Make Your Own TV Dinner (or Lunch)

I can't tell you the number of times I've had a conversation with someone about eating healthy and changing food habits.  When talking about work lunches, an almost equal number of responses of Lean Cuisine, or some other variety of frozen meals.
I get it.  They are easy, affordable, don't take up a ton of room in the fridge / freeze, and it is made by Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice or whatever so it has to be good for me, right?
An example of a Lean Cuisine meal:
Chicken & Veggies
Calories: 240
Fat: 5g
Cholesterol: 30 mg
Sodium: 648 mg
Fiber: 3.6 g
Protein: 20 g
I know some of the nutritional data is missing, but I pulled this from the Lose It database.

Last year, when I moved in with the most awesome roommate (I know you are tired of hear about her, but really!!!!), she introduced, to me, something that will change the way I cook for the rest of my life.  She would have these cooking parties, usually at 3:00 AM, waking me up as I hear the sounds of pots and pans clanging in the middle of the night, but the next morning, I would wake up to anywhere from 3 - 6 huge meals, individually portioned and packaged, some in the fridge, some in the freezer.  And we wouldn't have to do much cooking until our 'homemade TV dinners' ran out!!!!
I would do this, and could easily go 3 weeks without needing to cook a lunch or dinner!!!  
I will say that only having the 2 of us living in the apartment and having a general agreement on most things made this much easier.  If I were to try this now, living back at home with anywhere from 2 - 4 other people in the house, there would be a massacre over space in the fridge and freezer, and probably a free for all on my food and I would be doing it all over again tomorrow...  

But still, I have adapted and now make some seriously killer 'TV dinner (lunches)'.
I found these nice divided containers at the local grocery store.  Maybe $4 for 2.  I recommend you buy enough to last a full work week.  The containers I bought have a 1/2 section, a 1 cup section, and a generally large space.
The food chosen has a lot to do with the food I like to eat and my own calorie budget of over 2500 calories.  Someone with a smaller budget of 1500 - 2000 calories, would need to make some adjustments.
Let me tell you, hitting 2500 calories in a day is not an easy thing to do without hitting up the nearest fast food joint.  And that 240 calorie Lean Cuisine listed above....  Doesn't do squat towards hitting my budget!!!!  Also, check out the sodium level.  Over 600 mg for only 240 calories!!!!  That is 2.7 mg of sodium per calorie!  The average sodium budget is 2300 mg.  With just these 240 calories, I have used almost 1/3 of my days sodium!
I always start my lunch with some fruit.  Fresh if I can, but honestly, canned is cheaper and last longer... (Ugh!  The pros and cons of canned food!)  1 serving of fruit is 1/2 cup.  Why stop there?  I fill the 1 cup section with fruit.  2 servings of fruit, right off the top!  :-)
After fruit is veggies right?  I generally switch it up between various frozen veggie varieties.  Someday, I may precook fresh veggies, but honestly, just about anything I use is going to be better than TV dinner veggies.  Again, 1/2 cup is a serving, so lets make it a full cup.  It goes into the large space.
Next we need protein and lots of it!  I aim for 20% of my diet to be protein and that takes a lot of protein!  4 oz of chicken.  I find the freezer section to be my friend again.  There are several options of precooked chicken, whole, sliced, or diced.  After I finish up the current bag of frozen chicken I have, I will be switching to fresh chicken, precooked using my own recipe so I can change the flavor from week to week.
I don't think that is enough protein for me though and I am an egg-aholic, so I scramble up 2 eggs and add it to the large section as well.
This week, in an effort to add more calories, because I was still too far from my 2500 budget, I added a little bit (1/2 cup) of instant rice.  In the future, this may change to brown rice, but I haven't gotten along with brown rice up to this point, so I am not sure we will be friends in the future....
I also love dairy, especially cheese.  If I could eat cheese every day, all day, I would!  Love cheese!  So I add a mozzarella cheese stick to the top of the large section. 
And because I have behaved up to this point and ate my yummy and healthy lunch, I add just 1/2 cup of pita chips to satisfy any salt or crunchy craving I may be experiencing.
My TV dinner (lunch):
Calories: 788
Fat: 27 g   (31%)
Cholesterol: 489.4 mg
Carbs:  83.8 g  (42.8%)
Sodium: 1011 mg
Fiber: 3.4 g
Protein: 41.2 g  (26.2%)

