Be Prepared

Preparedness. This is the key to any weight loss effort. We are told this no matter what the diet is. Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, or Jenny Craig to name a few. You need to plan ahead. Be prepared for unexpected things. You want to plan your meals, have your snacks, plan your day.
That was my problem, as much as I thought I was prepared, I really wasn't. I was making things too hard. I was having too much variety and because of that I became frustrated and burnt out.

So, I was on a chat board and expressing my issues with ideas for meals and one bander gave me such a simplistic idea. She has two breakfasts and a few lunch/dinner choices and that is what she sticks with. Simple? Basic? Less thought, less stress.

Well, I am still coming up with my core menu to pull from. These need to be things I have on hand all the time or easy access to. I also need to keep good protein sources in my desk at work for emergencies.

Breakfast for me is usually an egg or egg beaters. Lunch can be left over dinner or if I need to run out I can make several choices. Taco Bell-bean burrito, refried beans, or a soft taco. Chick Fil A-nuggest, side salad, chicken soup. Wendys-chili. I also make my own egg salad, chicken salad. Kroger has a spinach and bacon salad with Balsamic vinegrette. I keep beanee weenees in my drawer at work with vienna sausages and tuna salad kits. It's all about having a set of choices but limit them. I know that if I am going to go out to eat I have a list of places to choose from and what foods I will limits myself to.

In short, it is all about choices. I can choose to be prepared or wing it. Which do you think will be more successful? I can choose a bean burrito or a 7 layer burrito. Which is better? It's all choice. I could just as easily go to McDonald's and choose a double cheese burger but why? I figure I should be satisfied so I have chosen foods I like but are heathier in a way.

My goal is to be prepared. Keep my good choices at hand and not stray. Why set myself up to fail? I know if I get too hungry it becomes severe pain. I have never had anything like it. Its goes from hunger to just plain sharp angry pain. Then I eat too much too fast and that does nothing but hurt me. Having a band makes being prepared that much more important but I can't over do the prepardness. It is possible to be too prepared that you lose sight of the goal and really sabotage yourself.  I found that out the hard way when I was fixing all these little meals so I had a wide variety and I actually got tired of the food and wanted other stuff. Before surgery I would eat the same few foods over and over each week but for whatever reason I thought I needed a huge variety each day now that I was banded. CRAZY TALK!!

Just keep in mind that being prepared means you can enjoy foods with your friends instead of alone. Which would you choose? I don't want to turn them down when I know I can eat out. I also know that I don't have to eat out when I bring my own foods. But I will always have a choice that is why I carry an insulated bag with me to work and if I am going to be out all day. I have simple servings of snacks, food, water so I don't have to stress about the choices.