Update (and a bit of a rant) - April 17, 2015

So I haven't updated this blog in a while and it wasn't because I have forgotten about it at all, nor my journey to lose weight. Its just that things in my life have become a bit more hectic and stressful than they were previously.

I love doing my meal prep and I want to keep that up but I've hit a snag in the form that I have no vehicle in order to go to the stores in the next town over in order to get the foods that are better for me. Because I'll be honest, I live in a small town and our town store doesn't really cater to the healthier life choices that other stores do. So in order for me to get a good selection of healthier foods/drinks, I have to go to a Corner Market that is roughly thirty minutes or more from my small town. Now this has become a difficult task since I do not have a vehicle, which I'll explain more on that topic later, and since I don't have a vehicle; it really is impossible for me to go shop for healthier food without inconveniencing a friend or family member. Well mostly just one friend that has proven time and time again that she is one of the best friends that I could ever ask for in this life.

When I say I don't have a vehicle, I don't mean that I literally don't have a vehicle. On the contrary, there are three vehicles in my yard right now just waiting to be driven. Problem is...none of the work. My father, who is suppose to a master mechanic and has a master's degree in the field, has basically not done anything in the form of fixing them. My household has literally had no vehicle of our to drive in over a year and its really starting to piss me off. But what can I do? I can't work because no one is hiring in this town and if I do find a job, there is no way that I can drive to said job when I have nothing to drive.

Not to mention that I am the primary caregiver of my elderly grandfather and my uncle who has down-syndrome. And when I say primary, I really do mean primary as I seem to be in the only in the family that gives a damn about them. Please pardon my language but its really a sore spot for me at how they treat them. And it doesn't end with just my grandfather and uncle. When my grandmother was put on hospice when she was dying from a brain tumor, I was still in high school. But you know who was her primary caregiver...me. I was the one that got up at 3 in the morning in order to calm her down when she was crying or move her when she was in pain. I was fifteen years old and it seemed like I was the only that cared. Not saying that I didn't get help but most of the time I was her one and only caregiver. I almost got kicked out of school because I stayed home so much after staying up all night with her, making sure she was okay. I don't regret it and if I had to do it over again, I would do it in a heartbeat. This is why I stay here with my grandfather and uncle, its because I know that they are being taken care of and even though I do complain from time to time; even though my uncle is far from the nicest person in the world and tells me daily to go "die and burn in hell", I still wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

I am so sorry for venting that long paragraph but the stress has just gotten so much for me that I feel like if I don't get it out that I'll explode. And one of the main things I do when I am stressed is that I write. This is why I wanted to get more into blogging but I venture from the topic at hand...

So yes when I do my meal prep, I go out of town because the selection of food is much healthier. And I am able to do this due to the fact that I have one of the greatest friends in the world and I am so glad to have her in my life. For the past several months, she has driven an hour and a half to come get me so that I could go grocery shopping...and she asks for nothing in return! I mean I don't know many people who do that and do it for nothing. I can't even depend on my own family to do a quarter of the things she has down and I make sure to tell her every time I see her how appreciative I am. But now with me being sick, both from stress and a cold, my grandfather now sick, my uncle sick last week and now my friend has turned out sick; its really hard for me to keep up with my meal prep when I can't go to the store that I desperately need to go to.

Not saying that I have given up on dieting, oh no that is not the case. I've just had to make some sacrifices when it comes to my weekly meal prep for now. I'm hoping that once we are all over being sick that I can get back into a semi-natural routine again.

I want to again apologize for the rant above but like I said, I had to get that out of me before I exploded or made myself sicker. So if you guys will just stay with me for another week or so, I can get some better updates going and whatnot. Hope everyone had a Happy Easter and that you are all doing well.

Until Next Time!

Meal Prep Week #2! (March 22 - 27)

Hi!
So the last few days of Meal Prep Week one were not that successful at all. But I am not going to be deterred as I start my second week. Though I do not have any snacks like the fruit and trail mix that I had during the first week. But perhaps that is a good thing in the long run. Reason for me not having these items this week is that I live in a small town and our local store is, not up to standards of other stores. Our healthy food selection is pretty much non-existent. During the first week I was lucky enough to be able to shop in a store that had a much better selection. Unfortunately I was not able to go shopping there this week so I made due with what I had.

