So what exactly is this challenge and what should I eat?

The biggest part of this challenge is going to be your food diary. For thirty days, you will write down EVERYTHING you put into your mouth. If you eat a piece of hard candy, write it down. If you drink a cup of coffee with cream and/or sugar, write it down. At this time of year, I drink a cup of tea every morning. While there are no calories or carbs in my tea, there is in the sugar I put into it. As a hat tip to my healthy eating challenge, I will be purchasing sugar in the raw so that I am still not using refined white sugar. I also notice that I use less sugar this way. I also may change the type of tea I drink so that I am not expecting one flavor and level of sweetness and getting another.

So, these are some of the foods I recommend. Feel free to add things you like, but if you aren't sure, ask me in the comments and I will try to let you know if they are going to be a good idea. (don't forget I'm not a dietitian, we are just using my research)

Breakfast ideas:
I drink a ViShake every day. Period. If I miss my shake for a different type of breakfast, I have to have it for lunch or I will feel bad because my body craves the vitamins and nutrition in it. You are your own person. You can do your own protein shake, smoothie, etc.
egg white scrambled                          boiled egg
4 slices lean bacon                             1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup blueberries                             fruit quesadilla on whole wheat tortilla

Here's a yummy fall breakfast recipe I found that is good for protein:
Stir pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg into still-warm prepared quinoa. Serve Pumpkin Breakfast Quinoa with vanilla yogurt, chopped pecans and dried cranberries.

Another yummy option is breakfast cookies. This is something Bestie and I enjoy for a treat sometimes. You take two ripe bananas, 1 cup of quick oats and a handful of chocolate chips. Mash the bananas in a bowl, fold in the quick oats and add the chocolate chips. Drop 'em on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until golden. Enjoy! Note: there is no protein in these cookies so you can add peanut butter if you like, but Bestie and I just split a shake and pig out on cookies.  I love eating healthy and still eating cookies!!

I also enjoy muffins on occasion. I use a super healthy recipe for this too! One box of devil's food or fudge cake mix and one 16 oz. can pumpkin. Again, I like to add a small handful of chocolate chips for fun. Bake according to the "cupcake" directions on the cake box. YUMMY!! They are 80 calories and around 9 carbs each.




Snack Time!! Guess what?!! If you don't snack healthy in between meals, you will snack ugly. That's what I call it when you get so hungry between meals that you eat everything in sight and feel super guilty later. I also have a really bad habit of eating when I'm bored. Having a snack schedule helps me know when it's time to snack and when it's not, I don't. Here are some snack ideas...

2 Tbsp almonds                             Banana Oatmeal cookies (see above)
Cheese Stick                                  Chocolate/Pumpkin muffins (yummy! see above)
small salad w/lt dressing               Baked oatmeal cups
pickles                                           carrots
olives                                             cucumbers (sprinkle a little chili powder - yum)
1 Tbsp peanut butter                      apple

What are baked oatmeal cups? Check them out here: http://greenlitebites.com/2009/03/07/banana-oatmeal-cups-with-chocolate-chips/

Let's do Lunch!! I am pretty basic when it comes to lunch. I don't really care about variety as much as I care about eating what I like. I like tuna salad. I could eat it every day (and I probably will). I ate it every single day in high school and lost thirty pounds my senior year. I BELIEVE in the tuna. You do what you want, just keep your protein high and your carbs low.
salad w/light dressing                                         egg muffins
tuna salad w/6 whole wheat crackers                 scrambled egg on 7 grain toast
chicken salad w/6 whole wheat crackers            edamame
egg salad on whole wheat tortilla                        Greek yogurt
Here are a few links for healthy recipes...

 

http://jennycollier.com/?p=7999

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2012/09/90-healthy-no-heat-lunches-for-work.html

http://www.leanitup.com/30-protein-packed-small-meal-ideas-under-250-calories/2/  

 

 

What's for dinner? Dinner is always a big deal to me. Usually I am starving by dinner time and I end up eating way too much. With the snacks between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner, it isn't so bad, but I still end up eating a ton of food...because I CAN!!  Here's the deal with dinner. Your goal is to eat 1 serving of lean protein and 2 servings of good for you carbs. 1 serving of lean protein is usually around 4 ounces, or if you don't have a food scale (because THOSE are just lying around everyone's kitchen...not) it is about the size of the palm of your hand and not quite as thick as your hand.

 

Lean Proteins: 1/2 cup shredded chicken

                        1/2 cup diced turkey sausage

                        4 oz chicken or turkey

                        4 oz lean beef

                        4 oz fish

 

Healthy Sides: (don't forget to choose TWO!)

                        1 cup broccoli

                        1 cup green beans                   (Can you tell I like green veggies?)

                        3/4 cup spinach

                        3/4 to 1 cup any steamed veggies

                        large salad (limit salad dressing to 1 tbsp and use lite dressing)

 

Here is a great crock pot dinner from my own blog...

http://divamommydiaries.blogspot.com/2012/09/whats-for-dinner-gluten-free-thursday.html

I would substitute quinoa for the rice for a better complex carbohydrate and the same filling texture, plus quinoa is a great source of protein!

 

Tomorrow I will explain your food diary and how you should do that.

Don't forget your water!! 96 ounces of water per day is a key to this challenge! It keeps you hydrated and keeps you from getting hungry. Did you know that sometimes when you are "hungry" you are really only thirsty and your body doesn't always know the difference. Drink a glass of water and wait a few minutes and see if your "hungry" goes away.