Recipe for Success

I've been at a bit of a stagnant point the last few weeks with my weight lose; half a pound here, a pound there but no significant loses. I have been exercising regularly still but I hadn't been eating as good as I had been. I decided if I wanted to reach my goal of under 200 by my birthday I was going to have to step it up (I was only 13 pounds and 4 weeks away).  So I sat down and began planning.

My biggest problem lately is that I hadn't really been making meal plans like I was in the beginning. I was falling back in the old habit of going to the grocery store and just picking things out without specific meals in mind. I had also been in a dinner funk. I was just making the same old stuff all the time.

So I sat down last Saturday and started looking up recipes. I put together an excel spreadsheet. The first tab was ingredients I needed for the recipes  (sorted by grocery store section) and the second tab was recipe links (sorted by meals).

Once I had this plan in place I set out for the stores. I hit up Whole Food first for the harder to find things on my list. I did pretty well and didn't stray too much from my list (which is hard for me in Whole Foods cause everything looks amazing).

Next I went to Aldi. I know it can get a bad rap sometimes but I love Aldi. Even though it is cash or debit only it's a great store if you're looking to save some dough on groceries. For example, Ken and I like to use ground chicken for tacos instead of ground beef. At Kroger the ground chicken is over $5 but at Aldi I get it for $2.49. Their vegetables are also a lot cheaper too, Kroger mushrooms $3.49. Aldi $0.99. Need I say more?

Any items I couldn't find at Whole Foods or Aldi I went to Kroger for. I know it seems like a lot of running around but the Kroger and Aldi are pretty close to each other. I went home after the store and put everything away and then started cooking. I made up my pre- and post- gym breakfasts for the week and made some homemade soup for lunches.

I weighed myself the next morning at the gym and I was down 4 pounds, which is funny since I was only just starting into my first day of planned meals. So I'm just 9 pounds away already. I will weigh myself Monday and see how I have done after my first week.

Meal Plan

Monday:
Pre-gym Breakfast: 1 Pumpkin Muffin
Post-gym Breakfast: 1 - 16 oz Strawberry Banana Smoothie
Lunch: Homemade Soup, apple, almond butter
Snack: Greek Yogurt (I had Chobani lemon)
Dinner: Taco Salad

Tuesday:
Pre-gym Breakfast: 1 Pumpkin Muffin
Post-gym Breakfast: 1 - 16 oz Strawberry Banana Smoothie
Lunch:  Homemade Soup , apple almond butter
Snack: Green Yogurt
Dinner: Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice

Wednesday:
Pre-gym Breakfast: 1 Pumpkin Muffin
Post-gym Breakfast: Apple and almond butter
Lunch: Cobb Salad
Snack: Greek Yogurt
Dinner: *Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes
*I made my meatloaf with ground chicken instead of beef and my mashed potatoes with coconut milk instead of cow's milk
Snack: Grain-free Chocolate chip cookies

Thursday:
Pre-gym Breakfast: Grain-free Chocolate chip cookies (I should have had a muffin but ate cookies instead)
Post-gym Breakfast: 1 - 16 oz Banana Almond Butter Smoothie
Lunch: Left over Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice
Snack: Apple and almond butter
Dinner: Spinach, Mushroom, Artichoke Pizza
(toppings: Pesto, Mozzarella, Mushroom, Fresh Spinach, Artichoke Hearts)
Snack: Fresh Pineapple

Friday:
Pre-gym Breakfast: Grain-free Chocolate chip cookies (I know, I know, more cookies for breakfast)
Post-gym Breakfast: Apple and almond butter
Lunch: Salad w/ Chicken and Broccoli Cheese Soup
Snack: More Grain-free Chocolate chip cookies
Dinner: Scrambled eggs

Saturday:
Breakfast: Pineapple, Omelette with Mushroom, Green Onion, and Cheddar Cheese
Lunch: Probably Salad
Dinner: Probably Turkey Burger and Homemade Sweet potato fries (going to attempt anyway)