Me Update: New Meal Plans

I am two weeks into my new meal plan and I can report some great success!! Since the beginning of the month I have lost another 5lbs for a total now of 14.5lbs since the start of the new year.

For anyone who missed my last Me Update, I downloaded the meal plans from the Biggest Loser website (I did pay for this service; I signed up for three months). We hit Whitehorse and stocked up on the required groceries and got started.

I am loving the structure. A lot of my food related stress is gone because there is now a book in my kitchen that tells me what and when to eat. For someone who obsesses over food and what we are going to eat at our next meal, this is a huge relief. Every night I read through the next days meals and recipes and take the necessary food out of the freezer and do some prep.

Breakfast seems to be the biggest meal of the day, followed by lunch and supper is usually quite light. It is a real change from how we used to eat. There is very little red meat and potatoes which were some of our basics before. Once we get the hang of these meals, I will be switching some proteins out for our moose and caribou because they are healthy and my freezer is full of it!

All of the recipes are pretty idiot proof, but this is an American website. Not saying that Americans are idiots, but I have read that Americans cook fewer meals from scratch than Canadians do so perhaps that is why everything is so simple. I am missing some of our favorite meals, so I think once every two weeks we will make one of our favorite suppers. We did that on Friday night. We had a homegrown roasted chicken, salad, carrots and mashed potatoes along with a red velvet chocolate cake- yum!!! I made sure we had company to help us eat that so I wouldn't eat the whole cake myself.

So far only one recipe has been a complete bomb. It was a split pea soup that we found horrible. Luckily, the website allows you to swap out meals you don't like for a replacement that is similar in calories.

I made sure to take the time when we got home from Whitehorse to prep all of our groceries. I read through the recipes to see how many ounces of meat were required for each meal and then I divided up all of the meat into individual ziplocks that are labeled with their weight. It took a bit of time, but makes it so easy now! I also put all of our fruits and veggies into those Debbie Mayer Green Bags. They are working great as long as you remember to wipe out the condensation that builds up in the bags with a paper towel. I have strawberries, spinach, lettuce and more in my fridge that I bought two weeks ago that are still good.

Yesterday we were pretty much off the meal plan and I found myself stressed out all day! A late breakfast with a friend led to a quick, not healthy lunch and then a planned in advance supper out for Valentines Day with my husband for chinese food. It made me realize how much I like the structure of these meal plans.

I am really happy with my weight loss to date! And I was at aerobics twice last week and will be going tonight as well. Already I notice an improvement in my flexibility and endurance from attending these classes.

I have also signed up for Faro's Third Annual Biggest Loser Competition. We are in teams of four and will be weighing in once a week at the health centre over the next three months. I had my measurements taken down there so I can compare those in a few months and I am sure I will see progress there when I don't see it in the scale.

Matt is even enjoying our new meals, however he is still not a fan of beans or lentils served in any form. But he manages to eat them anyways. He is also happy because bacon and chocolate are in the menu. My husband without bacon and chocolate would be a very unhappy camper!

Thank you to everyone for the encouraging comments. I appreciate all of the support!