Dear Diary, It’s me Lula… I feel I need to balance all the pork and bacon I talk about with how I really eat during the week. I have a fairly firm weekday dining plan. I don’t call it a diet. I eat real food in moderation. Truth be told I eat all day. But a few bites here and a few bites there that add up to quite a bit.
Here’s my boring weekday plan:
Today I started with a cup of coffee with coconut creamer and a Morning Glory Muffin
mid-morning snack a banana and half a pbj
lunch started with half a turkey sandwich
I went on a 2.3 mile walk
when I got back I had the other half of my turkey sandwich
afternoon snack was an apple
3:30 or 4ish I had the other half of my pbj
Optional snacks I keep in my desk just in case include raw almonds, mixed nuts, goldfish and oatmeal.
Boring. I know. I warned you.
Dinner on the other hand… I want to call bull on all the people who say they can’t cook a good healthy fresh dinner during the week. Tonight was a little bit of an experiment, but it worked great and is a fair representation of a weeknight dinner for me.
I’m into bowls. Burrito bowls, noodle bowls, rice bowls, bento bowls.
Tonight was my twist on a noodle bowl
Grill a boneless, skinless chicken thigh and chop up. While the chicken is grilling, cook pasta. Instead of buckwheat or soba noodles as are more traditional, I use whole wheat spaghetti. Still a noodle. when the pasta is about 2/3 done, throw chopped broccoli and cabbage in the pot for the last minute to 1 1/2 and drain. Toss everything with the ginger miso dressing. Healthy noodle bowl.
Monday and Wednesday are the hardest for me since I am trying to have a snack late enough in the day before my evening exercise class without it being too close to class. Tuesdays and Thursday don’t always have that extra pbj so I can have a glass on wine with dinner. It’s all about balance. Of course you’ve seen how I eat on the weekends. You know there is nothing off limits!
A coworker recently asked what my favorite apps are. 2 of my favorites are Lose It! and iMapmyRUN. I use both of these with great frequency. Start IMapmyRUN when you start your walk or jog and it tracks your route, counts calories, and keeps your pace. It’s neat to see how I improve. I had no idea how fast I jogged. I thought I was a pretty slow jogger since I hate jogging. Lose It keeps track of what you eat and how many calories you’ve burned or earned. I don’t do it daily, just when I feel like I’ve gotten really far off track and need a little refocusing.
I hate how the media tells us we are supposed to obsess over our weight and how we look and how we dress. I eat and exercise to feel good. and truth be told I exercise so I can eat more. Exercise should be a positive part of our lives. To make our days better. I certainly know I feel MUCH better on the days I exercise. My lunchtime walks are the source of my sanity during the day. The days I don’t get out, I am not a happy camper.
Did you notice anything was missing? Dairy. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been laying off the dairy. I tend to go overboard with diary, so I’m taking a break. When I’m on dairy my breakfast is Bob’s Red Mill Muesli with a half a cup of non-fat greek yogurt.
Ok. enough boring food talk. What do your weekday meals look like and how do you find balance?
Lula Harp 
I’m a low carb girl and it has made a huge difference in weight, cravings and energy, which on my slowest day is pretty darn energetic, LOL! Low carb means low sugar. I eat very fresh and love red wine vinegar and oil on my salads. I am also a meat eater. Love my eggs. I pass on the bread basket, pasta, rice and potatoes. I have a fab low carb bread I can toast or have a sandwich on. As long as I can have that, I’m happy as a clam. I walk with Quincy just about every day about 3 miles. Oh, I do have a glass of wine most days before or during dinner. I believe balance and moderation are key as well. AND, what works for one, doesn’t necessarily work for another. Each has to find what works for them. xx
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Since I have been baking my own artisan breads I only eat good bread. Otherwise it’s a waste (or waist) of space. I find when I limit my processed sugar I sleep so much better. And if I don’t eat sugar I don’t crave it
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I like the way you think! I am low carb too.
BTW I am postin on your salt roasted pork tenderloin tomorrow with a link to your lovely blog. thanks for all the support.
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Can’t wait to see your take on it! Happy to show the love to you and all your fabulous recipes!
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I start with a bowl of oatmeal and add a bit of warm syrup, zapped in the microwave – so still fairly solid. I find this gets me through from 7:30 – 1:00pm, with an apple sometimes.
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Oatmeal or grits are my weekend breakfast when I have time to make it. Weekdays I have to get outta the house so early I need things that require little to no thought!
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My weekday breakfasts are usually cereal with fresh blueberries – either home-made granola, or organic shredded wheat and a glass of organic 2% milk. I am not a sandwich person in general, but I love to have leftovers for lunch. If we happen to go out to eat, I save half my meal to take for lunch the next day. I love prime rib and order the large cut, just so I can bring home half of it!! Dinner is chicken or fish (my husband doesn’t eat mammals) with veggies, rice or salad. Sometimes I get home early enough to experiment with a new recipe – check out my blog for some of my ideas…
We just got a new puppy, so we’ve been busy taking her out OFTEN to get her house-trained – soon we’ll take her snowshoeing with us! (I’m lucky enough to be able to bring her to work with me, too.)
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Congrats on the puppy! That’ll keep you moving! And snow shoeing with the little pooch will be so fun.
I always try to bring leftovers home from restaurants as well. But sometimes too hard to stop! I used to do weight watchers but took away great life lessons. One which I usually follow is stop eating when you sigh. That sigh is your body saying it’s full.
Sandwiches for lunch help me get moving on my lunch break. Sometimes I’ll eat on my walk. If I have a real meal lunch it’s too easy to get drawn into sitting for the entire time talking to coworkers.
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