Trying out Carb Cycling: 01/27-02/02 Menu

So I went through a period of time (*cough*all 2018*cough*) where my ordering food for delivery got a little out of hand.. I mean ordering from places multiple times a day not just multiple times a week out of hand. One of my goals for 2019 was to stick to ordering food a maximum of once a week. That being said, I have recently been much better about getting back into the kitchen and cooking the majority of my meals. I will have a whole different post about how this change has occurred aka when I tried and then forgot to skip HelloFresh.  Since I have been cooking more, I don't have the urge as frequently to order food which is amazing for me and my wallet. Now that I'm cooking again, I want to give carb cycling a try.

I've hit a plateau. I am actually surprised that I was actually able to maintain my weight while ordering delivery so much. Additionally, I haven't been feeling super great and am hoping that my changing up my diet a little bit may help me out with that. I have a trip coming up at the end of February that gives me a perfect amount of time to try out carb cycling to see if I like it. I'm planning to use the template from Choosing to Lose by Chris Powell - Monday, Wednesday, Friday are low carb days; Tuesday, Thursday and the weekend are high carb days. This week I'm going to have the one "cheat" day (on Sunday - hello Super Bowl) instead of 3 "cheat" meals. With Sunday being my free day, if I decide to order food it will be on Sunday. The only thing I'm doing differently for this week is having some milk.

Here is what I'm planning for the week:

(today I ordered food from the Cheesecake Factory - starting off really strong)

Monday (low)

• Breakfast: banana pancakes, scrambled eggs & berries, coffee
• Snack: berries & yogurt, green juice
• Lunch: caesar salad with chicken meatballs and avocado 
• Snack: egg salad with cucumber 
• Dinner: Trader Joe's cauliflower stir fry

Tuesday (high) 

• Breakfast: English muffin egg sandwich & coffee
• Snack: protein donut and banana
• Lunch: rice, broccoli, chicken sausage 
• Snack: first tee bar and coffee 
• Dinner: mashed potatoes, dill chicken meatballs, green beans

Wednesday (low) 

• Breakfast: overnight oats with banana & coffee
• Snack: apple with peanut butter and cinnamon, green juice
• Lunch: salad with chicken, bacon, lite honey mustard dressing
• Snack: deli turkey slices and babybell cheese
• Dinner: Trader Joe's cauliflower stir fry 

Thursday (high) 

• Breakfast: English muffin egg sandwich & coffee
• Snack: protein donut and banana
• Lunch: egg salad sandwich 
• Snack: cheerios with protein non-fat milk
• Dinner: rice, broccoli, chicken sausage

Friday (low)

• Breakfast: poached egg, hashbrown, bacon
• Snack: protein smoothie
• Lunch: turkey lettuce wraps, pickles
• Snack: yogurt with berries, green juice
• Dinner: cauliflower mash, barramundi, broccoli & zucchini

Saturday (high) 

• Breakfast: English muffin smoked salmon sandwich
• Snack: protein donut, green juice
• Lunch: Trader Joe's arrabbiata with barramundi
• Snack: roasted acorn squash with PB and cinnamon
• Dinner: steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli

On Saturday I'll check in we'll see how well I was able to stick to the plan this week. I'm going to have some flexibility as long as I stick to the premise of high/low carb days. If I make substations I'll show the changes in the post on Saturday. 

Until then,

xox Sarah

Let's Talk About Food..

Or maybe let's not.. I have set myself a new goal for the end of September. For a long time, probably elementary or middle school, I have thought a lot about food. The majority of the time I was thinking about food, it was in regards my weight. I counted calories, tried different diets, and even tried counting macros. I've gotten a few nutrition plans and followed them loosely. Everything I have done has always increased my focus on food. However, when I think about food, I want to eat food. If I think about limiting something in my diet, it makes want it more and want it now. Recently, the harder I try to clean up what I'm eating, the harder time I'm having - I've decided that I'm over thinking things. I'm complicating things too much and as a result I don't want to make my own food. It is so easy to get wrapped up in articles and social media; frequently I find myself going down the rabbit hole.

So I'm trying something new & I want to see how this goes.

For the remainder of the month of September I am going to simplify things. I want to eat like someone who isn't constant thinking about food or how the food they're eating is going to effect their weight.

1. I am not going to buy an obscene amount of groceries and plan multiple recipes for the week. I've been very inspired by instagram/meal plans and trying too much to plan ahead to the point I'm overwhelmed. 

Instead: I am going to only get what I need or run out of and prep components that are easy to throw together in addition to maybe one meal. 

2. I'm going to use up what I have. I buy things that I often get pushed to the back because I would rather have something else or I at some point decided it really wasn't that healthy to eat. Balance is healthy and not focusing on food is healthy. Yes, there is some food with more nutritional value than other food but all food will provide energy. I can have cereal for breakfast and maybe add fruit if I want or if not and still eat the damn cereal because it tastes good.

3. Minimize my take out. It is great to eat in a social setting and I will never limit that however, I do not need to order delivery regularly to my apartment ESPECIALLY when I have perfectly good groceries that I'm not using sitting in the fridge.

These are the changes that I will be making for the rest of the month. 

I want to see how my body and my mind feel at the end of my month and will go from there in October. I want to find a way that I feel my best both mentally and physically. I want to find balance in my life and actually be able to focus on my life instead of where I want myself to be or the things I am going to do when I hit XYZ weight. 

Let's see how this goes.. Updates to come at the end of the month! Let me know in the comments below if there are any posts that you want to see from me!

xox Sarah