Bonus Post - Food Pics!

So here's the deal... I have been taking pics of my food, but umm... at times I would forget to post them to FB! [Guess I was more focused on my positive quotes :-)]  This posting is just photos of the basic foods I have been eating daily. I thought it would be better to do it this way, instead of bombarding your FB notifications with all the foods I've been eating - LOL. Just want to make sure I am keeping up with all of the group requirements! I also take a daily multi-vitamin as I sure most folks do, but I didn't take a photo of that. Okay, here's my pics!

I basically eat a lot of fruit in the a.m. and as a snack throughout my day at work. So I cut them up and bring them in little bags so they are all ready for me to eat! FYI: I stopped eating cantaloupe after that little scare the FDA announced about cantaloupe making people sick ...umm, yeah.

More fruit....

 Also I actually like these little oatmeal bowls now. Just make sure you don't put too much water in them...yuck. 

I mostly eat Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast with some fruit and orange juice for breakfast.

Or I will grab a yogurt with fruit for breakfast.

I also followed the same method of making my food for the week and putting it in containers! Really does make it so much easier when you are always on the go! The photos didn't turn out so great though! The food in the top left container are black beans, then there is corn, the container under those has a mixture of steamed potatoes  carrots and broccoli and then the last container is grilled chicken pieces with a few onions and green peppers.

Salad for lunch.

More salad, although I have weened myself off regular ranch to lite! I'm trying, I'm trying!

This is mostly what I've had for dinner, baked chicken and veggies. This is so easy to prepare! Just cut up everything and pop it in the oven!

This looks weird but it tastes good! Sometimes I just put a bunch of veggies in the skillet and lightly cook them instead of baking them with my meat.

Bourbon chicken from the mall with corn, brocolli, cabbage and rice.

Strawberry smoothie treat!

More salad...

More salad, this time with chicken pieces.

#TEAMNOSLEEP

As we prepare for the halfway mark I am thankful to have made it this far in the challenge and for all the positive people I've met. It's incredible seeing people change, literally, right before your eyes! Of course I am seeing more changes in myself as well both physically and mentally- and these changes are all for the better. One more thing I wish I could change for the better is my sleeping pattern. Ugh! As I said in a previous post, I really, really, really (was that enough emphasis? haha!) want to give up my #TEAMNOSLEEP membership!  

I am not sure if it is due to working out more often in the evening, but I find I have sooo much energy, that I just don't want to and/or can't sleep at night. I wonder if anyone else has experienced this, or has any tips for sleeping after working out? In all fairness, I did have a weird sleep pattern before the challenge because I do a lot of side writing/design jobs that I have to complete after my regular 9 to 5. So I was used to being somewhat of a night owl prior to signing up for this process. Although one night after an excellent workout, I ended up having too much energy and I cleaned my whole house and made myself lunch for the entire week... Needless to say I was beyond exhausted the next day. That was such a bad move and I won't be doing that again! Since I have to be at work so early, I am hoping that I will be able to make it to some of the 6 am workouts for boot camp. I think that is a great idea and it would be amazing to have the type of energy I have after our 7:40 pm class during the day!

Besides sleeping more ;-) my goal for this week is to get back on track with my weight loss. I had gained a few pounds during our last measurement day and noticed that my legs had increased an inch - ugh again! Not what I wanted to happen at all. I am trying to see what I can do differently to stay on track for my goals as we come into the final stretch. One area I know I have to do better with is my eating habits. Sometimes I skip meals because I don't always have time to eat in the mornings. Which of course makes me want to eat even more at lunch because by then, I'm starving!!!  So I am working harder at preparing myself a better breakfast. I used to eat a lot of fruits in the morning, which is okay, but after learning more about food, it would probably be better for me to supplement that with other foods. I see that a lot of people are recommending oatmeal, so I am going to give that try. I am not really an oatmeal person, but I am open to change and to doing something to help myself become a more health conscientious person! On that note, good night folks since it is pretty late ...or is it early? :-)

 "I put a piece of paper under my pillow, and when I could not sleep I wrote in the dark."

~Henry David Thoreau