I could still use to add some more calories into this.  I think ideally, about 1000 calories would be very solid.  The cholesterol is higher than the Lean Cuisine, but cholesterol is not something I am overly concerned with.  Sodium is only 1.28 mg / calorie.  Over 50% reduction from Lean Cuisine!  I included the percentages so that we can see that protein is 26.2% of the meal.  That is very healthy for my chosen lifestyle of at least 20% protein.
Obviously this is not the perfect meal for everyone, but it takes me 30 minutes to prep my meals for the week and I get to eat like this, instead of the offerings from the fast food joint across the street?  I am certainly very happy with this.
Hopefully you will give it a try.  Please let me know what you use.  I may just borrow your idea and use it in my lunches next week.  :-)

4 More Lbs Lost in This Cause!!!

I have been working on my lost cause with dedication for more than 2 months now.  I am up to 14 lbs lost! (and only 1/2 a lb from 15!!!)  I am so surprised to step on the scale every week and see more weight loss.  I know I am working hard, sweating out the calories and watching what I eat, but still I can't believe that it is actually working and I am losing the weight on target!
I watch all of my Lose It! friends on their journey.  We all work together, supporting and encouraging each other as we walk down the same road.  Everyone understands where you are because they are there or have been there.  We share tips, tricks, ideas, recipes, fitness plans, phone apps, anything that is related to fitness and becoming healthier. 
If a weight gain is posted, everyone is there to keep you upbeat and not let you get discouraged.  If a major burn is posted, everyone congratulates you.
I started 2 new programs this month, 1 of which was suggested from a Lose It! friend, 100 pushup challenge after I hurt my foot and was expressing concerns about the wisdom of my usual walk / bike workout.  It is getting so much attention.  More people are thinking about trying it, soon we will all be working towards 100 pushups. 
Lose It! is the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I do at night.  Any time I start feeling like I can't do it, all I do is log on, start reading and I am ready to get out there and do it. 
My grandpa was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks, and I was having a difficult time.  I wasn't exercising, eating correctly, and just generally stressed out.  Everytime I checked my email, there was such encouragment, prayers, good thoughts, completely overwhelming. 
It really is a family, united together, protecting everyone, noticing when something is wrong and trying to do something about it.

My July fitness plan / tools:
Monday -  - Adidas MiCoach Lose Weight Level 2 workout & continue walking / jogging my regular route at the park. 3 miles
Tuesday - EA Sports 9 Week Program Easy & Wii Fit using wiifitroutine.com rotating weight loss, strength, yoga & endurance workouts. Medium difficulty, 1 hour - 100 pushup challenge
Wednesday - Adidas MiCoach Lose Weight Level 2 workout & continue walking / jogging my regular route at the park. 3 miles
Thursday - EA Sports 9 Week Program Easy & Wii Fit using wiifitroutine.com rotating weight loss, strength, yoga & endurance workouts. Medium difficulty, 1 hour  - 100 pushup challenge
Friday - Adidas MiCoach Lose Weight Level 2 Workout & bike my regular route at the park. 3+ miles
Saturday - EA Sports 9 Week Program Easy
Sunday - EA Sports 9 Week Program Easy - 100 pushup challenge
I may not accomplish all of these everyday and obviously all outdoor activities are weather permitting, but I do have alternate indoor plans.

July exercise goals:
Get back on track with both MiCoach & EA Sports Active workouts
Recap from June exercise plan: 
I did not go swimming, but rather started EA Sports program.
I did not accomplish any of my goals in June

I hate the word diet. I can't say that I have ever attempted a diet. Lose It! is not about dieting. It is all about life style changes: committing to the long haul, losing the weight and keeping it off.

My dietary commitments to a life style change:
No bad or added carbs - means limiting pasta and bread consumption
Add fruits, veggies and protein to every meal
Drink at least 4 bottles of water a day - 96 oz
Control sodium intake

Recap from June dietary plan:
I received 19 free meals from Chick-Fil-A but it was for a chicken sandwich, fries, drink.  With grandpa in the hospital, I used many of these coupons.  Although I was eating fast food, I kept in mind my dietary plan and only ate the chicken breast from the sandwich.  I have thrown the bread away every time.
I have made a couple of pasta dishes, which are obviously added carbs, but I add so much veggies & protein that instead of being the pasta with extras that I grew up eating these are extras with pasta dishes.  For example, the other night I made:
1 cup pasta
1 1/2 cup cauliflower
1 cup broccoli
1 can tuna
Seasoning and simple olive oil dressing
With every single bite, I was getting more veggies than pasta and so delicious!  And cured the pasta craving I was having!
Another trick shared on Lose It! to avoid carbs is cauliflower rice and OMG!  So delicious!  Takes a while to prepare without a food processor, but it is a great filler to add to a stir fry and my tongue cannot tell the difference.  I have made it several times with different dishes.  I am interested in trying it with Chinese or something similar that my body is so used to have rice.  If this is successful, I can see foregoing rice on a permenant basis!  :-)

