Back to School Meal Plan, Weigh in, and Exercise Schedule {September 8th, 2015}

Summer is officially over and back to school time is here! This might be the fastest summer on record. Seriously, it seems like school just ended and my kids and I were on our way to the cabin. Now we are back to school. I have to say it is a little bittersweet for me. Of course, I love summer and the freedom it offers. But…I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to the structure of the school year. Not to mention time during the day to actually work. Mama’s gotta make money! Lesson learned for next year…have 2 months worth of blog posts ready to go because once July hits NOTHING GETS DONE. So, as you can imagine, I am looking forward to getting back into a routine.

To keep my routine sane I spent a large amount of time stocking my freezer with meals. My oldest is on a competition dance team, and my youngest is striving to be, so our dance schedule this year is INTENSE. I am doing my best to stay organized and ahead of the game. I will share a post this week with all the recipes, pictures, and tips. At first I was going to put everything into this post but it was too much so my freezer cooking post will go up tomorrow or the next.

Okay, let’s talk about my weight and exercise schedule.

I have not posted a weigh in since August 17^th. Actually, that was the last time I posted a meal plan too. I am telling ya my life has been cray cray.

Anyway, here are my stats.

SW: 177 (this was back in October 2010 for those of you just tuning in)

GW: 130

LWW: 149.5

CW: 148.5

PL: -1

It’s always a good day when I see a weight loss and not a gain. This summer has been really tough on my schedule. Not only was my blogging schedule derailed but so where my eating habits and exercise routine. Of course, I am ultimately the one to blame so again I need to plan much better for next summer. It’s all fun and games until your pants don’t fit anymore. #truestory With that said I am happy to see a small weight loss this week.

So what is my exercise plan moving forward? Good question. I have thought long and hard and this is what I came up with. I need to focus on my exercise habit. I need to get back into exercising consistently. Being consistent is THE ONLY WAY to lose weight and keep it off – I wrote about that here. The way I plan to bring consistent exercise back into my life is with a 30-day exercise challenge. I see people do exercise and food challenges ALL THE TIME. Personally, I always thought they were kind of “gimmicky” but now I see how they can help me build a habit. Stay tuned because I plan to write more about that in the future.

My challenge is going to be simple – 3 miles a day. I am going to run or walk 3 miles a day no matter what AND this is to be completed in the morning. Exercise in morning works best for me and I need to get back into that routine. Today, I completed my 4^th day and feeling great. And although it’s only been 4 days I can already feel it getting easier.

Anyway, my goal with this challenge isn’t necessarily to drop 20 pounds but more so to just get back in the habit of exercising. Of course, if I tone up and lose a bit of weight that won’t be so bad either.

Now let’s get to my weekly meal plan.

Like I said earlier, I spent a huge amount of time this weekend freezer cooking. Nothing makes me happier to see a months worth of meals staring back at me – there is just something so relaxing to know dinner is ready.

Here is my menu on Plan to Eat. I plan to create a menu specifically for the freezer meals so stay tuned for that. If you haven’t tried Plan to Eat yet I highly suggest giving them a shot. If you do then make sure to “friend” me (username organizeyourselfskinny) to have access to my recipes and menus. From there you can adapt as needed and print out grocery lists.

My Meal Plan

Breakfast

Detox Smoothies

Make-ahead tips

• I will make my smoothies the morning I drink them. If you want to prep them ahead of time you could prepare smoothies kits or freeze already made smoothies ahead of time.

Mid-morning snack

Cheese stick or almonds

Make-ahead tips

• I prepared a refrigerator snack kit with all of our snacks for the week.

Lunch

Turkey, walnut, and crumbled blue mason jar salad

Or

Turkey avocado rollups

Make-ahead tips

• Mason jar salads were made yesterday. Roll ups will be made the day I eat them.

Mid-afternoon snack

Luna bar or fruit

Dinner

Hamburger macaroni and cheese

BLT with avocado

Buffalo chicken subs

Slow cooker rustic short ribs with potatoes and vegetables

Homemade pizzas

Make-ahead tips

• I prepared and froze ahead of time the hamburger mac n cheese, chicken subs, slow cooker meal, and homemade pizzas. I will talk more about this in my freezer cooking post tomorrow.
• BLTs will be made today.

Meal planning has made a huge difference in helping me lose weight. It keeps me focused, intentional, and organize with the foods I eat. You can read all about this weight loss strategy and the others I use in my new ebook, Organize Yourself Skinny: 5 Strategies to Help Busy People Lose Weight and Create a Healthier Lifestyle. I also include a free bonus 4 week make ahead meal plan with purchase! If you are a blogger check out my affiliate program.

Also, check out our monthly make-ahead meal plan, exercise challenge, and habit challenge package! We got all kinds of great products to keep you focused on your weight loss goals!