I need to be more careful of typos when I post – my last post was chalk FULL of typos! I didn’t sleep much last night and I guess wasn’t paying as close attention as I normally do…
Anyway – I wanted to follow up on my post about trying the 5-8 mini meals a day vs. 3 squares. I have to say, it’s almost a no-brainer. I feel so much better when I eat more frequently. I tend to eat just enough – I hardly ever overeat anymore, because I know I’m eating in another 2-3 hours. The only real problem I was having was transporting 4 mini-meals to work each day. My lunch bag wasn’t big enough, so I finally found one that I absolutely LOVE and is perfect when you use those square ziplock plastic storage containers:
$51 is more than I expected to pay, but it’s so well made that I know it’ll last me for years, and it makes my life a lot easier, so it’s definitely worth it. It has a nice, thick plastic inner liner that’s easily wipeable, and there’s no PVC in any part of the bag. It’s also tall and relatively thin for a large insulated bag, so it’s a lot easier to transport along with a purse and laptop bag to haul around – that was important, too. It has an inner zippered mess pocket under the lid for cuttlery, etc. and a padded, rubberized shoulder pad on the strap to prevent slipping. I highly recommend it. It can easily fit 4 of the 4-cup sized square ziplock containers or 8 of the 2-cup square containers AND still have room for a water bottle and fresh fruit on top of the containers without crushing them. It’s also great for trips to the beach, travel, picnics, etc.
So back to mini-meals. Here’s a sampling of how I eat in a day:
1) Wakeup/pre-workout: pineapple-banana smoothie made with unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2) Post workout: Veggie & Egg scramble in 1/2 slice whole grain lavash wrap
3) Greek yogurt with lemon zest, vanilla & agave nectar and fresh berries
4) Chicken salad made with Greek Yogurt, fresh herbs & dijon mustard dressing, grapes, celery, onion & walnuts on a bed of spring greens
5) Apple with all-natural peanut butter
6) Veggie sticks with garlic bean dip
7) Pan seared salmon filet with broccoli and rosemary roasted baby potatoes
8) Handful of nuts if I get hungry before bed [optional]
On my rest days, my appetite may not be as strong and I may just eat 5 or 6 meals in a day – I go with the flow… What’s funny is, on the days I work from home, I tend to eat less because I don’t pre-package my meals in the morning, and then I eat too much at main meals because I didn’t have enough throughout the day. The solution to that is packing up my meals in the morning like it’s a regular drive-75-miles-to-work day, which is something I’m going to do this week.
So, this way of eating works well for me and I’m sticking to it!
Photo credit: Zappos.com
Exercise[The]Demons 