Menu Planning: Fitting a Healthy Lifestyle into a Busy Schedule

I've been asked by several people to write this post, so here goes! A lot of people want to eat healthier, but they think it's going to take too much time and convenience foods are just that...convenient. However, if you can set aside a little time on Sunday (or whatever day works for you) to plan out your week and even prep your dinners ahead of time, you can take the guesswork out of eating healthy. If it's already ready to go, you won't be as tempted to drive through Jimmy John's on your way home. Here's what a typical meal plan looks like for me and I'll break down how I prep it if necessary.

Mon- Taco salad - Which means I can go ahead and brown the ground turkey/chicken/lean beef and mix in the taco seasoning (I use Trader Joe's all natural) and then put it in a container. You can go ahead and chop up the lettuce and veggies and store them in a baggie/container. I make my own dressing (1 TBS oil, 1 TBS balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp lime juice and 1 tsp taco seasoning), so I will go ahead and make the dressing and store it in an airtight container. Then all you have to do is heat up the meat and mix it together! If you want to modify it for your kids, simply heat up some tortilla shells and make them tacos. So easy.

Tues- Sauteed fish and veggies- I take frozen tilapia or salmon filets (you can use any kind of fish) and put them in a freezer bag with a little oil and some seasonings and make sure they are coated, then put them in the fridge to let them thaw. They'll be perfectly seasoned and ready to go by Tuesday evening. I cook them in a pan on the stovetop with a little olive oil spray and then add some steamed veggies. Frozen veggies are just as good as fresh, sometimes even better because frozen veggies are picked at the peak of freshness and then frozen. If I need another side dish, I will steam some brown rice (Trader Joe's and Walmart sell steam bags of brown rice) or I will heat up a sweet potato in the microwave for my husband and russet potatoes for the kids.

Wed- Crock pot chili. The most recent recipe I followed is here. So on your prep day, you could chop all of the veggies and store them in a bag and just make sure you have everything else on hand to throw in the crock pot in the morning. You could even go ahead and throw everything in the crock pot and store it in the fridge.


Thurs- Chicken dish. This can vary, but for example, I plan to make this next week. If it's a crock pot dish, just chop and prep anything that needs to be ready to go to make it easy on yourself. Invest in some Rubbermaid storage containers or even use freezer bags if you want. Even if it's not a crock pot dish, just know what you're going to need and make sure it's ready to go. Sometimes I will go ahead and get out all of the non-perishable food items I'm going to need for that night's dinner and have them out by the stove ready to go. For side dishes, if you're pressed for time just keep it simple: frozen veggies, brown rice, quinoa or brown rice pasta are all great options. Another piece of advice is to invest in some good spices and herbs. They can turn a simple piece of chicken into something amazing.



Fri- I work on Friday nights, so this is usually a simple meal. We LOVE breakfast for dinner and there's nothing better than eggs and chicken sausage! Aldi makes a great all natural chicken breakfast sausage. Add some fruit and you've got a meal. I also love to add pico de gallo to my eggs, but it's not for everyone.

Scrambled eggs are good too. I made hard boiled eggs in the oven this week, so I've been eating those. (put eggs in cupcake pan and bake at 300 degrees for 20-30 mins)

Sat- Usually on Saturdays we have to eat early, so I'll put something in the crock pot in the morning to eat before I go to work around 4. This Saturday I think it'll be chicken breast with taco seasoning, black beans and diced tomatoes. Then my husband can make soft tacos for himself and the kids if he chooses or he'll have a taco bowl like me. I use brown rice or quinoa, top it with chicken and spinach and peppers and some pico de gallo or mango salsa (Trader Joe's sells awesome salsa, but Walmart has some good salsa as well in the produce section). This is pretty simple, so there's not much to prep, except making sure you have the stuff to make it.

Sun- I usually go all out on Sundays and try out a new recipe or do something a little more involved since I have more time. I'm going to try out cabbage rolls, which I'm sure the kids will turn up their nose at. I may have to do stuffed peppers or mini-meatloafs for them instead using the same filling. I found the recipe for that here.


