Small Change, Big Help

So I finally got tired of eating the nasty school foods!! So Mom and I decided to buy some lunch meat and have me bring cold lunches to school. I started bringing my own lunches on Monday, and so far, I've already lost 3.5 pounds!! Yay!!! All because I'm no longer eating the nasty, greasy school "food." I'm so excited. Now I have to find a good workout to add to it, and then stick with it, and I'll be all set. I'm so excited!!! ^.^ I've also been snaking less after school, and the lunches I bring stay with me longer so I'm not as hungry at the end of the day. I eat less at dinner, but it doesn't feel like it because I'm eating healthier foods. :)

Yummy Food!!

Strawberries! They're starting to come into season in the grocery stores, and I'm so excited! Not long after you can get good strawberries at the store (which these are) you can get them from the you-pick places. I love the spring and summer fruits. They're delicious and healthy and very low-calorie. Eat up, it's a gift from a Loving Father!

I tried Kate's pita salad, and it's yummy. I added mushrooms to mine, and because I like my veggies juicy, I added a bit of greek dressing. It was delicious.




Kate and I have been discussing in comments some very yummy looking food. One of the ideas she found was peanut butter sushi. It's fun. A little fiddly to make, but lots of fun. I ran it through my recipe program, which tells me that four pieces of "sushi" - the amount made from one piece of whole grain bread - comes to about 280 calories.

Sharing Ideas

So, I work an office job and for some time now I've been bring-your-own-lunch kind of girl. Good for a lot of things, and saving money is just one of them. Sometimes I would bring a sandwich, or leftovers from dinner yesterday, but then I got tired of eating the same thing twice in a row. (having the same stuff for lunch and dinner takes all the fun out of even the best dinner dishes)

So, for the last several months I've taken to bringing different kinds of Lean Cuisines (or knock-off brands of the same sort). However, either the meals have changed or my tummy has just gotten tired of them because, for the last few weeks, each time I would heat one up for lunch (and tried pretty much ever flavor and it was all about the same) after I would finish eating it, I'd feel nauseous and gross (and it wasn't just my body's dislike of milk kicking in). After exhausting the supply of new flavors -and my patience with feeling nasty every day- I went online to find something new and portable that I could bring for lunch; something that would still be within the 250-300 calorie range and be (ideally) on the healthy side.

Then I found this:
It's made up of these ingredients (i don't actually measure them out, but here's a general idea):
1 half pita (6 1/2" diameter) whole wheat
2 Tbs hummus (original flavor)
1/4 cup of green (bell) peppers
2 medium slices of ripe tomato
7-10 black olives, halved

I spread the hummus inside the pita and put it in a baggie. Then, in another bag, I put the chopped peppers, tomatoes and olives.

While the hummus works wonders to make the pita bread more moist, it also makes it super difficult to peel it apart when it's time for lunch. So, when it's time to eat, I just pour the toppings over the pita on a plate and eat it with a fork and knife.

I looked up this concoction on http://sparkpeople.com 's calorie counter and it came out to roughly 270. Well within my ideal lunch calorie limit and there's next to no preservatives, all sorts of veggies AND it's soooo yummy.

I've brought it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, for the last couple weeks and, so far, I don't see myself getting tired of this any time soon. And I cannot wait until the farmers markets open and I can upgrade to vine-ripened tomatoes and garden fresh peppers.. oh baby oh baby!!