Sample Weekly Meal Plan

I had several people ask me yesterday what I eat in a typical week. I had to get up early this morning (the husband had to be at work for 5) so I decided to be productive during my child free time ( My son "slept in" until 5:30) and create a sample meal plan.

*Please note that I am not a dietician and do not claim to be. I have not gone to school for nutrition, and I am sure that I love carbs way more than most people would say is healthy. This is just a sample of what I eat and track on MyFitnessPal. I use MyFitnessPal to make sure that I get enough vitamins and nutrition in each day. I'm on this healthy journey just like so many people, and I'm learning as I go. I hope this helps guide others.

My Sample Weekly Meal Plan

Coffee! Coffee! Coffee!

I grew up a fan of Gilmore Girls, okay obsessed with Gilmore Girls and convinced I was going to marry my own Luke one day (and I have ☺️). One of the biggest things I got from Gilmore Girls ..my coffee obsession! I started small...one cup a day. I can do just one cup. Then my students started playing the game of guessing how many cups I had that day based on how much I moved in class. At one point, I worked four jobs (hello single teacher status) and basically lived on coffee. I would tell everyone I only drank one cup and would leave out the fact that my large cup fit an entire pot of coffee. 

In 2018 I was diagnosed with migraines. No big deal. Plenty of people say caffeine helps migraines.. except caffeine didn't help me because it made it to where I couldn't relax and tension headaches led to migraines.

Enter the world of decaf. I know, it's like a curse word to coffee drinkers around the world. After a while, I got use to it though...then came GERD. Good ole GERD stripped me of my decaf. Coffee is seriously acidic y'all.

 I became the girl staring at others drinking their coffee. Okay, confession time...I actually sniffed my friend's coffee several times just to get the smell of it. I needed my mental fix. I'm from South Louisiana where everyone goes to each other's houses to drink coffee and kids drink "coffee milk" with their parents and grandparents. How could I be stripped of something that was a part of me?!

It's been nine months since I told coffee goodbye. A few days ago, I received a fb message that has changed everything so I want to share it with everyone. Teeccino! No, that's not a foreign language or a new slang word that you don't know. (Although it might be because I'm really bad at knowing new slang and would have no clue). Teeccino is made from carob and other ingredients instead of coffee beans. It comes in different flavors such as French Roast and Hazelnut, and you can find it online or in some grocery stores (Natural Grocers, Sprouts). It has no caffeine and isn't acidic. Score! I found some basic creamer, and I now have my coffee fix again. Is it the same as coffee? Nope. Does it fill that void that has been missing for nine months? Sure does. I had some this afternoon with some healthy cookies that I baked and felt like me again.

I know that coffee doesn't define the woman, but I hope I make Lorelai proud. 😉

It's Been A While

So, it's been a while since my last blog post. School started. For any elementary teachers reading (or their significant others who watch the zombies return home every day at the beginning ) , that's enough of an explanation. My son also started preschool this year, and that pretty much rocked my world. I'm the mom of a pre-ker! I'm still not sure how this is my life.

As it turns out, GERD doesn't just go away so I've been keeping up with my gerd friendly food and trying new ones. I've updated the Google Doc with new foods that I've tried successfully. One of my favorites has been the super easy pumpkin muffins that my four year old gobbles up. The recipe is on my fb page. I'm currently 95 lbs down, and it has all come from just following GERD friendly foods and some fun exercise.

95 lbs down, I am still in disbelief. I look at the number on the scale, but my mind is still trying to wrap around it.

My mind has actually been the toughest part of this whole process. My assistant principal recorded me teaching this past week and had me watch it to reflect. I'll be honest and say that it was one of the toughest things I've had to do in a while. I cried while watching it. I couldn't see my teaching. I could only see my stomach that still needs a lot of work. Instead of my learning target, I saw that fat roll that will never go away (I'm blaming Little Debbie for that one. She is the friend who never leaves your side. 🤣) I saw myself 95 lbs ago. My husband then gave me a pep talk...okay it was more of a come to Jesus talk...about how I need to see myself. As sweet as he is every time he tells me I'm beautiful (for the record, he has always said that to me at any weight), it's not enough. It will never be enough for me to rely on the opinion of others. It's time to get this mind in shape.

So, that's where I am. On the exciting news front, I am in the middle of a project to celebrate losing 100 lbs. My goal is to get people, myself included, to donate at least 100lbs total to local food banks, local food pantries, or homeless feeding programs. So far, I've had people in 2 states participate, and I am so pumped up. There was a time in my life when food was not always something I could just go and buy. I stressed about how I was going to buy food for the week. I remember my dad telling me to go look at something he bought, and there was a $20 bill for me next to a can of green beans. I remember a friend inviting me out to eat. I was stressed and knew that I could only spend $5, and she surprised me by paying for my meal. I'm so excited to be at a point in my life where I can pay it forward for others, and this project has re-energized this tired teacher! If you would like to participate and aren't local, give to a local place. I am asking that you send me the weight of the food and a pic because I am so excited to make a collage of all the food in the end to remember this project and milestone.

If you are at a point in your life where you can't help with my current project, no problem! I encourage everyone to pay kindness forward somehow today. Open a door for someone, smile at someone (even if they have their grumpy pants on), just be kind.

If you have any suggestions for future blog posts, comment here, comment on my fb page, send me a fb message, a pigeon with a note...something. What would you like to see more of? meal ideas? dessert ideas? exercises with gerd (because some are very bad for people with gerd)? my husband's justification for pizza as healthy because it has vegetables? Just let me know.

The picture is my preschooler's self portrait....because he is pretty good at seeing just how awesome he is.