So that's a typical week, but it varies. The most important thing is having a plan and having everything on hand and prepping what you can to make life easier throughout the week. One of my favorite quotes is "Failing to plan is planning to fail." So true. If you have a plan, you're less likely to fail. I plan out my snacks and breakfasts for the week as well. I am planning to make 2 batches of muffins on Sunday and I have my snacks prepped and in baggies/containers. I clean and slice fruit, bag nuts in proper portion sizes, chop veggies to have with hummus, etc. Take an hour out of one day per week and focus on what you're going to eat for the whole week. I usually make my grocery list/meal plan on Friday, shop on Saturday and prep on Sunday, but do whatever works for you. It makes life so much easier and it's less stress on yourself. Of course you could make it even easier on yourself and make bigger portions and have leftovers one night too. I prefer to eat my leftovers for lunch. If you usually eat out one night, that's one less day to have to plan as well.

Why I Have Sworn Off Processed Foods

I have A LOT to cover here, but I'm going to try to keep it somewhat brief. This all started when I did the Dr. Oz 2-Week Rapid Weight Loss Diet. I almost didn't post at all about doing the diet because I HATE the word diet and dieting is not something I condone. It's all about a healthy lifestyle and making changes you can stick with forever. That being said, I did this "diet" because it's more of a cleanse and I knew it would lead me to make changes that I needed to make. 

A quote from "Hungry For Change", an awesome documentary on Netflix.

I've been doing well the past 2 years with counting calories and slowly losing weight, but I wasn't eating the most quality food. 1200 calories of processed diet food junk does not equal 1200 calories of whole nutritious foods. Sure, I lost weight but I still wasn't at a 100% healthy place physically. As someone with a family history of diabetes and heart disease, I knew I could be doing more. I've done a lot (and I do mean a lot) of research this past month and my eyes have been opened. I've learned that you can eat a normal amount of food yet your body can still feel like it's starving if you're not eating the right things. Do you know what your body does when it feels like it's starving? It holds onto fat and won't let go. Not good when you're trying to get to a healthy weight! Just by eating only whole, natural foods and not even counting calories, I have lost significant weight and inches in the past few weeks. The secret was right there all along! I knew about the "Eating Clean" movement and I knew it was something I should try. Shoot I had pinned tons of clean eating recipes on Pinterest but had yet to try them. 

So what does clean eating mean? It means eating foods in their purest form. Basically, no processed foods. For me, it means no wheat, no sugar, no dairy and no artificial sweeteners. 

I'll start with wheat. Why wheat? Well, wheat is overly processed, low in nutrients and contains phytic acid, which literally stops your body from absorbing important nutrients. Bread that is sold in stores today is so overly processed and breaks down in your system so quickly, which then turns to glucose which spikes your blood sugar. Also, wheat products contain gluten which can damage your intestinal tract and cause other problems you don't want to deal with. You do not NEED grains in your diet. Period. 

Ryan Gosling. Nuff said.

Next I'll go into sugar, the most important one in my opinion. This one is pretty simple and the more I read about it the more I was like, "Duh! Makes sense!" I'm talking about refined sugars. The white sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar you buy in the baking aisle....oh and let's not forget the worst offender of all: high fructose corn syrup. That crap is in everything! Seriously, look through your fridge and cabinets. It's in stuff you wouldn't even think of, like your bread, spaghetti sauce and in most of the stuff your kids are drinking. The bad thing about refined sugar is your body's response to it. You eat something with sugar and instantly your body has to release insulin. The more sugar you eat, the more insulin is released- whether you need it or not. Excess insulin in your system prevents your body from burning fat. That is why the quality of calories matters so much. Higher-quality calories trigger fat-burning hormones and low-quality calories trigger fat storing hormones. That's just one problem with sugar. Another is its addicting properties. Refined sugars have a similar effect on your brain as heroine and cocaine. You get a "sugar high" and once you come down from it, you're starving again and craving more sugar. It's a vicious cycle. I could go on and on about how harmful sugar is, but I'll just stick with this for now. I can speak from experience. The first 3 days of my cleanse were horrible. I was ready to kill someone for a cookie. I have kicked the habit and I feel amazing.

The biggest junkie of all, Cookie Monster! 

