My new year

So yes, like many I have made New Years resolutions. Yes, one is to lose weight. The other is to quit smoking, for good. And yes, I'm trying to do both at once.

I want to lose 50-60 pounds. I had lost 35 a couple years ago when I went off plan after starting a second job. I had lost the weight using Trim Healthy Mama. When I was working just 1 job. When I started working 2, I totally started eating tons of drive through and really just anything fast. Many days I had maybe an hour between jobs and it would take almost 30 minutes due to traffic. I was also working sometimes 55-60 hours a week.

Today I work just one job, and that full time. I have a little more time to prep, but not much. Today was my day off and I took time to put some chicken in the crock pot with broth and will turn it into about 4 different soups (single serve) and some left over chicken for something else.

I also have been going to the gym. That is something I do for me. I love to workout. Yeah, most of the time it is really hard for me to force myself to go. But it is always worth it in the end.

I have breakfast and lunch and even a snack for tomorrow.
Breakfast will be cheesecake (yes, I said cheesecake) with strawberries (s)

Lunch is my left over dinner from tonight which is stir fry chicken over quinoa (e)

My crazy life.... getting back to Trim Healthy Mama..

So for about 6 months last year I was doing really good, staying in the Trim Healthy Mama plan. Losing weight, having more energy, then I started working a second job. I basically stopped cooking all together. My daughter took over cooking for the family. I stopped eating foods I loved... broccoli roasted in coconut oil.

About a week ago I decided I had enough. All the weight I worked hard to lose I have gained back. So here we go again. This time though I have also added a gym membership. I know for a lot of working moms, they have no idea how to add that to their lives. For me, I know I have to. I have a heart condition and I need to workout so that my whole life is improved.

But this is all going to take time to prepare. I know cause Monday  night I didn't prepare for Tuesday and I ended up eating a small bag of cookies for breakfast. So today I am only working one job, so I am taking time to prepare for a couple days. While I am the only one in the family actually on THM, I do have to make sure that I make more food then what I need. You see my 12 year old son loves to try new things and has very rarely not found something I am eating not to his liking.

Today's menu.....
Eggs with butter (S)
Chicken with hot sauce with broccoli and green  beans roasted in coconut oil (S)
Stir fry over brown rice (E)

I'm pretty sure I'll have a smoothie for a snack a little later.

My Trim Healthy Mama

I admit that I have had a hard time staying on plan. The biggest reason that I don't stay on plan is the same reason that I think many of us fail to lose weight, we don't put a plan in place and just kind of wing the day. Then when hunger or stress comes we easily grab the first thing in sight. I know that has been an issue for me today.

This week though I have set up a plan for the next week. The hard thing will come with my work schedule. I won't be able to eat snacks as I should, so that by after work I'll be more hungry. I have come up with a couple quick things that I can run into the back of the store and eat.

So you maybe wondering what my menu looks like this week. One thing you may notice is that I eat a lot of chicken. For years now I have struggled with eating beef. I love the taste of it, but my stomach can't handle much, so I end up eating chicken most of the time. One difference this week will be that I'll make Egg Roll in a Bowl and I use beef.

(Please come back, as I plan on linking recipes)

Breakfasts.....
Yogurt with strawberries (E)
German Chocolate Cake Shake (S) I have not tried this yet.
Eggs and Bacon (S) yeah, I'm on a diet lol
Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins (S) This is a staple for me when I have to start work early, I make them the night before and grab them as I go. I usually grab a couple for my co-workers, they like them too.

Lunch
Eggs with ham (S)
Sandwich on sprouted grain bread (E) I use lunch meat and veggies. I got out of using mayo years ago, so this is pretty easy to stay on plan with.
Pizza on a Josephs flat bread. (S) I tired this just this past week, it was yummy.
Lettuce Wrap Sandwich (FP)
Chicken Popper soup (S) A favorite of mine. I'll make a big crock pot of it and have it for days.
Egg Roll in a bowl

Dinner....
You'll see a couple recipes repeated from my lunch menu. My plan is to make enough for myself for a dinner and have it for lunch for a day or two.
Chicken with brown rice and broccoli (E)
Chicken Popper Soup (S)
Bacon Wrapped cream cheese chicken (S) I'll make a veggie to go with this.
Cauliflower Mac and Cheese (S)

I'm still working on snack ideas for the week.
One thing I should mention is that 95% of this will be made just for me. I do cook separate for myself then for my kids. For my home I have found it is just easier this way to do it. I do have kids that will eat some of what I make. My 10 year old for example loves the Chicken Popper Soup, but he really doesn't eat tons of it so I have plenty. I have also found that by not having to share my "special" ingredients with my kids, it helps me save a little money. I don't buy enough almond flour for all my kids, just for me, so I don't need a huge bag of it. Even my sprouted grain bread I buy then freeze. Although today I make myself a piece of toast, turns out the baby (19 months old) likes it.

Weight loss journery

So I am working on my weight loss journey. I am following the Trim Healthy Mama  plan. I started a couple weeks ago than let stress take over and fell into food again. I think it will also help that I have started working and can't really eat at work. I can bring my favorite drink Good Girl Moonshine (I add a cinnamon stick to the recipe I linked to.)

So here I am.

I know I can do this. I am excited about the journey, so come along with me.