How to Meal Prep Healthy Lunches with IIFYM

I started meal prepping my lunches to take to work at about 15 months into my weight loss journey (when I was down about 82 pounds) and really have enjoyed eating real and whole foods for my lunches whenever possible! I made a habit of roasting up a bunch of veggies every weekend and paired it with some type of protein to eat throughout the week.  Since switching to the If It Fits Your Macros diet plan I've had to switch up how I cook and track my meal prep for lunches since IIFYM is based around weighing out all of your food to hit your macronutriet goal within +/- 5 grams every day. I thought I would share a post on how I have adjusted my meal prep to follow IIFYM and how I accurately track the macros for my lunches using My Fitness Pal!

First things first: you will need Tupperware! I bought this 10 pack of meal prep containers for less than $15 off amazon (affiliate link). They have three different compartments for food and are dishwasher and microwave safe.

Next: you will obviously need food :) I like to eat pretty healthy and low carb lunches during the day at work as I prefer to save my carbs and fats for snacks and desserts so I pick pretty low carb veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts or green beans.  I will buy the veggies pre-cut or in their regular forms depending on what's on sale that week at different grocery stores.  For this week I used two bags of green beans, two bags of cauliflower, and two large heads of broccoli for 5 lunches

This week I also prepped some protein to pack! If I'm low on time on the weekend I will sometimes buy pre-cooked chicken sausage and use that but this week I had plenty of time so I bought some thin sliced chicken breast cutlets to cook and and season with truffled parmesan rub.

Now for the fun part: time to start weighing! I weigh out each vegetable separately before they go in the oven.  I use the "tare" food scale from vanity planet (affiliate code "whims" makes it $25) to weigh the veggies raw

246

I am very happy today!!!!!

It might just have a littleeeee something to do with this!

I'm finally under 200 pounds!! AHHHH!!

 

Now, let me preface this by saying that I know this is still not an ideal weight for my body but it is SUCH a big step for me.  The title of this post is 246, and if you couldn't guess, that's what weight I started at in January. It was the heaviest I've ever been in my life! I've been a little intimadated to share my actual weight on my blog here because that's a HUGE number! I've told a couple people now that's what I started at and most of them have said they couldn't see that at all.  That I didn't look like 246 pounds.  But honestly? I felt it. I kept seeing my body change in ways that were not pleasant. Stretch marks on your belly when you are 23 and not even pregnant? No thank you. It really was time for a change.

Now that I'm getting close to hitting the 50 FREAKING POUNDS mark and 20 FREAKING PERCENT of my body weight though, I'm confident enough to throw this up on the internet for the world to see.  Gulp.  At least I think so...

 



 

As of Thursday morning as I write this, I am down a total of 47 pounds which is a 19.1% change from where I started.  I normally space my weight loss updates out about a month but I was so freaking happy about FINALLY getting under 200 pounds I had to come share a little early :)

 

I don't have any super great before & afters (maybe I'll work on that for next time!!) but here's a nice gym bathroom selfie comparison.  I'm nice and sweaty on the right (I'd call that some MAJOR boob sweat) but you can totally tell how much smaller my waist has gotten! There is totally not as much belly bulge either :)



My favorite thing to compare is still my face though.  I've really noticed the change there.  I like to take selfies so much more now!!! #sorrynotsorry

I kind of sort of actually genuinely enjoy exercising now. GASP. My Monday night Zumba class is one of the highlights of my week!!! Exercise is such a consistent part of my schedule right now so it's just natural that I have to fit in some sort of activity everyday.

 

I don't even hate running TOO much anymore.  It's still hard work but I can feel myself getting better at it which is such a motivation to me. Plus it helps that I am starting to accumulate a ton of really cute workout clothes (like this top from Fabletics, freaking OBSESSED with that website right now.  More on them later!!!). I would much rather throw on a cute coordinating exercise outift (I am just a little obsessed with matching...) than a baggy tshirt to run in any day. 

 

I'm also still being pretty dedicated about cooking healthy dinners during the weeks. I have COMPLETELY learned how healthy food can still taste delicious, you just have to put a little effort into finding a recipe that uses fresh ingredients and seasonings for flavor instead of relying on gobs of cheese or cream. We went to the beach with my parents two weekends ago and I offered to cook something for dinner on Saturday so I could make something that was good AND healthy. We made grilled shrimp tacos and seasoned the shrimp with old bay seasoning and a little butter.  Served it on wraps with some brown rice, lettuce and my favorite homeade sauce to make: an avacado crema.