I'll get into dairy another time. Just like most other man-made foods, dairy is overly processed to the point that it has no redeeming health qualities. I'm sure you've heard this before, but your best bet is to stick with the perimeter of the store. 99% of the stuff in the aisles of the store are manufactured by the food companies and they can put some very deceptive things on the boxes. They care about making money, not about your health. Did you know that the FDA doesn't actually do the studies and research about the products? The food companies themselves do it and submit it to the FDA. Do you think those are slightly slanted or what?! What a joke. Read labels and if you see things that you aren't sure what they are, do your research. There's nothing more important than your health and the health of your family. I think it's time for us as a society to take some responsibility for what we put into our bodies. Maybe if we do that, the food companies will be forced to follow suit. I know it's a pipe dream, but you never know! Education is key. Read everything you can and learn about the foods you eat. There are some great documentaries out there about food. A few of my favorites are Food, Inc.; Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead; Hungry For Change; and Forks over Knives. All of them are on Netflix. I highly recommend the Jamie Oliver TED Talks (google it). He's a great source of information about feeding your children things that nourish them and help them grow. 

Sorry if I got too scientific on you, but I just felt like I had to share some of my new-found knowledge. Keeping it to myself just seemed rude. I'm passionate about this and I want to start a mini-revolution, even if it's just me and one other person (besides my sister. She's already my "clean eating cohort"). In closing, I'll post a few of my clean meals I've had lately. I'm seriously loving cooking new recipes and trying new things!

Chipotle cauliflower soup (same cauliflower soup recipe I posted last week,

 only I added chipotle lime seasoning instead of curry)

Paleo banana nut muffins

Paleo peanut butter chocolate chip muffins

Organic chicken meatballs, brown rice chips and veggies/hummus

 Taco salad with mango salsa and a homemade vinaigrette I came up with

(1 TBS oil, 1 TBS balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp lime juice and 1 tsp taco seasoning) 

14-Day Cleanse Results and Recipes

I survived! Not only did I survive, but I fell in love with this way of eating and I haven't felt this good in a long time. In 14 days, I lost 8.5 pounds and 2.5 inches from my waist and 2 inches from my hips. My energy level is high and I kicked my artificial sweetener habit. For those who didn't read my blog last week, I did the Dr. Oz 2-week Rapid Weight Loss Diet/Cleanse. It's no wheat, no sugar, no dairy and no caffeine or artificial sweeteners. It sounds like hell on earth but once you get past the first few days (the withdrawal phase), it's smooth sailing. You can read about it here. I modified it to suit me, so I skipped the detox baths and the daily broth. Instead of the smoothie for breakfast I had a hard boiled egg, a piece of chicken sausage and a few strawberries or I would eat some of the awesome muffins I made using alternatives to wheat flour and sugar (I'll share some recipes). These past 2 weeks have taught me a whole new way of cooking and I've had so much fun trying new recipes. I'll share some of them with you.

These muffins are so good. Check out the recipe here. I used almond meal/flour (Bob's Red Mill brand from Walmart) instead of coconut flour and I used 1/4 cup of natural applesauce instead of coconut oil. These came to 100 calories each and 5 grams of fat.

These apple cinnamon muffins are to die for. You can find the recipe here. 

I added chopped pecans and I'm glad I did. Amazing.

This butternut squash soup is really good and super healthy. 

I skipped the carrots since they're high glycemic index. Recipe here.

This soup is my favorite. I skipped the carrots and added 1 tsp. of curry powder. Yum! Recipe here.

This is something I threw together. Kind of like a ratatouille with chicken added. I sauteed the diced chicken breast in grapeseed oil and then removed it once cooked. I then sauteed onions, zucchini, eggplant and fresh garlic. Once they were cooked, I added the diced tomato, italian dressing seasoning (I used Wildtree brand) and about 2 TBS of chopped fresh basil and I put the cooked chicken back in and let it simmer covered for about 5 minutes. I had mine over 1/2 cup of brown rice and my husband had it over whole wheat pasta. 

I made this taco bowl to satisfy my craving for Mexican food. It's ground turkey, sauteed onions and peppers and rotel tomatoes, topped with green onions. I used a little Wildtree taco seasoning on the ground turkey. I had it over brown rice and my husband and kids ate it in tortillas. 

I love spicy stuff, so this is one of my go-to favorites. Sauteed zucchini, onions and eggplant over brown rice

with Frank's Red Hot. I did miss the blue cheese a little bit, but it was definitely good!

The picture says it all. YUM. Recipe here.

That's all I have for now, but I will definitely be posting new recipes as I try them. I love this way of eating and I will love sharing it with all of you! 

Evolving Goals and an Update

So sorry I've been MIA. A quick update is I had hernia surgery in early November and was out of commission from working out for about 4 weeks. It was rough and I'm glad it's over. I feel like I'm good as new though and ready to tackle my goals in 2014. I plan to be more present here and pay it forward by spreading motivation and advice (not professional by any means) to anyone who may read this little blog.

