Food, food and more food.

I think I've started to figure out why I fail miserably at this "diet thing". IT TAKES UP TOO MUCH TIME! And I'm someone who does not like to be inconvenienced, at all. I like to make a good meal for my family, don't get me wrong. But this eating healthy thing is like a second job! Plan the food, shop for the food, make the food, eat the food, write the food in the journal, clean up the food. For a program that wants you to eat less, why is it that all I'm thinking about every 2-3 hrs or more is...FOOD?

I've decided that I need to simplify this, or I will give up on this altogether. I need to eat things readily available to me, but get creative. As I scratched my butt in front of my pantry last night (I do this a lot, by the way) I saw canned chicken breast. Huh. I could whip up a chicken salad sandwich. So, that was dinner last night up there in my photo. And all of that was only 6.5 points! Wow, I was filled! I used light mayo, and Wonder light bread and I'd like to thank God for Progresso light soups! A whole flippin' can is only 1.5 points of this deelish veggie noodle variety! And psst, guess what? I didn't feel like I was on a "diet". It was truly something I would've eaten 4 weeks ago, but I would've eaten it on sourdough bread, with full fat mayo and the soup would've been cream of potato! Please, hold your applause.

For breakfast today, I came back to my old favorite Hungry Girl recipe after my granola cereal mishap yesterday. Fancy Shmancy Oatmeal. Ok, one thing I don't like about it is that I have to sit in front of my stove in the morning and cook oatmeal. I'd rather zap it in the microwave and multi-task. But that's not healthy. The good stuff has to be cooked in a pot. A whole bowl of this pumpkin and maple oatmeal is only 3 points! And I had all the stuff to make it here at home. No special trips to the store for this hungry gal!

Lunch was a chore for me, I have to admit. I rarely stop and eat lunch. It's a pain in my butt. I have too much to do, and I'm normally on conference calls for work when it's mid-day chow time. Yet, I forced myself to think about lunch. I wasn't starving, but I could tell my stomach was about to give the smoke signal to the ole brainaroo to eat soon. Hello, Lean Cuisine's (aka; LC) Margherita Pizza, I forgot you were in my freezer! That's easy. Too easy. So, I challenged myself to add a salad. Stopping what I was doing to make/eat lunch was a stretch for me. But a little part of me felt proud that I did it. And then I looked over at the mess I created with cucumber shavings and strawberry stems and crusty pieces of the head of lettuce I pulled off, and remembered why I hated doing this. THE MESS. Ugggg. Tick, tick, tick...there goes another 5 minutes!

Even though my mind is completely consumed with thoughts of food, I'm thankful because it means I AM AWARE of when and what I am eating. My nemesis, FJ (Fat Jess) ate whatever she pleased, whenever she wanted and treated her body like a garbage disposal. Seriously, is it THAT easy? Is paying attention to what you eat and when the key to healthy eating? Wow. Did I just have an epiphany?

Here's an inspirational quote for you to "chew on" :o)

"You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance." ~Lee Iacocca