Mamavation Monday: Meal Preparation Challenges

When I began my journey with Mamavation to lose weight and get in shape, I realized quickly that what I ate – not just the number of calories, fat, etc. – was going to play as big a role in my success as anything else.  The Mamavation moms led me to the free tools at MyFitnessPal.com, and through daily tracking of my food intake, I learned that I needed far more protein and less carbs.  I essentially had become obese eating too few calories and all the wrong things.  The good news? I could eat more calories!  For me that meant changing what I ate, but eating more and more often.  The bad news?  I had to eat different foods.

The easiest way to change what I ate and become healthier was to find simple things that worked well. Whole wheat pita and hummus, carrots w/ low fat dip, Greek yogurt…lots of Greek yogurt.  The evening meals were also easy to change in a simple way because it was the summer.  My husband began grilling lean meats like pork tenderloin and skinless chicken breast with the occasional lean cut of beef.  To make it easy for all of us, our nightly lean-meat-on-the-grill was partnered with a steamed vegetable du jour.  Meals were quick to make, quick to clean up.  The weight began to melt away.

But the problem is that I still love food and regardless of how economical – both in terms of time and money – it has been to eat a variations of the same thing every day, I’ve had enough. The weather has changed and my husband is not inclined to grill in the cold and the dark.  Steamed vegetables are awesome, but they need something.  Anything!  Salads with carrots and cucumbers and one of the same two dressings I’ve been eating for months on end have become boring.

My first instinct in response to this boredom with food is to “cheat” more often.  The business of the holiday season has been a great excuse to order take out more than once in awhile.  And while it is monotonous in its own way, carb-filled old faithfuls like pizza have crept back into the regular meal rotation.  I need to make a change before all of my old habits return. Right now I’m exercising to maintain my weight loss and no longer losing weight at all, and I know it is because of food choices.  Rather than slip back into the take out habit, I’d like to just become a better cook who can create healthy meals that are also more interesting than what we’ve been eating.

So now I’m asking you for help!  What are some of your favorite healthy meals?  Feel free to share recipe links or links to posts you’ve written about the topic!

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6 Comments

  • I love food blogs. Like, I really love food blogs. Since I’ve gone gluten-free, I’ve had a whole new blog world to search through. Pinterest is great for recipes too. And I google “Menu Plan Monday” too for ideas.

    There are always the stuff we always have – tacos (made with ground turkey and with corn tortillas), spaghetti (use tofu noodles for a low fat alternative…and they are pretty cheap too!).

  • I love having some good soups in the freezer and finding some great ideas on OAMM’s site. Tonight I made a Tuscan white bean soup. I made enough to freeze the extra. Last week I made a roasted tomato and red pepper soup. I put it on last Friday’s Mamavation Mom Linky.

  • Nancy

    Do you like fish? Plain unbattered fillets are great baked with salsa, lemon or other healthy topping of your choice!

  • Recent discovery – Turkey meatballs mixed with a steamed bag of carrots & broccoli, my favorite tomato/marinara sauce and occasionally some whole wheat pasta. Best spaghetti and meatballs EVER (and really simple /fast to make)

  • You know you can make vegetable pizza yourself. We do it all the time here. I’d recommend picking up a couple of Weight Watcher cook books. Especially, with comfort foods like calzones, pizza, macaroni & cheese…they do a FAB job of renovating those recipes. Saved my life because I LOVE TO EAT TOO!!!!

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