 

As a side note, we were at the beach so we were able to get fresh shrimp instead of the frozen kind I normally get at the grocery store at home.  I had to get a lesson in peeling shrimp, because apparently they have legs?? Hah! I'm used to buying them frozen and ready to cook ;)

 

I also cooked fish tacos this week with talapia. I followed the recipe for everything but the seasoning on the fish because I'm a whimp and don't like spicy foods.  I'll admit I was a littttle hesitant about the cabbage slaw (was just tossed with vineagar and a little sugar & salt) but it played off of the lime crema really nice.  So many yummy flavors in my mouth!

 

So now that the whole world knows how much I weigh, I better keep kicking my butt to keep on progressing!  When I originally started trying to loose weight in January I set my original goal weight as 190 (mainly because it had a little bit of wiggle room to keep from getting back over 200!).  I really didn't want to set a goal weight for less than that because honestly I didn't think I could do it.  I had to PROVE to myself I could come this far.  Now? 9 pounds to go to 190 seems like nothing! Definetly not planning on stopping anytime soon!!!

 



One Month to Jamaica: Weight Loss Update

It's official: one month from today hubby and I will be on our way to Jamaica!!!

Booking that trip two months ago was the kick in the pants I needed to say enough is enough and start getting myself healthy. (If this is news to you catch up here and here). Last month I left off with an update of 16 pounds down (11 in the first month and 5 in the second) and I'm happy to report that as of today I'm down a total of 24 pounds! (8 pounds since last month). According to My Fitness Pal I've reached a 10% loss. Woot!

I'm glad this month I "picked the pace up" and lost more than 5 pounds. I think one thing that helped was I ate much better this past weekend. Er, or just less calories. I may have had alcohol and cake for dinner last Saturday night. Priorities people. Haha no, I normally eat very healthy dinners during the week but I knew I wanted to drink and we were celebrating a friends birthday that night...so it was cake and alochol for my dinner!! haha.

I'm still trying out new healthy recipes during the week, staying away from things that have a lot of cheese, cream cheese, cream (sensing a pattern??) as those are my downfall. I even cooked fish for my first time EVER this week. I was a little nervous, but it actually turned out really yummy!


Mahi Mahi with Breadcrumbs, Garlic and Herbs

This was my sad face from Tuesday night. Every Tuesday hubby has plans so I have the night to myself to make mac and cheese and watch all the girly shows he hates. I really just wanted to sit on the couch and eat lots of food and drink wine but instead I went out to exercise and HAD NO WINE. UGH. Why must wine have calories.



My belly has always been problem area and will be for awhile...but I've noticed my waist a little more prominent lately :) And I think I can see a little difference in my face. I few people have started to notice and comment on some changes so that makes me happy :)

Here's a shot from about 8 months ago (when I had just started a diet that lasted for...oh...a week???) and 2ish weeks ago when I just hit the 20 pound loss mark. Besides the fact that I had bangs back then I think I'm starting to notice a few subtle changes.


Both are gym bathroom slefies before Zumba class. Keeping Classy.

One of the newest thing's I've been doing is going for runs outside. It has been getting into the 50s and 60s around here which feels glorious after the VERY cold and VERY snowy winter we had. I live right up the street from an awesome biking/walking trail so Jefferson and I have been going out for runs/walks a lot more.



This doggie may not be too big but he has ENERGY! He is always out as far as he can on his leash pulling away. He thinks I'm too slow haha :)

I'm still not very good at jogging for long distances outside (I can only seem to do that on the treadmill right now) but I guess you have to practice to get better at everything and even if I'm not running the whole time I'm still buring a good amount of calories. Plus, I'm pretty happy while doing it because THIS is the view along a lot of the trail!!



I've still been using my Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor to track my calories. For my Zumba class and doing at home workouts it works really well, but I've been having troubles with it when I go running. It keeps on losing my heart rate! Maybe because of the strap that goes right under my sports bra...and the girls really bounce allll around when I'm running.... So I bought the ePulse2 Strapless Heart Rate Monitor Watch & Calorie Counter to use just for running. You wear it around your forearm and it doesn't require a chest strap which seems to work better for me.



I wore BOTH trackers my first time - there is a little spread between the calories they calculate but not that much of a difference.