Changes I have noticed:
My belt is almost ready to go down a hole.  When I go for my walk in the park, I do actually move it down to the 2nd hole, but it would still be a hair too tight for all day long
My roommate and I went and bought new pants to fit me.  1 of the new pair are already loose.
I don't have a single shirt that is tight on my stomach anymore.  I used to have that unsightly belly button indent in my shirts...  No more!  Can't even see my stomach except in shirts that are mean to be snug.
Exercise intensity is increasing and though it is difficult, I am completing workouts I would not have imagined 3 months ago.  With grandpa in the hospital, I was not working out after work, but rather going straight to the hospital.  Once morning I woke up early and popped in a Leslie Sansone video.  When I first bought the video, at least 3 years ago, I was only able to complete 1 mile of a 4 mile workout.  The only reason I was not able to complete all 4 miles of the video is because I needed to get ready for work.  I had the stamina and ambition to keep going through the whole workout!  Also the 2 biggest hills at the park, I am able to power walk and push myself up them rather than just crawling and hoping and praying that I would make it to the top.
Comfortable enough to start jogging while on my walk
Saw a couple of friends for the first time in 2 - 4 months and they both commented on my weight loss and that I was looking good
I can feel muscle definition underneath of the fat on my arms and my legs!


I certainly can't see a difference in my pictures although with only 4 lb difference I wouldn't expect to see much.  I also realized before taking this months pictures that I needed a tighter shirt to actually be able to see a difference, hense the change in shirt for July.

10 Lbs Lost

My lost cause has already started.  I am committed to becoming a healthy and beautiful me.  In no way, shape, or form do I mean materialistically beautiful.  I mean that I will become beautiful to myself.  I have never considered myself externally beautiful no matter what my weight.  I have always believed that who I am, how I express myself, and what I represent myself as to the world, is so much more important than mere looks.  I know this goes against the norm in todays fashion model filled world, but after my life's journey, I am glad this is how I view myself.

After getting sick my senior year in high school and needed to stop all physical activity, I quickly picked up the weight, 80 pounds in 3 years.  I was able to lose about 30 pounds, but I could never get any lower.  Life happened and I gained the 30 pounds plus an additional 25.  I am now down 10 pounds from my high weight and weigh the lowest I have in 5 years.

I haven't taken full body pics in years so that I wouldn't have to see my weight gain.  If someone wanted a pic, I always tried to make sure that it wasn't evident how much I had gained. 
I joined Lose It, a weight loss and fitness community on April 23 and have found courage and support for this journey I have ahead of me.  For the first time in years, I have hope I will make it farther than I usually do.  I want to be healthy again.  I want to feel attractive again.  I want to be fit again!
As I see my friends' journeys and watch the forum on LoseIt.com, I finally found the courage to take my first full body pics showing exactly what I look like.  As I have been seeing on the scale and in the mirror, there is much room for improvement.
Good news is that I have already achieved a great milestone in 10 lbs lost. 

My June fitness plan / tools:
Monday, Wednesday - Adidas MiCoach Lose Weight Level 2 Workout & continue walking / jogging my regular route at the park. 3 miles
Tuesday, Thursday - Wii Fit using wiifitroutine.com rotating weight loss, strength, yoga & endurance workouts. Medium difficulty, 1 hour
Friday - Adidas MiCoach Lose Weight Level 2 Workout & goal is to bike my regular route at the park. 3+ miles
Saturday, Sunday - Swimming 1 lap at the pool
I may not accomplish all of these everyday and obviously all outdoor activities are weather permitting, but I do have alternate indoor plans.

June exercise goals:
Be able to jog down the entire 'big' hill at the park
Be ready to increase difficulty on the Wii to hard for July
Be ready to up my swim laps to 2 for July

I hate the word diet. I can't say that I have ever attempted a diet. Lose It is not about dieting. It is all about lifestyle changes: committing to the long haul, losing the weight and keeping it off.

My dietary commitments to a life style change:
No bad or added carbs - means limiting pasta and bread consumption
Add fruits, veggies and protein to every meal
Drink at least 4 bottles of water a day - 92 oz
Control sodium intake

Changes I have noticed:
My belt is lose
I don't have a single pair of pants that fit correctly.  Noticing loss in both waist and thighs
Shirts are starting to fit on the belly different
Fashion watch - instead of being snug to wear is now fitting comfortably
Exercise time has increase from just 30 mins up to 60 mins
Mile per minute has gone from 18+ mins to under 14 mins
Comfortable enough to start jogging while on my walk
My back injury is not irritating me as much as it used to