Melissa Jones

I talked to my sister-in-law about how she lost a lot of weight. She's not on BTD or anything, but ate the same things every day and nothing more, with absolutely no cheating. These things were simple, easy and predictable. So I'm trying to come up with a similar plan. I like to mix things up, and try new recipes and foods, but I've been very lacking in the routine department since my second was born. Giving up eggs as an explorer made it harder, because those were my breakfast routine for oh so long.

The benefits of a routine are that it doesn't require much thinking or advanced planning, just toss the same thing together. In the long run, it's healthier to mix things up and get more variety, but routine is my weak point, mixing up is my specialty. The point is to avoid skipping meals or being low on vital nutrients, that helps avoid cravings and cheating.

The mush in my last blog is my new breakfast routine. I sometimes chop a whole apple into it, instead of apple sauce, and grated apple would be great in it too. It's filling enough on its own, but adding some natural turkey bacon or a vegetable on the side is always a nice touch. I could probably add whey protein powder to it, but I prefer to save that for a smoothie. If I feel bored of mush, my second option is salad...it's great at breakfast time.

Lunch routine is tougher, as I usually have a pretty late breakfast. Lunch is a good time to chop up some raw vegetables and maybe cook a turkey or bison burger. Fresh mozzarella makes a frequent occurence at lunch time. I can snack on the veggie stick later in the day if I crave something crunchy...raw kohlrabi, raw turnips, radishes, they're all good.

I don't do any real major cooking until dinner time. I don't really need a dinner routine for that reason, I'm usually more organized by dinnertime and can make a healthy dinner with veggies and salad.