So I've got one month left until Jamaica. I don't want that to be the end of this journey by any stretch, but it does feel like a good milestone I'm trying to get too. I really would like to be down 30 pounds before we leave, so that would mean I only have to lose six pounds this next month! Very attainable. But then I'll be eating ALLZEFOODS and drinking ALLZEALOCHOLS while in Jamaica (you have to live it up on vacation!!!) so I'll have to get back to work when I get home!

Weight Loss Update

I thought I would pop in to give a little update on my diet situation I talked about last month. Today marks about two months into trying to get more fit as well as two more months until my hubby and I go to Jamaica (which is the kick in the pants I really needed to start this journey). 

 

To date I have lost 16 pounds. Whoohoo! I was pretty proud of that until I read my other post and was reminded that 11 of those pounds I lost the first month and this second month I've only dropped 5.  Whoops! Oh well, I guess it does make sense to loose more at the beginning when I first made the changes to my diet and started exercising more. So I will still be proud of that 16 pounds :) I won't mind loosing another 16 over the next two months so when we get to Jamaica I'd be a total of 32 pounds less!!

 

I still havn't noticed much change when I look in the mirror BUT last Friday I put on my regular jeans I wear EVERY casual Friday (because I hated what size they were and didn't want to buy any more!!) and they felt pretty baggy and didn't look that nice.  So on a whim I dug around in my drawer and found an older pair of jeans in one size down.  And they fit! Woot!

 

(pst, it's hard to take a pic of your own jeans haha)

 

That made for a happy start to my morning :)

 I think the biggest thing I need to work on right now is not going crazy on the weekends. I do let myself "cheat" during the weekend some which I think you need to do to stay sane :) But I need to limit it to one or two meals instead of just eating crappy all weekend.  This weekend was hard because we were away with friends in the Poconos and had lots of yummy food and snacks and of course booze around at all times. I pretty much ate whatever I felt like which I paid for on the scale!!!  I had been down to 16 pounds last Thursday but after going away I was WAY up and it took me until today to get back to 16 pounds down.  If I'm not constantly having to make up for what I did wrong on the weekend I think I would see more loss.

 

I did go for a run outside on Saturday while we were away which I NEVER would have done before I started this diet. So that was good at least.  It was actually really nice - the weather got up into the 40s and I went jogging in my short sleeves amongst the foot of snow still on the ground up in the Poconos!

 

As far as my other exercises, I'm still going to a Zumba class once a week, running on the treadmill and doing exercise videos.  Jillian Michaels has really been whooping my butt!  All the squats she has me doing have been making me walk around like an old lady moaning whenever I move. I've also started to take the mindset that any exercise is better than none.  Yesterday I was going to be busy after work and wouldn't get home until 8:30PM to eat dinner so I knew if I had to exercise I'd have to do it in the morning (and I'm not very good at getting up before 7AM!!) But I begrudengly got out of bed and was ready to exercise by about 6:20. So I knew I wouldn't have a ton of time to exercise but I did the first video of the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred which was only 30 minutes. I didn't burn a ton of calories but my muscles are sore today and those 250 calories I burned helped keep me in my calorie goal on My Fitness Pal (my username is mygirlishwhims if you want to follow me!). And 250 calories burned is better than just being lazy and sleeping that extra half hour!

 

So that's where I am now. I still feel motivated two months in which is more than I can say for most healthy spurts I go on.  Here's to staying motivated and getting fit!!! :) 

 

My Girlish Butt Gets Fit

So, after one month of officially dieting and 11 pounds lighter I finally feel justified in writing this post :)

I recently decided it was time to make a change in my lifestyle. I always been on the heavier side, but ever since getting married and moving out on my own two years ago I've just noticed my weight going up and up. It's just been a constant "wow this the heaviest I've ever been" over...and over...and over again going up and up and up on the scale. I've been so unhappy with certain body features and clothing sizes as of late. I've been unhappy with looking back on pictures where I'm wearing super control-top pantyhose and STILL basically look like I'm pregnant.

So finally after hubby and I booked a vacation to go back to Jamaica this May, I decided I didn't want to worry about looking back on MORE pictures from our fun vacation and not remembering the fun times we had because I'm only able to focus on how chubby I look in the photos. I started a diet.

Part of what gave me the confidence to start this journey is honestly one day just being able to run for 30 minutes straight on the treadmill.  I may be big, but I have always exercised at least.  Before I started dieting I tried to workout three days a week.  I would go to Zumba one day and run on the treadmill two other days.  However, my treadmill routine consisted of walking five minutes, running at 5mph for 10 min., walking 5, jogging 5, walking 5, jogging 5, walking 5. Not super intense. One morning though I got to the end of my 10 minutes of jogging and just thought, "this isn't too hard, I guess I can keep going." So I did. I went past the 15 minute mark, 20 minute mark, and ran for 30 minutes straight. I used to be able to do this in high school/early college but not since I've been married. I just felt so empowered and strong like I could really do something.