I still plan on drinking water for every meal as well as in-between meals as well. I do also plan to eat three meals a day so even though I am without healthy snacks at the moment I will not let that deter me.

I am also planning on adding light exercise to my daily routine this week, though it is not really a part of meal prepping, I know that I need to get out and walk. So I'm going to make an effort to walk at least 20 minutes a day if not more.

The meals I'm having are very simple but I know that these meals will fill me up.

For breakfast: 1 pack of Instant Oatmeal (Maple & Brown Sugar), an Everything Bagel w/ Strawberry Creme Cheese.

For lunch and dinner: Grilled Chicken Strips, Steamed White Rice w/ Furikaki (Japanese Rice Seasoning) and Whole Kernel Sweet Corn.

I decided to forgo the Lo Mein this week as it seemed to not really fill me up. But when it came to the grilled chicken that I had for dinner during the first week, it seemed to fill me up longer.

Now as I said, I do not measure how much chicken I put into each container but I do measure the rice and the corn. I put a little more than half a cup of rice into each container and about a fourth of a cup, or more, of corn into each container. I know that some people measure the ounces of the chicken but I do not have a scale nor the means to purchase one so I divide them as evenly as I can and that works pretty good for me.

I am still struggling with cravings, especially late at night, which makes me annoyed more than anything because I do not know what is causing it. I feel like I'm eating enough during each meal and that I only get cravings just to get them and that I'm not really hungry. I'm trying to find something to help curve my cravings so again if anyone has any tips please feel free to leave a comment.

Well until next week!

Mid-Week Update!

Hi!
So I decided that today would be a good day to give a mid-week update on how I'm doing with the Meal Prep.

First off, I do still get late night cravings and for the life of me I do not know why. Its a bit aggravating to say the least and more so disappointing cause I don't even realize that I'm eating junk food until I'm halfway through with it. If anyone has any tips then please let me know cause it is very frustrating.

My water intake is going good. I'm drinking a 16.9 oz bottle of water with every meal and also drinking at least 20-30 oz of water in between meals. So the water intake is going good.

The meals themselves are delicious and they do their job in filling me up completely.

However I did have to make a change with breakfast, instead of eating just one pack of instant grits, I increased it to two because I was still feeling hungry after. But tomorrow I'm going to have oatmeal and I'm hoping that that will fill me up better than the grits did.

I've also been making green juices to go with my lunch and dinner meals. I make these green smoothies by using Kale, Spinach, Chard, 1 cut up Strawberry, 2 Tbsp of Vanilla Yogurt, 1/2 Cup of Peach Juice and one scoop of protein powder. I actually enjoy the smoothies more than the meals.

The fruit and the homemade trail mix I made, are another one of my favorite things to snack on. I'm just hoping that I can get the fruit to last throughout the week cause the are just so good. Also I'm wanting to try different fruits so if anyone has any ideas please let me know!

All in all its going pretty good and I'm happy that I am enjoying it as well as I am. But like I said the only thing I'm disappointed in is that I still get cravings, especially late at night. If anyone has any tips then please leave a comment as to how I can stop these late night cravings. I do suffer from Insomnia most nights as well if that helps anyone.

Until the next post!
Thank you for reading and again feel free to comment!

Meal Prep Week #1 Begins!

HI!
I am so excited to finally start my meal prep for the week! Me and my friend went shopping all day yesterday to stock up and we spent nearly all morning/afternoon getting everything ready and I am finally finished! I feel so accomplished and excited to start this and I know that I can keep up with it no problem.

I also would like it to be known that I am new to meal prep so I am going to be learning about it for a while but that's not to say that I don't want to share what I made and what I'm going to be eating for the next week starting tomorrow morning.

So I'm going to be listing what all meals I'll be having for the next week along with snacks. Pictures can be found at the end of this blog and I do encourage anyone that if they have any suggestions that they leave me a comment. I love hearing suggestions, especially if I can benefit from them.

And now onto the list!

