This Week! Stress and Meal Planning

This week has just felt crazy insane to me. We worked a day and then a half day, were off for New Year's which then made me feel like I was already in weekend mode.... back a full day today and another half day tomorrow. I am really NOT a big fan of change... never have been... probably never will be (at least in most aspects of my life... seeing as I am REALLY enjoying the changes I've been making in my body). In college my freshman room mate and I had a verbally knock down, drag out fight about moving the configuration of our room... see, even then I wasn't a fan of change.

Things are changing, yet again, at work. We're shifting things around and gearing up for expansion but I still don't feel adequately trained as an office manager. It's leading for a lot of stress in my daily life. But, the one thing keeping me sane is the new schedule I have been developing with my exercise and meal planning. In this post, I'll focus on the meal planning aspect of my new lifestyle and tomorrow I'll get more into my exercise routines.

 Each Wednesday I have my official weigh in and then I go home with a blank menu which I fill in with meal ideas. I try to put everything in from main meals to snacks, to the fruit and veggies I plan on eating. But some days I leave the "extra" calories open to fill in with what I feel like. I then log everything into myfitnesspal which I use on my phone. I stick to my meal plan about 90% of the week and move things around as need be.

I try to go grocery shopping Wednesday night or Thursday for the fresh things I need and I make sure I have staples in my pantry so that I'm never at a loss as to what I can eat if I don't get to go to the market when I want to.

On Jenny Craig you start eating primarily Jenny food.... a combination of frozen or shelf stable meals and you add in veggies, fruit, and dairy. There is a new "MyDays" program but I am not familiar with it. When you reach halfway, you are guided to making meals on your own. Little by little you ease into making a whole days worth of food on your own.

Due to financial constraints while paying off my medical bills I am currently doing almost every meal on my own. I just LOVE Jenny Craig breakfasts and I've bought a few but I just wanted to give a glimpse into what I buy for a week's worth of food.

I have left to right:

- Cottage cheese and dry ranch mix (plan to put in a food processor to make a smooth veggie dip)
- pork chops
- reduced fat pepperjack, cheddar, and mexican blend cheese
- instant tea mix and my infamous cup
- miracle whip lite
- real bacon bits (for my green beans)
- lettuce
- celery sticks
- italian flatout bread
- cajun turkey
- 2 heads cauliflower
- 4 grapples (delish)
- frozen broccoli florets
- roasted red peppers
- frozen chicken tenderloins
- assortment of pasta sides (mexican rice, parmesan, cheddar, broccoli and cheddar rice)
- progresso lite soups (french onion, cheesy enchilada, and cheddar bacon potato)
- green beans
- diced tomatos

And my ever trusty food scale... (p.s. if you see the oreos I promise they're not mine... hubby can eat anything and everything he wants)

I'd love any recipes and would be willing to share some of my go-to's. Comment with any questions or input you have and PLEASE, share my blog :)