Remember how excited you were to start the new year with new goals and new resolutions? How’s that going for you? For me, it’s already hit a rough patch.
After the dent I put in my Food Bucket List over 2013, I made a goal to start 2014 by eating healthier and to (eventually) start exercising again.
I went to Costco on Dec. 30 and bought a bunch of chicken, veggies and other healthy choices so I’d have no excuse about not having anything “good” to eat.
Even though New Year’s Day was technically the first day of the year, I didn’t want to start totally eating healthy yet… because of all the college bowl games that day.
Tammy: Are we starting eating good today?
Me: Nooo… There’s too much football on today to start today. We’ll start New Year’s Day Second.
Tammy: What?
Me: Shut up. You know what I meant.
I spent part of New Year’s Day slicing and cutting up vegetables, even putting them into little snack bags so they would be easy to grab on my way to work in the mornings. I broke down a giant bag of spinach into smaller Ziplock bags that are individually portioned and take up less room.
Speaking of taking up room, since we weren’t officially starting until Jan. 2, and because I needed space in the freezer, I cooked what was left of the corn dog nuggets for New Year’s Day dinner.
I also made omelets with steak, peppers, mushrooms and spinach to cover breakfast Thursday and Friday for Tammy and me.
I brought my lunch to work on Thursday that was low in carbs but full of protein and greens.
Then last night we made plans with our friends, Eric and Mary, to go watch the Cotton Bowl at a new sports bar in the area. Tammy checked out the menu and was reading off their burger options, which all sounded delicious, but didn’t really fit into the more protein/less carbs/grains plan I was trying to follow.
Me: I’ll prolly just get chicken wings.
Tammy: But those are bad for you.
Me: Yeah, but they are on the list and it’s all protein. Plus there are no grains.
Tammy: But you said we could have a cheat day.
Me: We’ve been eating good for ONE DAY. You don’t get a cheat day after ONE DAY.
What I’m thinking Tammy’s Cheat Day may look like.
Tammy pouted a little and went back to looking at the menu.
I told her I should just eat bad all day Friday then, especially since I knew my co-workers were going to a place with good burgers for lunch. She told me that wasn’t how it worked.
So I got a grilled chicken salad at lunch, but now I’m all confused as to whether or not today is actually a cheat day and I don’t know that I can count on Tammy to clarify things for me.
Guess I’m just going to have to continue to take it one day at a time… literally.
The Life of J-Wo 
Maybe have a “cheat meal” instead of a whole “cheat day”? I think it’s too easy to totally blow a whole six days worth of healthier eating in an entire day of cheating. Just a suggestion.
That’s kinda what I’m thinking too, having a cheat meal instead of a day.
I figure I’ll have one lunch during the week with co-workers and then one dinner out one the weekend. Just doing that will help…
So I’m hoping that eating good the rest of the time combined with starting to workout (eventually) again will make a difference. 😉
Dropping my carb intake really helped to boost my energy level, and I immediately started working out again. At a minimum I do 30 minutes on the treadmill 5 times a week. I’m thinking about doing a boot camp thing too. I don’t want to totally lose my fat bottom, just maybe hitch it back up to where it used to be! lol
You need to try buffalo cauliflower in place of your wings. Soooo good.
I have never heard of that, but that does sound good. I’ll have to check that out.
One of my problems is that I love dipping stuff in blue cheese (fries, wings, chips, etc.), which is something I’ve stopped doing.
I just have to really try to limit my bad meals to once or twice a week. I’m starting Week 2 of the high-protein/low carbs and I’ve already lost 5 pounds while eating like a MoFo (just better stuff).
Eating better isn’t horrible, it just takes more time to plan, shop and prepare. I’ll make breakfast 2-3 days in advance so I don’t have to do it at night. Tammy loves it because I pack her lunch every morning. HAHAHA… I just need to start leaving little notes in it like Moms do for their kids. 🙂
If you don’t prep you fail and it is so time consuming. Once you get into a good shopping and prepping routine, you’re golden. Try these!! my father in law doesn’t even like buffalo wings and loved these. http://www.self.com/blogs/flash/2013/02/recipe-pinterest-found-cauliflower-buffalo-wings.html
Ah, resolutions. This year I stopped at ‘number 1…’ then there was only silence.
Oh I am so impressed. Adding meal-planning and cooking to my to-do list would send me directly over the edge. Immediately. I think about it now and then and that’s about all that happens. Sigh. Good for you guys – y’all are getting it done and I respect it!
We are going on our 4th week now and we are still doing good. Both of us have lost weight and I feel a lot better.
It definitely is a lot more work to eat healthier, from buying and prepping fresh fruits & veggies to making sure I thought out what to eat, but it’s gotten to the point that when I DO eat something bad (gyros & fries a week or so ago) that I feel horrible.
I just need to start working out and I’ll be a finely-tuned machine in no time. HAHAHAHA….
You rock! Excellent job by you guys!