After my first 30 straight minutes of jogging (I always walk for 5 minutes before/after) 

That didn't immediately spark a change though.  It's just so easy to fall back into what is comfortable and not push yourself as far as you can go. So it took booking a vacation and wanting to look decent in a bathing suit to push myself to try and go farther.  But you know what? Recently I've been able to jog for 45 minutes+ straight with no problems!

 Granted, I'm still going at a pretty slow pace (12 minute mile) but just KNOWING that I can go for that 45 minutes has been such a change for me. Next up is working on going a little faster :)

So, exercise has been a big change for me.  I'm now working out EVERY DAY instead of 3 times a week.  Right now I normally go to a Zumba class at my gym on Monday nights, run on the treadmill Tuesdays, do some type or workout video or Zumba video at home on Wednesdays (more low-key), run on the treadmill Thursdays, get up early and do a Jillian Michaels DVD on Fridays, bust it out at the gym on Saturdays mornings (normally on the elliptical and/or Zumba class), and do something low key around home like go for a long walk or hike outside with hubby on Sundays.

I've been using a Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor to track how many calories I burn during my workouts which has been super helpful because honestly...

My biggest struggle has always been food. And accurately tracking how many calories I burn during workouts has made it easier to calculate how many calories I can eat for the rest of the day.  I've been using My Fitness Pal (username is mygirlishwhims if you want to friend me!) to keep me on track which has been SUPER helpful.

 Tracking everything I put in my mouth and how many calories it has in it has been very eye opening.  Can I just say that alcohol is like the devil??? Seriously.  I knew it had calories, but didn't really know how many calories it had before I started tracking.  Before my diet I would maybe have a hard cider on Thursdays and a couple of drinks on either Friday or Saturday and the other day a couple more than a couple drinks :) Well NOT SO MUCH any more because I've realized I'd rather eat and feel full than drink 500 calories of wine (even though I love it so much.... *cries*)

Measuring out my wine like a good girl...this Food Scale has been super helpful for counting calories!

I've also made a big adjustment to the types of food I cook for dinner.  I think part of the reason my weight has spiraled out of control since I got married is that I've really enjoyed learning how to cook and make really yummy food.  Unfortunately, most of the yummy food I was cooking was not very healthy!! So I've committed to cooking more healthy meals.  I've made a lot of recipes from Cooking Light and it's been a big eye opener that food can still taste good without tons of cheese or heavy cream or gobs of pasta in it. Portion control has also been a huge thing for me.  If a Cooking Light recipe says it makes four servings I now scoop out the four servings (two for me and hubby for dinner, one for a lunch for him the next day, and one for either a second helping for him or another lunch) into separate dishes so I only eat a smaller serving instead of piling it on my plate like I would have before. I really have not felt super hungry since I started this diet, I've just been eating more healthy foods and in more appropriate amounts.

I'm certainly not 100% gong-ho diet all the time though. Normally at least once during the weekend we are out with friends or order take-out for home and I eat pretty bad.  BUT, the difference I think now is that I'm doing well the rest of the week that it isn't as big of a deal.  Sometimes I'm up on the scale the next day which motivates me to hit it hard at the gym or sometimes I'm even down on the scale the next day which is crazy to me!!!

To be frank I'm pretty proud of dropping these 11 pounds in a month.  I have my My Fitness Pal app set to loose 1.5 pounds a week so I have already surpassed that rate for sure.  I really have not noticed any difference in how I look or how my clothes are fitting yet, but I'm sure after another 11 pounds gone I will :) I'm sure it's bound to get harder though: today I logged in to my My Fitness Pal account and it congratulated me for losing over 10 pounds and then promptly told me to update my goals and reduced my daily calorie intake goal BOOOO. If I keep this rate up though I'll be down 33 more pounds by the time we go to Jamaica!! Wow that sounds like a lot.  I'm not expecting quite that much to be gone by then but it does feel good to have a tangible goal in sight as something to work towards.  So onward I go...I'll keep you posted for sure. 

I'd love to hear if any of you have had any success with loosing weight or if you have any healthy recipes to share...drop me a note in the comments!!