December 2019 – Mom of 2 and Foodaholic

Like most people, I’m looking at January 1st as a fresh start. Over the holidays, I was on the struggle bus in terms of food and did not watch my diet at all. The scale not only noticed the change, but my clothes did too. I got to the point I wouldn’t step on the scale and lived in sweats and my biggest tshirts.

I refuse to step on the scale at this point and I’m trying to not obsess about the number. It only drives me crazy and I get to the point where I weigh myself 10+ times a day (how can THAT be good for anyone??). Enough. Of. That.

So starting January 1st, I am back on track for my life. I found the more prepared I am, the more successful I am. To get started, I google ‘printable calendar’ for whatever month I’m in, print it out and start filling in! This time I printed 2 – one for my meals, one for my workouts.

WORKING OUT

Like any busy mom, it can be so hard to find time to work out, so a quick and effective workout is what I look for. Plus I don’t have time to travel to the gym, so I need something I can do at home that doesn’t require a lot of equipment or space. My favorite at home work out is from BikiniBodyMommy. She has easy to follow workouts for REAL people and gives alternatives for different fitness levels.

Here’s my workout plan for the month:

I didn’t pre-plan any ‘rest’ days because I know there will end up being days here and there I just don’t get the workout in. If I then consider it my ‘rest’ day instead of a missed workout, I won’t beat myself up as much about it.

Meal Plan

And for the meals, here’s what that looks like:

There are lots of ‘leftover’ days with how much these meals make and I’m usually the only one eating it! So I end up making two meals – one for me, one for everyone else.

For breakfast and lunch, I like to keep it simple.

Breakfast Ideas:

Smoothie Bowl (I love the one from Life Made Sweeter)
Whole30 Breakfast bowl (from Bravo for Paleo)
Sausage & Sweet Potato Egg Free Breakfast Skillet (from Whole Kitchen Sink)
Greek Yogurt with Fruit and Granola
Protein Oatmeal
Protein Shake

Lunch Ideas:

Leftovers from any breakfast or dinner
Lunch meat, veggies, fruit
Salad w/ chicken

Dinner Plans for the Month:

Homemade Lamb burgers with twice baked sweet potatoes
Paleo Chicken Nuggets and veggies
Chicken Taco Soup
Creamy Sausage & Potato Casserole (This one is so good I could eat the whole thing!!)
Homemade ‘fried’ chicken and Lemon Butter Sauteed Kale w/ Garlic
Whole30 Chicken Salad and veggies
Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings and veggies
Air Fryer Chicken Tenders and Green Beans Alfredo (recipe for beans to be posted at a later date)
Crockpot Beer Brats and Sauteed Asparagus
Slow Cooker Garlic Butter Chicken with Cream Cheese Sauce and roasted veggies
Pepper Crusted Flank Steak w/ roasted veggies (recipe to follow at a later date)
Keto ‘The Bomb’ Soup (recipe to follow at a later date)
PLUS I worked in one night to get takeout (but still following a lower carb/healthier diet)

Snacking

I think it’s inevitable there will be snacking between meals at some point. Some diets tell you it’s best to snack/eat a small meal every 3-4 hours, other diets say no snacking between meals. So which is right? I think it’s a great question, but there is no ONE right answer. I think everyone’s body is different and it also depends on your lifestyle. I think the best thing is to try out each method, tracking your progress, and see which seems to work better for you. But while we are talking about snacking, here is my plan for what to snack on if I need something between meals

Fresh fruits/veggies is always a great go to! Some of my favorites are apple with almond or peanut butter or celery with peanut butter or fresh veggies with ranch
Almonds (These are my favorite and perfectly portioned packs!)
Honey Roasted Peanuts
Beef Sticks
Cheese cubes
There is so much more you could have that is low carb, but those are my favorites!

We go on our Disney cruise at the end of February and I am determined to lose weight before that!!!

I will post periodic updates with progress, but I’m trying to focus more on how I FEEL than what that scale says. I have fibromyalgia and I have noticed a huge difference in how I feel since I haven’t watched it as closely. I have a lot more aches and pains so we will see how this next month goes.

What is your plan for the new year??

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday and the one I prepare/bake for the most. The toughest decision each Christmas isn’t usually what presents to buy (although it is a tough one!) but what to make for each of the 4-5 Christmas’s we celebrate each year. Do we go with traditions? Try something new?

So this year, it was split. We made 2 traditional items, made some new things, and I made a traditional item of someone else who is no longer with us, as well as one in remembrance of her. It’s always a collective effort to have everything for each Christmas and every year, I’m the sweets girl.

So here is the rundown of what I prepared for Christmas this year:

My mom’s infamous cut out sugar cookies, but this year I used Royal Icing instead of the traditional icing my mom made. I was TRYING to bring out my creative side, but it did NOT turn out as well as I’d hoped. The kids still had fun decorating them though!
Chex Party Mix (original recipe here)
Chex Mix Christmas Crack
Stuffed Snowball Cookies
Butterscotch Haystacks
Crazy Cake
Chocolate Lasanga

If that menu doesn’t put you in a sugar coma, I don’t know what will! And that’s only what I made. There will be an abundance of food from everyone else too.

It made so much food, I think we will be eating leftovers for weeks. Why is it there is always WAYYYY too much food every time we get together? Doesn’t matter if it’s a birthday, holiday, or just because. I always over estimate how much I will need.

So here are pictures of all my goodies. The only thing that I wasn’t crazy about was the Snowball cookies. They just seemed to dry and crumbly. I actually added an egg to the dough too, because it was all dry little crumbles. My daughter loves it, but that is something we probably won’t make again.