So I was thinking about my goals for 2014 and it made me realize how much my goals have changed and evolved since I first started this journey December 26th, 2011. (You can read my first weight loss story here if you haven't read it). When I first started my only goal was to lose 30 lbs. I started running and lost my 30 and then my goals changed and I wanted to lose 50 and run a half marathon. Once I finished that goal, I kind of got lost for a little bit and wasn't sure where to go. I fell into a maintenance routine and just kind of coasted by for a while. I was proud of myself for losing the weight, but I didn't feel like I had much direction. I needed a new goal and something to strive for.

I realized that I had lost the weight, but I still wasn't very toned and I knew I could look better and feel stronger. My sister and I bought a CrossFit Groupon and started going 5 days/week. Once my Groupon ran out, I decided not to keep going to that gym because 1. it was expensive and 2. it was a 20 minute drive from my house. So I started making my own WODs (workout of the day) doing CrossFit style workouts and I was seeing real results and I was feeling very empowered and I knew I was much stronger. Then the stomach pains got excruciating and I ended up in the ER and had hernia surgery the next week. Just to clarify, the hernia was NOT from lifting weights. I had had it for a while and I chose to ignore it hoping it would repair itself. It was an incisional hernia in my c-section incision and had nothing to do with working out. So my workout was sidelined while I recovered and I gained 5 pounds between surgery and Christmas. No bueno! I tried to eat healthy but the holidays got the best of me.

So here it was January 1st, 2014 and I was up 5 pounds and had lost quite a bit of muscle tone. I was so mad at myself. I went back to the gym with a vengeance and I'm down 7.5 pounds officially today and I'm back to lifting the same amount of weight I was before. The difference this time is I'm done counting calories. I am eating clean (no wheat, no sugar, no dairy) and I feel amazing. My sister and I started the Dr. Oz Weight Loss Diet last Friday (you can read about it here) and I'm down 5.5 pounds since then. I was so nervous about it, but I feel so good and I crave vegetables and hummus instead of chips and cookies. I'm planning to follow a modified version of this for the long run (I have to have my cheese every once in a while!). I had given up on ever having a flat stomach but giving up wheat has already taken 2 inches off my waist in just a week! Craziness.

So back to my evolving goals. My goal for this year is NOT to lose weight, although that would be sweet. My goal is to be in the best shape of my life and to FEEL healthy. I believe God only gives us one body and we should treat it kindly. Eating clean might sound like a real drag and like I'm not really experiencing life, but who says life is about food anyway? I will not look back on 2014 next year and say, "I wish I had eaten more donuts and nachos". Nope. I will look back on this year and be proud for reaching my goals and being the best version of myself.

Here are a few of the clean meals I've had recently. I'm hardly suffering. :)

Taco Bowl- brown rice, ground turkey, sauteed peppers and onions and rotel tomatoes

Sauteed veggies over brown rice and tossed with Buffalo sauce

1/2 apple, 1 hard boiled egg and 2 all-natural chicken sausage link (Aldi)

Maintenance Mode

So I just realized it has been close to 3 months since I wrote a blog post. Oopsie! I am still here plugging away. I have been in "maintenance mode" a little bit for the past few months. Not going gung ho but also determined not to gain weight. I am exactly where I was 3 months ago, so I feel good about that. I still have 10-15 lbs to lose, so I'm back at it this week.

I got to thinking about what it was I was doing differently when I was in "gung ho mode" vs. maintenance mode. Here are some examples:

Gung Ho Mode:
Diligently tracking my calories down to the last bite
Working out 6 days/week
Drinking at least 80 oz. water/day

Maintenace Mode:
Not eating like a total pig
Working out 3-4 times/week
Drinking water when I can

Sometimes one needs to go into maintenance mode even just for a week or 2 to keep from going insane. Losing weight is tough and it's mentally and physically draining. Taking a step back can be a good thing. As long as your maintenance mode is just a brief break and doesn't equal a binge session and turning into a total couch potato. That's just falling off the wagon.

I feel like after years of yo-yo dieting, I finally have it figured out. I know how to just live a normal life while also being conscious of my weight and my health. THAT is the result that I really wanted. I wanted to be able to change my lifestyle to where I can live like this forever and not worry about gaining the weight back.

