- Dairy (this means NO cheese, yogurt, coffee creamer, etc) Get to know unsweetened almond milk, it will be your best friend!
- Carbs (not all carbs are bad for you-there are good carbs in fruit, veggies, beans and whole grains. But I definitely stay far away from bread, pasta, tortillas, etc. If you need bread in your life, do whole grain toast and only in the morning)
- Sugar (no candy, sweets, etc)
- Alcohol (About once a month I splurge and have a few drinks, but my days of 3 beers a night are long gone)
- No processed foods or saturated fats
- Fruit (only eat berries a few times a week and only in the morning)
- Nuts (only eat raw unsalted nuts a few times a week, one serving is a handful)
- Healthy fats (not all fat is bad fat, healthy fat is good for you..to an extent. It is still high in calories so try to limit to one serving a day. Healthy fats come from foods like avocados, nuts and plant oils like coconut oil or olive oil)
- Lean protein (Chicken breast, 99% lean ground turkey, fish)
- Leafy greens (Kale & Spinach)
- Water...water, water, water...Drink tons of water!
- Eggs & egg whites (Breakfast everyday and hardboiled egg as a snack daily)
- Unsweetened almond milk
A few items you should ALWAYS have on hand:
- Liquid egg whites
- Olive oil
- Spinach, rinsed & ready to eat
- Chicken breast
- Natural low sodium turkey deli meat
- Mrs. Dash seasoning
- Celery
- A bag of frozen broccoli
- Can of black beans
- Almond butter
- Meal replacement or Protein shake
MY PLAN
"Fail to plan, plan to fail"
Every Friday I sit down and make a "menu"! I love lists and being organized and thrive on structure. So this works great for me. I write down everything I am going to eat for the next 7 days. So I plan the upcoming weekend and the following work week, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & snacks! Then I make a grocery list off that "menu" and hit the grocery store on Friday night.
On Sunday's I bust out my "menu", tupperware, ziplock bags, pots and pans, my oils and spices and all my ingredients and go to town! Food prep usually takes me about 2 hours from start to finish. But it is the only time during the week that I cook (or really even do dishes) so it is worth it.
Here is an example of what one of my days might look like (weekday-work):
Wake Up (on way to work): Water w/ lemon
Breakfast (7:30am): 2 egg muffins, 1/2 an avocado & coffee (black)
Snack (10:30am): 1 hardboiled egg
Lunch (12:30pm): 4 oz 99% lean ground turkey mixed with bell peppers and 2 cups sautéed spinach
Snack (3:30): Celery and Justins Almond butter single serving packet
Dinner (7:30pm): meal replacement shake mixed with 10oz of unsweetened Almond Milk
**Throughout the day...water, water, water!!!
MEAL IDEAS
Breakfast:
Egg Muffins (makes 10)
Spray muffin pan really well with olive oil cooking spray!
1.5 cups egg white
1 whole egg
2 bell peppers
1 yellow onion
2 cups frozen spinach (defrost before adding to mix)
Pepper & Mrs. Dash (I love spicy in my egg muffins)
Directions-
1. Preheat oven to
350 degrees
2. Dice peppers and onions. Add one tbsp olive oil to saute pan and saute peppers and onion for 5 minutes or until veggies begin to soften
3. In bowl add whole egg, egg white, and spinach
4. Add peppers and onion to bowl
5. Mix all together and season with pepper and Mrs. Dash
6. Fill each muffin tin 3/4 full with egg & veggie mixture. Bake for 20-25
minutes
Lunch:
Meal option #1: Turkey Fajitas
4 oz 99% lean ground turkey
2 Bell Peppers (one green and one red)
1/2 yellow onion
4 romaine lettuce leaves
1 avocado
1/4 cup fresh salsa
Southwest Mrs. Dash
Directions-
1. Brown ground turkey in skillet, season with Mrs. Dash
2. Dice peppers and onions, add to skillet. Cook until peppers become soft
3. Rinse lettuce leaves and slice your avocado
4. Scoop ground turkey mix into lettuce leaves, top with slice avocado and salsa (I like to double up on my lettuce leaves to make sure they don't rip and to get me more leafy greens in the meal, so recipe makes two servings)
*If you are not omitting dairy from your diet, top with a little cheese and scoop of plain greek yogurt!
Meal option #2: Chicken & Veggies
5 oz chicken breast
2 cups fresh spinach
1/3 cup sliced mushrooms
5 cherry/grape tomatoes
Olive oil
Garlic & Herb Mrs. Dash & Lemon Pepper Mrs. Dash
Directions -
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Sprinkle Lemon Pepper on chicken breast, bake for 25-30 minutes
3. add 1 tbsp. olive oil to skillet, add spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes (slice tomatoes in half long ways) Sprinkle with Garlic and Herb Mrs. Dash.
4. Saute' veggies 5 minutes
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