Forced to Meal Plan

Fact:  I do not enjoy cooking.  Never been my passion.

AND when I am lazy, it is the last thing in the world I want to do.  I would rather take out garbage.

In fact, if I EVER win the lottery, the first thing I would do is hire a personal chef.

But...two people eating out every day is crazy expensive.

So I took a giant Post-it note pad and made a weekly plan.  I stuck it on the back of our front door.  Oh, how my husband loved that (yes, that was in sarcasm font).

Monday: Salmon Burgers (bought pre-made at HEB) and Quinoa bowl
Tuesday: ATE OUT
Wednesday: Tortilla soup with fresh avocado (another soup kit from HEB)
Thursday: Sausage Meat Sauce and Spaghetti
Friday: Split Pea Soup
Saturday: Pizza night
Sunday: Family night at my Mom's

Only slipped up once.  Tuesday night Charlie and I went out for Greek food.  Pizza night was planned but the Greek night was not (that was supposed to be leftover night).

But 4 for 7 is a huge step considering we were eating out 7 out of 7 days.  I am quite proud.

And yes, cooking still sucks, but it is feeling pretty good to resist the temptation of instant gratification.

And when I do that math, my lunches average about $10 a meal.  Dinner about $15.  That is only $25 a day.  But then there are two of us.  And Charlie has a man appetite but let's just say that it cost $50 a day. Multiply by 30.  Aye caramba!

It is ugly.  Really ugly.

I packed a lunch every day this week (go me!).  What I paid for sliced Boar's Head deli ham, Muenster cheese and bread was the cost of what I pay for ONE sandwich at Lenny's or Subway.  So far, I have eaten 3 sandwiches, and I am only halfway done with the meat and cheese.

I had all these crazy ideas on what I could do to lose weight. Eat Clean for 3 weeks.  Paleo for 2 weeks.  Master Cleanse again for 10 days.  When suddenly, the obvious slapped me in the face.  Maybe if you did not eat out. Every. Single. Day. You would lose weight.

So just to get back in the habit again, I created a weekly meal plan of foods I know I like.  Am I analyzing them for their calorie count?  No.  Are they Paleo?  No. Clean?  Not entirely  Vegan?  No.
Are they super fast to cook?  Yes, since I have the attention span of a gnat that is a huge requirement.

I figured, once I get the habit down, I will start to fine tune and choose healthier options,

I don't have to get it right, I just have to get it started.

Training this week.  I am on week 23 of Ironman Lake Placid Training.  Nothing too crazy yet.  But I missed more than 3 days of taking my Synthroid medication.  I packed it in my suitcase last week for Chicago and it lived there a little too long.  Sheez Louise, did the fatigue come back with a vengeance!  I have no idea how I even found the time to cook.  It was like squeezing out the last bit of toothpaste.

I am back on track again and back to the plan.  It is great to feel normal again.