I will try harder to keep this blog updated more often. :)

Have a Happy Halloween everyone and remember.....Halloween candy is for KIDS! Stay away! Seriously...back away slowly.

My Journey Is Not Without Failure

I have posted a lot of advice and about my success with weight loss, but I haven't really touched on my many failures and slip-ups throughout my journey. I'm all about keeping it real. I am far from perfect and have made many mistakes. It's called a journey for a reason. I've hit potholes, slowdowns and have completely gone off course. Fortunately, there is a lot to be learned from your failures.

One of my biggest mistakes is late night snacking. Nothing will slow down weight loss faster than eating sweets at night and I am an offender. I know I should eat low carb if I eat at night, but I can't help myself. In the past I have made a plan of action for those times when I MUST have sweets. Sugar free pudding, fruit with fat free cool whip, apples and peanut butter are all things that satisfy my sweet tooth but don't totally blow my progress. So why do I sometimes still go for the blizzard or cookies? Because I'm human!! I am trying to limit my late night slip-ups to just 1 or 2 nights per week.

Another mistake I made is letting myself go during the holidays. I gained weight last December and it was very discouraging. Sure it was only a few pounds, but I quit working out and lost a lot of my muscle tone. Why? I asked myself that in January and didn't really have an answer. I guess it's because I was super busy and there were so many family get-togethers with amazing food and cookies.....oh the cookies. I am going to come up with a plan of action this holiday season. I'm not sure what it will be yet and I'll be sure to share it all with you when the time comes.

My biggest epic failure throughout my journey is those days when I tried to guess how many calories I was eating because I didn't feel like tracking everything. Boy, am I a horrible estimator. Breakfast and lunch aren't too bad because I eat pretty much the same things for those 2 meals. Dinner is trickier and so are snacks. Bottom line is I was eating about 25% more calories than I thought I was. Oops! There are still occasional days that I don't get on myfitnesspal and track like I should, but I'm doing much better now.

I've made many more mistakes that I won't get into right now. I don't hate myself for them and I don't consider myself a failure. I learn from every mistake I make. If I'm heading off course I do a u-turn and get myself back where I need to be. If I have a super high calorie day, I don't just throw in the towel and forget the whole thing. I forgive myself and get back at it the next day. Stay true to yourself and always remember why you started your journey in the first place. Just because you mess up and aren't always perfect doesn't mean you aren't worth it. You are!

My New Endeavor

I'm only going to post about this once because I don't want to be annoying about it, but I'm so excited about it that I feel like I would be doing a disservice to not share it with you.

Back in May I went to a Freezer Meal Workshop for Wildtree, a company that sells all natural and organic spices, rubs, oils, bread mixes, etc. Basically you pay for the spices and oils (the "bundle") and then you bring the proteins and veggies already prepped in freezer bags and then assemble everything at the workshop. The total cost is around $120-$140 depending on what proteins you buy and it comes to about $2/service, which is cheaper than fast food and WAY healthier and much tastier. You leave with 10-20 meals that you freeze and then pull out on a busy night. I'm talking really good meals like Lemon Rosemary Pork Tenderloin, Italian Meatloaf, Chipotle Lime Fajitas, Honey Balsamic Chicken and much, much more. The first night I made something we were just blown away. Every single thing we had from that workshop was amazing. Like, way better than the way I had been cooking before. The great thing is that it was all super healthy and I felt good about feeding it to my family. I forgot to mention that you leave with at least half of the spices and oils to cook with for future meals. You can go to the Wildtree website and click on recipes and type in the product you want to use and find many recipes. Very cool! The oil are grapeseed oil, which has half the saturated fat of olive oil and it can be cooked at a high temperature and it doesn't burn off like other oils. It comes in many flavors, like basil pesto, zesty lemon and hickory bacon. (Yes, bacon! And it's healthy!)

I loved it so much that I decided to become a representative. These products are helping me stay on track with my healthy eating and I want to share it with the world. This stuff is awesome! I have my first workshop on August 6th and I am so excited!

If you would be interested in hosting a workshop or would like to come to one of the monthly workshops I'm going to be hosting, you can reach me at kacibeatty@hotmail.com or you can message me on my Peace, Love and Healthiness Facebook page here. If you just want to look at my website to see what it's all about or you would like to order something, you can check that out here. I should mention that if you host your own workshop, there are very good hostess rewards. I'm talking free stuff, people! :)