Clean-eating Tuesday

It's Tuesday!  Let's talk about clean eating and making healthy habits that stick. 

One of my favorite sayings is "if you fail to plan then you plan to fail."  So true.  When I get hungry, I get cranky.  Cranky isn't fun.  And a cranky mom really isn't fun.  If I know we're going to be out on the run, I will pack myself a snack or two just as I would for the kids.  Nothing to over-think, but something simple like a cut-up apple and some almonds, carrot sticks and nuts or even a small piece of cheese.  We're not going on a desert sahara, folks.  You don't need to pack the whole fridge in a cooler (unless you really want to!), just something to hold you over so you're not digging into the kids' PBJ or you're not dying and wondering where the closest fast food joint can be found.  Make it simple, but make it work for you.

For many of us, sticking to healthy habits means making it totally routine.  I don't have a lot of time to make fancy recipes and typically our family isn't eating the same foods all the time.  I love salivating over all the fun recipes and ideas on Pinterest, but I know that 1. I don't have the time to be fancy shmancy and 2. Same ole, same ole works.  Simple and effective.  I have tried many recipes over the years of course, but have only incorporated a few of them into my daily repertroire. 

Now I have to add that hubby is amazing with the grill.  I am lucky enough that he is willing to grill pretty much year-round.  Throw a protein source on that baby and cook up some veggies, and/or a salad and add a tater for him (sometimes, sometimes not) and we're good to go.  My tastes have kind of changed recently and I'm not nearly as much a carnivore as I once was.  But fish, small chicken breast and even the once in a while veggie burger are all fair game.

Here is a typical eating day for me:

Pre-workout:
Coffee with stevia and unsweetened almond milk
10 almonds (Anal?  Yep.  Totally)

Breakfast:
Frozen mixed berries (nuked until warm)
Greek yogurt
HB egg

Lunch:
Huge salad with leafy greens, carrots, cuke, etc.
Cooked vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, spaghetti squash, etc.
Protein source, many times a small chicken breast
1/2 cup of a complex carb like quinoa, brown rice, hummous, beans, etc.

PM Snack:
Coffee with stevia, unsweetened almond milk, cocoa powder to make it fancy.
Something like an apple with or without another HB egg, or glucc pudding (more on this later)

Dinner:
Typically looks a lot like lunch