Food Prep!

Let’s face it… We are BUSY women!  Some of us are students’ writing papers and studying for exams.  Some of us are mothers caring for our families.  Some of us are business women pushing our careers forward.  We do it all!  Now and then the one thing that we can forget to do is take time for ourselves…  This is why it is so important to prepare your meals ahead of time!  I recently finished university (just a few days ago to be exact!) and I know how difficult it is to be a student eating on the go.  The salad bar is almost invisible next to all of the burger/pasta/dessert stations at school so it makes it really hard to make good choices.  The same goes for women who are working every day or those who are busy running after energetic little ones!  The saying goes “If you FAIL to PLAN, you PLAN to FAIL”… Meaning that we need to plan our meals and prep them ahead of time so we don’t have to worry about what we are going to eat or how we are going to find the time to make it. 

Sunday is my Meal Prep day… I prepare all of my chicken, veggies, and lean beef meals and package them up into Ziploc containers and organize them in the fridge.  I used to cook every single day, several times a day but I found I was constantly cooking and cleaning!  I didn’t have time to do anything else.  This saves me a lot of time and makes eating MUCH easier.  Plus there is less room for temptation… You know what I am talking about… It’s almost noon and you are starving, but you have a meeting/class/baby ready to go down for a nap etc. soon so you opt for something quick and easy… That tends to be junk food/Drive-Thru!  It is SO convenient, am I right?  Having your meals prepped and ready for you to heat and eat is pretty convenient too!  ;)

I find the most difficult time to get all of my meals in (I’m no pro… I still struggle!) is on day trips.  I would pack all of my meals and try to stuff them into lunch bags I had at home and I would walk out the door with 5 lunch bags and end up forgetting the car keys in the house because my hands were so full!  I recently purchased the 6 Pack Fitness Cooler Bag that holds everything I need!  (Here is the link… http://sixpackbags.com/)  There is room for water bottles, ice packs, Ziploc storage containers (it actually comes with 3 storage containers!), and SO MUCH MORE!  It is compact and the pink/grey colour combo is ADORABLE!  If pink isn’t your thing, not to worry, there is a black one too.  Now there is no excuse for not having my meals with me!  If only it had a microwave inside that magical little cooler bag!  (I will do a full review on the bag after I have tested it out!)

Two of my favourite cooking methods for prepping meals are poaching and roasting.  I poach my chicken because I find it cooks faster and stays juicier all week and I roast my veggies because all I have to do is pop them in the oven, or better yet on the BBQ!  Sautéing veggies is a delightful idea, but it takes more time and required more of your attention.  My FAVE veggie this month has been asparagus!  They are rather thin and tender right now so they roast up really quickly and taste fantastic with my poached chicken!  Another summer-time favourite veggie of mine is BBQ’d zucchini.  I slice it up lengthwise and grill it up!  It is delicious!  I am a huge fan of the BBQ :)

Food is FUEL and when your body has what it needs to perform, you are going to succeed!  So this is my challenge to all of you ladies out there… If you aren’t prepping your meals for the week, ahead of time, TRY IT!  It might seem like a lot of time to dedicate to one thing all in one day but I promise it will save you time and energy throughout the entire week! 

Kayla

Resisting Temptation

Hey everyone!

Today I’m talking about temptation!  You’ve all been there before… You are at an event, business meeting, or a night out with friends.  Temptation is everywhere!  Most recently, for me, I was tested while out bowling.  There were about 20 people; all very hungry and "in need" of beer and snacks.  Being the event coordinator, I had to take care of it!  I knew that my almonds wouldn’t make everyone happy so I went to the snack bar and ordered up 5 pizzas, 2 platters, and 6 orders of chicken tenders for everyone to share.  Then I saw them… Mozza Sticks.  In that moment they called to me, they said “come on… just ONE bite!”.  I thought FOR SURE this was it, all hell was going to break loose over these Mozza Sticks.  I brought the food over to the table and made sure I sat away from it.  Somehow, it ended up right under my nose.  People moved things around and the gooey cheese was right in front of me.  I pushed it away and decided to reflect on the past 2 months and how far I have come.  I thought to myself, “Kayla, you have worked so hard to lose just over 50 lbs… WHY would you ruin that now?”.  It was really hard to say no, especially when everyone around me was eating without worrying about what went in their mouths.  But I did it and I felt SO strong and SO proud of myself after.  Once I gave my head a shake I realized that I didn’t even WANT those Mozza Sticks.  They aren’t good for anyone and they certainly aren’t what I need.  I was able to then sit back, enjoy my almonds and cheer for everyone that was bowling. 

I believe that temptation is everywhere, all of the time; it is only during our weaker moments that we notice it.  That day I had just been to the chiropractor for my ribs (I popped one out of place and it felt awful!) and as soon as I sat in my car after the adjustment, I popped it back out.  So I was in pain all night while everyone was stuffing their faces and having fun bowling.  I can admit it, I was having a little pity party for myself and that’s when I noticed the Mozza Sticks.  It took a lot to say no but I did and I am so glad I did.  I was able to shake off my bad mood and focus on the positive of the night; temptation did not get the best of me.  I was STRONGER!

The moral of the story here is, you are in control of today.  You control how the day ends; it can end with guilt or it can end with celebration!  Cravings and temptations are strong feelings but you are STRONGER!  I love this quote...

The satisfaction of giving in to temptation is very, very short lived.  But the satisfaction you get for saying no to temptation is incredible.  Always keep your goals in sight and make the right decisions today, so you can celebrate all of your tomorrows!

 Kayla