Eat to Live

My diet has changed drastically over the last year and a half.  In the past, I pretty much ate whatever I wanted, and what I wanted was LOTS of fast food.  I'll admit it, I LOVE fast food.

Hello, my name is Jessie, and I am addicted to fast food.

"Hello, Jessie."

Now I eat fast food less than once a month and that less than once a month, 99% of the time, is Chipotle.  

Hello, my name is Jessie, and I am addicted to Chipotle.

"Hello, Jessie."

Where am I?

Oh yeah.  Well, now I eat at home.  I bring my lunch to work.  I eat to live, rather than live to eat.

Breakfast is almost always eggs.

Eggs are cheap and easy.  A whole egg is 70 calories.  An egg white, by itself, is only 16 calories.  I cook in a non-stick skillet using zero-calorie cooking spray, so as to not add extra calories.  Here are some of the combos I cook up in the morning:

2 "fried" eggs (in zero-calorie cooking spray) with 2 pieces of dry toast (using multi-grain 45-calorie per slice bread).  Calorie total: 230

Scrambled eggs (using one whole egg and two egg whites) with several spoonfuls of homemade cilantro-salsa.  Calorie total: 120

Omelet using one whole egg and two egg whites, one slice of processed American cheese (70 calories), and sliced mushrooms.  Calorie total: 200

If I don't feel like eggs, I have one serving of oatmeal with 2.5 tsp of Splenda brown sugar, 1/4 cup of skim milk. Calorie total: 220

Mid-morning snack is always a Clif bar.  240 or 250 calories, depending upon the bar flavor.  

Macadamia nut is my favorite :)

Lunch is almost always a grilled chicken breast and a banana.  Sometimes I pack salsa for the chicken breast.  Other times I put hot sauce on it. Any way, it's awesome.  Clint always grills up a bunch of them on Sunday and we eat them all week.  Calorie total: 310

Afternoon snack is usually popcorn.  We found a brand and flavor that backs four full cups in a serving for only 140 calories.  That's a fulfilling, buttery, salty snack!

Supper is the meal that varies the most at our house.  Clint and I seldom fix a meal on the weekdays.  We usually eat salad or a sandwich.  Calories vary, but my favorite sandwich is 45-calorie bread with low-cal ranch, half an avocado, turkey, fresh spinach and roma tomato slices.  This substantial sandwich is still less than 400 calories!

We go through a LOT of avocados.  While they are high in calories and fat, they are GOOD calories and fat and they have a creamy, satisfying taste.

To satisfy my sweet tooth, I drink diet cherry pepsi, and every morning I have coffee with Truvia and sugar-free peppermint mocha creamer.  If I get really hungry I cut up an apple and dip it in peanut butter, which is a surprisingly filling snack.  Overall I try to keep my diet under 1400 net calories.  The more I work out, the more calories I allow myself.

Clint and I tend to have one "splurge" on the weekend.  This weekend we treated ourselves to ice cream.  Last weekend was Chipotle.  Imagine that.

Dieting is not a piece of cake,
~J