Meals & Snacks That Keep You on Track

Ever find yourself in a pinch, hunger has crept up on you and you find yourself not prepared? Nothing is in the fridge to heat up or perhaps your are out of this or that? Not being prepared can be a big downfall for those of us trying to lose weight.

I have found that preparing things in advance for the week has help tremendously. Having low cal snacks (wheat thins/pretzels/nuts) bagged into serving sizes on hand, a container of tuna/chicken salad in the fridge, fresh fruit/veggies always available and even leftover soup to be great ways to not lose focus. But there is another item I have found that I really enjoy as of late and that is steamers. Pre-packaged, yes, but the taste is wonderful and the calories are low.  I like Birdseye Roasted Potatoes in Chive & Butter Sauce. The whole bag is just 260 calories. Lunch! Broccoli and cheese is another yummy steamer and LOW cal! Steamers are relatively inexpensive and filling and for someone constantly on the move or even a working person, these microwaveable dishes can't be beat.

The key here is to make sure to not only have healthy choices on hand, but also go-to foods for times when you feel the need to eat right now and not spend and hour cooking.

What meals do you reach for on the go?

Making My Life a Bit Simpler

How about that, two posts in one day! Someone must have a napping kid today tee-hee!

Ok, so my earlier post I told you all how I was cleaning the kitchen, purging the garbage and then hitting the grocery. We are pretty well set for a while on meat and "go-withs" as  I often refer to them. But snacks, well that is another story.

So now that all the crap is gone, I needed to replenish some items, including snacks. This time I decided to go with what will be easiest for me in a pinch. Now by that I don't mean I bought a bunch of pre-packaged crap, well, I did buy some 90 calories snacks, but what I mean is I sort of made my own little snacks. I took bags of pretzel sticks, marshmallows, reduced fat wheat thins and sorted them into snack size baggies in individual servings. I bought nuts that were prepacked and then a tin of nuts for my boy. I also found laughing cow queso fresco chipotle cheese (light) and bought some of that. So if someone wants a snack, there is no counting or measuring. Now, its grab it and go!

I got the kids involved. We talked about how there is food that is good for your body and that which is not. We talked about how too much candy not only rots your pretty teeth but makes your body blow up like a balloon and how hard it is to move around when that happens. Overall, I explained how it is important to be healthy so we can run and play and do the things we like to do. For example, we still have "ice cream" its just that on the package they call it frozen yogurt, LOL! Instead of sitting down with a bag of chips, we now have serving size bags readily accessible of pretzels or cheese puffs. Baby steps. Just trying to make life simpler and letting my kids help so they see the importance of making better choices. What have you done lately to make your life a bit simpler?