Last weekend, I was Googling some of my favorite exercise video stars of the 1990s, because it might be a category on Jeopardy someday, and I found this recent video of Kathy Kaehler demonstrating how she does a Sunday Set-Up™ – “setting up” the week’s produce by buying, prepping and storing it all on Sunday.
It’s pure container porn.
Have you ever seen anything so perfect? Hold me.
There were so many vegetables! In quantity and variety. It really made me rethink how I buy groceries. I mean, I can’t be OK with spending $4 a box on Skinny Cow chocolate bars, which provide basically no nutrition, and balk at the cost of bell peppers. That’s crazy-talk.
So, when I hit the grocery on Sunday, I raided the produce section for bell peppers (all colors), broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, green beans, kale, mushrooms, lettuces, grape tomatoes, spinach, apples, avocado, bananas and grapes. Then I came home and prepped most of them.
Having everything ready to go has made such a huge difference this week. I’ve probably tripled my veggie intake, just because it’s been so easy to throw together things like salads, fajitas and stir-fries. Plus, it’s made it easier for me to tell the difference between real hunger and the munchies. If I’m not willing to throw together a 30-second salad, I’m not really hungry. I’m just lusting for chocolate.
Week 5 Weigh-In: -3
Total Pounds Lost: 8
What Worked Last Week:
- The Sunday Set-Up! Veggies, veggies and more veggies.
- Taking those “Before” pictures and measurements. Seeing those photos directly led to me a.) realizing I needed some new bras and b.) buying them. It was like an instant 10-pound weight loss. Better than the flu!
- Exercising for 15 minutes, twice a day. Housework and yardwork totally counted.
- Carrying water and snacks with me. It sounds so old lady! But yesterday, I hadn’t had lunch and was stuck in traffic, and then I remembered the protein bar and water in my bag. YES! Self high-five.
Wee Tiny Baby Steps for This Week:
- Start keeping a real food journal. You don’t even know how much I hate tracking my food. Even using the Weight Watchers app, I tend to track breakfast, lunch and snacks and then stop before dinner. So this week, I’m committing to writing everything down, including any emotional or food triggers that come up. Because those things suck. Better to be prepared.
- Exercise for 40 minutes, six days a week. This might be 40 minutes all at once or broken up into two 20-minute sessions, one 30-minute and one 10-minute, whatever. A hundred pennies is still a dollar.
Did you find anything this week that’s making your weight loss journey (feel free to take a shot) a little better? Spill!
I can’t stand tracking anything. I’m good for 2 days or so and then I fail. Repeatedly.
After my fiancé bought me the UP band for xmas I thought I would be awesome at tracking, but I still fail. The only thing I can say that’s good is I actually do think about how many steps I take every day now that I’m wearing it (going on 2 months). But have I see any results? Nah.
Like I said, I hate tracking. But today I bought an elliptical machine from my boss. And he and I have to attend a conference in May a week before my wedding and he’s issued a 90 day challenge to me. I sooo don’t want I fail! And I hope not failing doesn’t mean I have to track anything!
Sorry I’ve blogged in your comments! I think this is my first time commenting and I just want to show my support!