Be the Boy Scout

Be prepared!!!! Think about preparing food in advance.

You have to prepare to make proper choices. If you don't, you can be setting yourself up for a setback.

I'm the kind of person who usually puts off eating until I'm so incredibly hungry I could eat the leg off of a table. Not good. Manys the time I would eat the first thing I could get my hands on -- which, of course, was usually not the most nutritious choice :P

I've learned the hard way, and a great way to combat this is to have the good foods ready.

Here are just a few ideas that I hope you find helpful.

It starts with a list. Make a list of foods that you would like to have on hand, or would like to prepare, for the entire week. Also, remember to buy sandwich-sized ziplock baggies and portable containers.

Try to go to the grocery store only once per week, the temptation can be too great if you go more often. And NEVER go when you're hungry! Trust me on this one -- big mistake. I would see new products, and somehow they'd wind up in my cart. Go figure...

Always have something that you can grab in a hurry. If you would look in my purse you will find a protein bar, and if you look in my car, you're sure to find a can of mixed nuts and dried fruit.

Once you get home, set aside a few hours to prepare. Here's an example of some of the foods I would make.

I bake a tray of chicken breasts that I could use in many different dishes throughout the week.

If I buy lean ground meat or ground turkey, I portion some of it out for burgers. The rest I brown off to use in spaghetti sauce or use make to tacos or burritos.

I prepare a large salad that I could eat all week. I'd also cut vegetables that I could eat raw, or use in other dishes. (red, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers etc…)

I grill salmon fillets, and prepare tuna salad with a low calorie dressing and onions

I boil eggs. I love hard boiled eggs alone or on salads; sometimes, I'd use them to make deviled eggs ( mix 1 yolk w/ cottage cheese, and a little sweet relish until smooth)

Cube cheese into bite size squares ( remember portion sizes - no bigger than a dice)

Cook a few bags of frozen veggies like broccoli and green beans. (great to add in spaghetti sauce)

Bake sweet potatoes. They are great mashed too. Remove skins, add some liquid butter, and brown sugar splenda and mash together - it' excellent.

Cook apples - peel and slice apples. Spay a skillet with nonstick spray. Put the apples in the skillet with sugar free syrup, lemon juice, brown sugar splenda. I would add walnuts. You can put this apple mixture in your oatmeal, on top of cottage cheese or in a oatmeal, eggwhite crepe.

Oatmeal/egg white crepe - put about a cup of oatmeal in a blender and pulverize until it's like flour. Then add liquid egg whites about 1/2 cup, and vanilla to taste. Blend. Spray a saute pan with non stick spray. Pour batter into pan just coating it. It will "puff up" a bit. Flip and lightly brown other side. Fill it with your favorite fruit and drizzle with honey or sugar free syrup.

Please note: All measurements are general. I kinda "wing it" in the kitchen.

The night before, portion out the food you'll need to take to work. Put it in a bag or lunch bag so you can just grab it before you walk out the door. *Colleen's Goofy Tip Of The Week* To ensure I don't forget the bag, I put my car keys on top of it. :)