Why Make a Plan?

Anyone who has ever been successful at losing weight will tell you: "It pays to have a plan" Sure, it can be a pain in the butt... why do I have to THINK about food ALL THE TIME??? Well... you just do!!! It has been proven to me time and time again that when I don't plan... I don't make the best choices. I don't always stick to my plan 100% but when I have my main meals logged into myfitnesspal for the week, when I have to make a choice on the fly I tend to make a better choice then if I had had NOTHING planned.

I used to hate going to the grocery store. 

Now I have a much better time. I take my time circling the store, looking at serving sizes and nutritional info. Some people tell you to avoid the middle aisles at all cost... well, I'm not that extreme. Meal planning for me is about convenience and potential to volumize. Volumizing is all about beefing up your meal with non-starchy vegetables and giving yourself an abundance of food without an abundance of calories. Do the research on what is considered a non-starchy vegetable. I also HATED veggies but roasting them and using different spices have opened up a world of new foods I would have never given the time of day before.

Yesterday as I was driving home I really wanted a cheesecake... or coconut cream pie. So I headed to the store with an idea in mind. And so were born:

Mini Greek "Coconut Cheesecakes"

What you need:
- mini cupcake cups
- coconut flavored greek yogurt (I used Yoplait)
- graham cracker crumbs (I used about 2 1/2 tbsp for 9 minis)

I used a mini cupcake tin for convenience but you can set your cupcake cups on a plate.

I filled each cup 2/3 full of yogurt and topped with 1/4 tbsp of graham cracker crumbs... then FREEZE

I really enjoyed them... Greek yogurt reminds me of cheesecake with it's tartness but I think next time I'll mix in some of the sugar free cheesecake flavored pudding mix into the yogurt and maybe some sweet n'low.

Tomorrow I'll get into my full grocery list and menu for the week... I intended to do that tonight but hip hop kicked my butt! My pants are WAYYY too big and it's an awesome problem to have but there was a lot of extra fussing with my pants and having to tuck my shirt in during jumps.

GETTING IT!! (I'm in the purple)

I just LOVE tucking my shirt in.... NOT