roast all veggies...okra, squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes, corn, you name it oh and I bake a lot of spinach (just a bag with 1T olive oil and some Parmesan cheese).  Other favorite recipes include stuffed tacos, unstuffed cabbage rolls, and spaghetti squash with homemade sauce.
I didn't realize this, but I really want (and think I need) something sweet after dinner.  I am hooked on 50 calorie vitacakes with a squirt of whip cream and blackberries if we have them!  I also like the 40 calorie fudge pops and any of the 90 calorie fiber one bars (chocolate brownie, lemon zest or cinnamon coffee cake...yum).  That's it...at first I would be starving around bedtime, but thankfully I'm past that point and luckily for me to get up at 5:30, I'm usually passed out by 10, so don't have a lot of time to get hungry again!  I credit this healthy eating turnaround to my dear friend Sarah for asking me to be a part of her challenge group back in April...she is so encouraging and always sending good tips!  I'm looking forward to joining another group in August with some other sorority sisters.  My next goal is 20 lbs before I leave for China!  Oh and yes, since I'm on a diet Ray is too, but it is his choice, so no I am not starving him (as many of you think)!