Yesterday, I wrote about all the things I have to do on the regular and the struggle of having to find balance in my world. However, one of the things I have noticed about myself throughout this process is that I will let a lot slip and slide when it comes to my schedule, but food is not one of those things. I am fiercely protective about my prep time when it comes to my daily and weekly food planning – I will NOT get caught without having some sort of plan in place for eating clean. If I’m not prepared, my stress level goes through the roof, and all else goes to hell. While I’m not really stressed about it right now (I’m a little whelmed, but not stressed), I wanted to take proactive steps to make my life a little easier.
I ended up posting about it on EatCleanDiet.com… I tell you, I absolutely LOVE that community. Such amazingly supportive women! I know I’ve said that before, but it always bears repeating. I got really great tips and advice, and basically, it all comes down to routine. ROU-TEEEEEEEEEN! God, I love that word…
One woman wrote that she has EVERYTHING scheduled. “I am on a schedule: the phone alarm and Outlook tell me when to wake up, when to work out, when to drink water (really! I fill up my bottle every hour, so if it is not empty, I chug it down and go get more)”. Someone else talked about the art of multi-tasking while cooking; how she gets multiple burners working and makes quinoa, eggs, veggies and pasta all at the same time. These are things that I do, but I loved the reminders and affirmations that I’m on track. I also feel a major Calendar cleaning event coming on over the weekend… me, my Outlook and iPhone alarms are about to take it up a notch!
But one simple idea blew my mind. I call it “The Ultimate Baggie Plan”, and it knocked me over! I can’t believe I hadn’t thought about it before!
The idea is to make MULTIPLE “baggies” of something so it becomes a quick-grab item. For example, oatmeal. I eat oatmeal every single day with a scoop of protein powder, handful of raw walnuts, handful of dried cranberries, and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. I put this all together dry in a pyrex bowl and bring it to work for my 9AM meal. All I need to do is add boiling water (from the coffee machine), let it sit for 10 minutes, and voila – instant brekkie. What I usually do is put this together at night while I’m prepping the rest of my next-day food… but why not make 10-12 bags at one time???? OMG! That is the simplest time saver EVER!
I thought about it again this morning when I was making my post-workout omlette. I usually make it with organic salsa, but I’m looking for ways to up my vegetable intake to 10 servings a day, so why not add sauteed veggies to my egg dish? I paused when I thought of all that chopping… but wait! Why not do it ONCE, divvy the veggies up into baggies, and then freeze them??? I could take one out of the freezer before bed, let it defrost in the sink overnight, and then BOOM, add it to my omlette in the AM after Power 90 kicks my butt! EUREKA!
It’s so funny – I already do this with chicken breasts. I make a bunch of clean marinade (EVOO, garlic, balsamic), cut up the chicken into the perfect serving size, put two in a baggie, pour the marinade over and throw the bag in the freezer. Before I go to bed, I’ll take one bag out and let the chicken defrost and marinate at the same time. When I get home, I’ll cook them both and have one for dinner and prep the other for lunch the next day.
See, things like this make me breathe so much easier. I feel like I’m in the swing of things when it comes to my eating, but finding these little tricks really adds to my peace of mind. They clear space in my brain so I can concentrate on my other stuff. Love it!
Wishing Aint Doing 
Hey there. I found this to be a good read. With me being a Single Army mom, mother of three (2 active athletic boys and one first year college student-girl)…just to name a few my roles…managing my time is critical. I am not always perfect that’s for sure…I slip and slide often, like right now I should be busy working but I am reading this and responding instead…LOL…Sometimes though I get joy out of taking a break from the schedule and doing something spontaneous, especially if it is something I truly enjoy. However, I can only do those spontaneous things freely when my critical items are taken care of…or somewhat taken care. Doing this gives me wiggle room where I can slack off a bit without it affecting not only my diet and exercise but also my family and of course my job. One thing that has been tremendous in my schedule is the “Baggie.” Except, for my baggies are Ziploc bags filled with meat and veggies, and almost complete meal. For instance, I get a couple of different meats and cook them all up on a weekend. Then I get like two giant bags of frozen veggies from Costco, Two different kinds at least. Then I put some gloves on, dish out the meat and veggies into the Ziploc bag in serving sizes. Basically…what I am creating is multiple homemade frozen meals. I then put it in the freezer (keeping separate from the raw foods of course) and all I have to do is grab a bag for dinner, for lunch for snack…for the road…for whatever the case maybe. Now I don’t give this to the kids for dinner…I still make their dinner. They can afford more calories than I. I do try to make healthy meals for them. These Ziploc Baggies come in EXTREMELY handy, and has saved me on many occasions. Right now, I need to re-up on my grocery and dedicated this weekend to making my To-Go bag!
You can check out my blogs of other helpful info and motivational items at http://www.blackfitandfabulous.com
CoachKarren
Exactly, Karen! I have no idea why I didn’t think of it before, being such a compartmentalizing Virgo, but now that I have, I’m on it! I made my omlette-stuffer Baggies last night (organic, chopped salsa, sauteed spinach/mushroom/onion), and I have scallops and oriental frozen veggie stir fry defrosting now for the frozen meal Baggies you’re talking about. You are SO right – you can be spontaneous when your obligations are taken care of. I’ll never be without a quick-grab meal again!