Breakfast:
- 1 Pack of Instant Oatmeal/Grits
- 1 Bagel (Everything) with a light spreading of Strawberry Creme Cheese

Lunch:
- Stir Fry Steak Strips
- Homemade Lo Mein (Recipe will be linked at the bottom of the page. I highly recommend the recipe as it is really simple and delicious!)
- Green Juice (Mixture of 1 Strawberry, Kale, Spinach, Chard, 2 tsp of Vanilla Yogurt, 1/4 cup of Peach Juice)

Dinner:
- Grilled Chicken
- Steamed White Rice with 1/2 Tsp of Furikaki on top (Japanese Rice Seasoning)
- Whole Kernal Sweet Corn

Snacks:
- Homemade Trail Mix - Honey-Roasted Peanuts (1 tsp.), Sunflower Seeds (1 tsp) and Special K Granola Mix (2 tsp)
- Fresh Fruit - Strawberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Raspberries and Grapes. 

And of course for every meal I will be drinking a bottle of 16.9 oz water as well as throughout the day I'm going to be constantly drinking water as well. But the 16.9 bottle of water will be drunk for every meal without fail. I am swearing off all other kinds of drinks except for the Peach Juice that will only be used in my green juices. This is really easy for me to do since I become quite ill whenever I drink a carbonated drink. Though I do have MIO water enhancer if the taste of water becomes to plain for me in order to keep my interest in the water. 

Oh also I wanted to let anyone who was curious that I was lucky enough to find all of my Tupperware containers from the Dollar Tree. I lucked up and found a bunch of Betty Crocker Tupperware that came in a pack of 2 for just $1. The bowls that are pictured below that hold the fruit are 8 ounce bowls and each one cost $1. So just wanted to let you guys know that you don't have to spend a bunch of money in order to find good Tupperware for meal prep. And the Tupperware is freezer and microwavable safe, which are great if you are meal prepping!

And now I come to a end with this blog post. I will try and post another by the middle of the week in order to tell of my progress and if I like it or not. Which with how excited and happy I am that I know I can succeed with meal prep!

Until Next Time!

Easy Lo Mein Recipe: http://damndelicious.net/2014/10/03/easy-lo-mein/

Pictures: (Sorry for the quality, my camera isn't really any good)

SO MUCH DELICIOUS FRUIT! YUMMY!

YUMMY!

Weight Loss Journey - Week #6 (Mar. 1 - 7, 2015)

Hi!
So this update is gonna be a bit different because I'm changing up my way of dieting starting the 14th of this month. And I really feel like that this new plan is gonna help me more and help me on my way to achieving my weight loss goal.
Me and one of my closest friends are going to start doing weekly Meal Prep. We've both been thinking about it for a while and now we feel like we can completely commit to it. Now not to say that for me its going to be easy because I do live with two other people, who are very set in their ways of eating that will not be doing meal prep with me. So for them I will be cooking and such everyday for them. But that really doesn't bother me at all and I know that if I can succeed in keeping to my meal prep meals and snacks that I will be a stronger person for it. :-)

Now not to say that I have it all figured out but that is what this week is for. Me and my friend are planning a big shopping day next Saturday (Mar.14th) and I was wondering if anyone had any tips that they would be willing to share. The main tip I'm looking for is that what are some good Tupperware containers that are good for freezing and microwaving but ones that are also inexpensive.

I should also mention that I have no plans to count calories at all. The main reason I'm doing this is because I want to be able to chose a healthy food option instead of making a sandwich and whatnot.

I'm also looking for different fruits and veggies to eat along with my prep meals. I'm good with starches cause I love steamed rice and I never get tired of it. Meat is pretty simple too cause I can never get tired of chicken and steak. Again if anyone has any tips that they are willing to share then please let me know. I really will appreciate any help/advice/tips that can be given! :-)

Until Next Week!

