For the Kids: Lunch Ideas

     Spring break is coming up for us so I have spent this week preparing and planning all of the fun things we are going to do, and eat! I love spring and summer because so much more produce is available to us through these seasons, helping aid in meal planning and snacking- I mean...the weather is pretty great too ;-)

Here is what I've come up with for the coming week, you can mix and match as you please! If there are any allergies present or if you don't eat dairy or ____, substitute as you normally would.  Pick a main dish and pair with a side or two! These can also be great option for YOU too! You don't have to have bento containers like pictured, but I love anything divided! Keeps me creative.

Main Dishes: 

Cheese Quesadilla
Hard Boiled Eggs 
Pasta Salad 
Pita Bread + Hummus (or crackers & hummus)
Cheese + Crackers
Turkey + Cheese Roll-ups
Almond Butter + Jam Sandwich
Meat + Cheese Kabob
Chips + Guacamole and/or Salsa 
Bagel + Cream Cheese
Veggie +Hummus Wrap
Tacos
Homemade Waffles (google the recipe for applesauce waffles!) 

Fruit + Veggie Sides: 

Oranges or Cuties 
Apples
Strawberries
Grapes
Peaches
Blueberries
Raspberries
Natural Applesauce
Mangoes
Melon
Baby Carrots
Cucumbers
Grape Tomatoes
Edamame
Snap Peas

Snacky Sides: 

Chips
Granola Bars (my kids love ZBars by Clif Bars)
Pretzels
String Cheese
Yogurt (I serve my kids greek yogurt or the yo-baby yogurt, they have yo-kids now!) 
Trail Mix (easy to make your own!) 
Popcorn
Crackers
Chips + Salsa
Honey Graham Crackers (I love to buy the Annies Organic Hunny Bunnies) 
Homemade Cookies or Rice Krispies Treats

Leave a Comment eating, feeding kids, food, healthy eating, snacking

why do i need to eat all of my calories?

There can be such confusing information about "under eating" or, not eating all of your calories. Some say it's good- the less you eat the more weight you will lose. They are right, to an extent.  But not eating enough also leads to other success dampers.  The main one being binging.

This is one of my biggest reasons for telling my clients to please, eat all the calories you are given in a day! If you can eat 1500 calories, eat them! They are set to 1500 for a reason. Eventually, you are going to get hungry. Your body needs those 1500 calories- that is already a deficit for you and your body is in stress eating just that 1500- it's using every single calorie! So when you are eating even less than you are told, you are putting more stress on your body. You will eventually get hungry and it will lead to you binging one day and completely ruining your entire week in ONE day! OR you may not do it all in one day, you may be a snacker and ruin your deficit over days by going over a little each day to create one big deficit by the end of the week. Even when I don't "feel" hungry I always try to make sure I get at least 50 calories within my goal because I know that if I let myself get to the point of feeling that hunger- I am putting myself at major risk of over eating and making poor food choices.

There is also an issue with under eating when it comes to plateaus.

If I tell you to eat at 1500 calories, when you hit a wall, and you will, I need to lower your numbers. So the next level down let's just say would be 1400. But wait, you've already been eating at 1400 because you haven't been following your numbers. So 1400 wont get you moving again, I have to put you even lower than that. And it's a cycle- you end up eating LESS and LOSING LESS. You quickly go from losing at 1500 calories to not being able to lose at 1250.

Trust your coach. Eat what you are told! That's why you hired someone, to tell you what you need to do to be successful, so listen! If you are not losing weight and following your plan 100%, there are SO MANY reasons and factors for this! Your coach would be the best person to evaluate and help you figure out the WHY and get you back on something  that will work. Sometimes, you have to go UP in calories to get your body moving again.

Happy Monday, ladies!

Leave a Comment calories, counting calories, diet break, healthy eating, macros, plateau, snacking, weight loss

Snacking: is it worth it?

I want to chat a little about something that is a problem area for me personally, and something that I have also seen a little bit of in other's logs and food pictures: snacking!

Let me start by saying that there is nothing wrong with having a snack. There is not even anything wrong with "snacking" as long as you are tracking how much you are having. This is an example of me on a bad day, total calorie allowance of 1675.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, toast, coffee = 315 calories

+ the handful of life cereal I snagged while pouring my kids = 400 calories. 

Snack 1: Protein shake, banana: 260 calories

+ 10 pretzels, again, serving my kids = 325 calories 

Lunch: Tuna, mayo, relish, tomatoes, wheat wrap, string cheese = 350 calories

Snack 2: Apple, 1tbsp of PB =195

+ one tablespoon? Yea right- i know I can't handle myself with PB, add another TBS. = 290

**it's right before dinner time. everyone is coming in from swimming and playing and they all want ice cream. I can't have any because I chose to have 295 calories in a handful of life cereal, a few pretzels and 1tbs of peanut butter. None of which filled me up- it was just habit. For 295 calories I could have enjoyed AN ENTIRE PINT of Halo Top Ice Cream with my kids 0R a skinny cow ice cream OR a cup of regular ice cream.** 

Dinner: Mexican Chicken (and all the toppings) = 300 calories


Daily total: 1,665

This was actually the perfect timing to do this evaluation on myself! It doesn't have to be ice cream, it could have been anything. A change of dinner plans leaving everyone going out for dinner, I would have had much more calories to use out had a I not snacked  them away.

Again, it's not that snacking is bad, if that is how you want to spend your calories that is totally fine! For me, it's a struggle area because it's habit for me and NOT the way I want to spend mine. I would much rather have a pint of ice cream over a few pretzels and some life cereal.  Next time you are tempted to take a handful of goldfish, think first about your day and whether or not those snacking calories will be worth it!

Leave a Comment calories, counting calories, eating, macros, snacking, weight loss