Weight Loss Journey - Week #5 (Feb. 22 - 28, 2015)

Hi!
So yeah last week was a very dark post and I apologize for that but I felt that it was something that I really need to hear. Sadly this week has proved to be no better, especially since I have been feeling sick nearly all week.
I don't know what's causing it at all. I can only think that it is the weather, which has been pretty crappy where I live this past week. I mean rain and cold nearly everyday. The days it didn't rain it was so cold and damp outside that no one could stand it. I really hope that our weather gets better and soon.
Sadly with the way I've been feeling and with the weather being like it was, I couldn't get out and walk like I really wanted to but I did change something of my everyday activities.
Since I stay at home all day, I'm pretty much on my computer for over 8 hours a day. Just sitting and doing nothing but surfing the web, watching YouTube and playing games. But this week I made it a point to take an hour or two to do something else and surprisingly it works. I started out reading a book for an hour one day and when I got tired of that I found a new hobby that I never thought I would enjoy again. Coloring. Yes you have read right, coloring has become my new favorite hobby to do. It keeps me busy, thus taking my mind off of food which is awesome.
Sadly however, my water intake for this week has been reduced to 20 oz a day which is not good at all. But with tomorrow starts a new day and I know that this next week I will get better at this.
I have also come to a decision that I will indeed be posting a before picture tomorrow (Sunday, March 1) in order to really encourage me to work out. Now I will go ahead and say that while comments are welcomed I will not tolerate name-calling on this blog. I get enough of that from my father but that is another topic for another day perhaps.
And now for this week's food diary, I only forgot to write one meal down and by the time I saw that I didn't write it down.

Sunday - Feb. 22
Breakfast:
- 2 Scrambled Eggs w/ Ketchup
- 2 Sausage Patties
- 1 Instant Oatmeal (Maple & Brown Sugar)
- 1 Everything Bagel w/ Apricot Jelly

Snack:
- Chewy Dipp Peanut Butter Quaker Bar

Lunch:
- 2 BBQ Chicken Sandwiches (Patties)
- Chewy Dipp Peanut Butter Quaker Bar

Dinner:
- 2 Hamburgers w/ BBQ Sauce
- 16.9 oz of Lipton Green Tea (Citrus)

Snack:
- 1 Cup of Popcorn

Midnight Snack:
- 1 Bowl of Cornflakes
- 2 PB&J Sandwiches

Monday - Feb. 23
Breakfast:
- 2 Scrambled Eggs
- 2 Sausage Patties
- 1 Everything Bagel w/ Apricot Jelly
- 1 Pack of Instant Cheese Grits (Quakers)

Lunch:
- 1 Pack of Beef Ramen Noodles
- 1 Dozen (12) Popcorn Chicken w/ BBQ Sauce
- 1 Small Strawberry Yogurt (non-fat)

Dinner:
- 1 Bowl of Cornflakes
- 1 1/2 PB&J Sandwiches

Snack:
- 1/2 Cup of Vanilla Yogurt
- 1/4 Cup of Mandarin Oranges

Tuesday - Feb. 24
Breakfast:
- None

Lunch:
- 1 Hamburger w/ Mayo, Bacon and Cheese
- 1 Medium Cheese Fries w/ Bacon Bits
- 32 oz of Sweet Tea

Dinner:
- 2 Cups of Lo Mein
- 2 Cups of Sweet and Sour Chicken
- 16.9 oz of Lipton Green Tea (Citrus)

Snack:
- 1 Small Pack of Buncha Crunch Candy

Wednesday - Feb. 25
Breakfast:
- 1 Pack of Instant Cheese Grits
- 2 Scrambled Eggs
- 2 Sausage Patties

Lunch:
- 1 Dozen (12) Popcorn Chicken w/ BBQ Sauce
- 1 Pack of Beef Ramen Noodles

Dinner:
- 1 Mini Pizza
- 2 Spicy Chicken Pattie Sandwiches
- 1 Medium French Fry

Snack:
- 1 Small Pack of Buncha Crunch Candy

Thursday - Feb. 26
Breakfast:
- 1 Pack of Instant Oatmeal (Maple & Brown Sugar)
- 1 Piece of Honey Wheat Toast w/ Apricot Jelly
- 1 Special K Cereal Bar

Lunch:
- 1 Mini Pizza
- Chicken Pattie Sandwich

Dinner:
- Don't remember at all

Friday - Feb. 27
Breakfast:
- 1 Pack Instant Cheese Grits
- 2 Scrambled Eggs

Lunch:
- 3 1/2 Pieces of Pizza
- 1 Cinnamon Roll
- 3 Cheesy Bread Sticks
- 12 oz of Sweet Tea

Snack:
- Nachos and Cheese

Dinner:
- Lo Mein (2 Cups)
- Sweet and Sour Chicken (1 1/2 Cups)
- Sobe Green Tea (16 oz)

Snack:
- 1 Pack of Buncha Crunch

Saturday - Feb. 28
Breakfast:
- 2 Scrambled Eggs
- 1 Pack of Instant Cheese Grits

Lunch:
- 1 PB&J Sandwich
- 1/2 Cup of Milk
- 1 Mini Pizza (Did not settle well and I got sick from it)
- 1 Small Spicy Fry (Did not settle well and I got sick from it)

Dinner:
- A Dozen (12) Popcorn Chicken

Snack:
- 1 Personal Ice Cream (Bunny Tracks)




Even though this week was still bad, it was still better than the week I had last week. I really don't understand what happened last week but I am glad that I posted what I did. I think I needed to hear it and get it out of my system more than anyone else.
I do hope that this upcoming week is better in not only exercise and water intake but in all moods and feelings. This week I've felt so emotionally heavy that it seemed to just weigh heavily on me, emotionally and stress so to speak.

Until Next Week!

Weight Loss Journey - Week #4 (Feb. 15 - 21, 2015)

This week, there is no word for what this week has been. My emotions have been all over the place and for once I don't know what is to blame. I haven't been sick nor has it been anything that can be blamed on being a female (if you catch my meaning). I honestly don't know why but this week I have never felt crappier or more depressed in years. And of course with my luck it affected my eating habits, which have also gone to crap.

Sadly this week is gonna be a bit different as I didn't write down what I ate for about 4 days and I don't want to lie about what I ate because that is hurting myself and I really don't want to lie to my readers either. So in this post, I'm not going to include my food diary for this week because there is simply none. I do admit however that I went overboard with eating sweets and that just makes me feel even more depressed with myself.

For instance, last night was the worst night ever. I sat here in front of my laptop and I ate a whole box of Girl Scout cookies at one time! That's about 20 cookies! That is just too much and I was so disappointed in myself that I just sat here and stuffed my face with those cookies. Now I bought the cookies in order to support one of my friend's little girl and I didn't mind doing that and helping her out at all. I ordered them because I thought I was strong enough to resist temptation an only eat the serving size once a day; but apparently I was wrong.

I didn't really eat anything different from my previous weeks and pretty much stuck to the same thing. What really depressed me was the fact that I snacked all during the night and for the life of me I don't know why. I wasn't hungry at all but the food was there and I wanted it.

Sadly, I didn't exercise any either and this just made me want to cry in frustration that I still don't have the get-up and go that I need to have. I don't know why it is so hard for me to actually get outside and walk around for 20 or 30 minutes everyday. I mean my street that I live on is fairly quiet and I know that I can walk safely on it without having to worry about getting hit or anything. And it hasn't been the weather, cause while it has been cold here it hasn't been nearly as bad as it has been in other parts of the US. I mean it was in the 70s today and we had a nice breeze! But did I get outside and walk around? Nope! I just sat cooped up in my house all day.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll exercise. My mother brought me over a couple of Tae-Bo DVDs that I plan to make use of tomorrow since we're suppose to get rain nearly all day. My plan is to do a DVD in the morning and then go out walking close to the evening or visa-verse.

I have also come up with a sort of reward or incentive if you will that will hopefully make me want to work even harder at getting my goal. I'm not gonna say what the reward/incentive is but if it works this week, I'll be sure to let you guys know in next week's post. :-)

I thank you for reading this blog and apologize for a different style of posting this week but I will be back to posting as I have done in Weeks #1-3 next week. I also maybe doing other posts between this one and next weeks. Let me know what you guys think about that in the comments or you can even tweet me! I'll include my Twitter at the bottom of this post.

Oh also, I'm thinking about posting a before pic on this blog in the next week's post and I'm a bit nervous about doing it because I don't like the way I look at all. Which is mainly why I don't like to post my picture up for anyone to see because I dislike what I see so much but maybe putting my picture up is just what I need to happen and for reality to really smack me full in the face. Again let me know what you guys think and thank you again for reading this blog!

Until Next Time!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GeekyWriter26