Now on to my tip of the week- have a p-day! Missionaries do it, so why don't we? Preparation days are a life saver for me. I usually make them the same days I go to the grocery, but sometimes that doesn't work. Preparation days are when I get all of the food I have bought and divide it into individual portions. Now if you are rich, maybe you can afford all of the pre-packaged individual sized things...but for those of us on a budget, we know it is better to buy in bulk. It also leaves more room to consume more food than you should.
So here is what I do...one day (usually per week...at least for the produce) I take the time to cut and bag everything up. I cut celery, carrots, bell pepper strips, cucumbers, etc. and place individual portions in baggies and keep them in a bin in the fridge. Then I do the same with my fruits- grapes, strawberries, etc. and place them in another bin or basket in the fridge. I do it again with pretzels, animal crackers, etc. and put that bin in the cupboard or pantry. It takes awhile to get all of your baggies made, but then your life is heaven.
I can roll out of bed just minutes before my husband leaves for work and make a quick lunch- all I really have to do is make the sandwich! I grab one item from the veggie bin, one from the fruit bin (where I also keep whole apples and things that would go bad being cut up in advance) and one thing from the bin in the cupboard. A yogurt and a napkin and my work is done!
This also works out really well for myself...anytime I want a snack I can get just the amount I need. Because really, would you feel worse putting your hand back in the chip bag one more time or having to go get a second baggie out of the bin? I can almost always limit myself to one baggie of whatever it is I am craving. And I more often pick and fruit or veggie for a snack when they are all ready and waiting for me. (It also makes cooking a cinch too because my veggies are already pre-cut!)
So take some time to have a preparation day and see if it saves you time (and worries) in the long run!
5 comments:
Hey, thanks for the great tips. That is actually a dream of mine to be that well organized and thought out but for now I will continue to scramble to gather kids lunches & snacks.
On to the EXCITING NEWS!! You sound just like me about a month ago and I am STILL excited. I decided then to do a couple triathlons this summer. Mine aren't until Aug. & Sept. so I have longer to train. I know there are some really good 12 week training things on "trinewbies.com". You can download most if not all the info and print out what you want. Just take it slow but know you ARE going to have to push yourself in order to get in better cardio shape to complete the tri. I am constantly sore from using muscles I haven't used in a while or at all! Where do you live? I am in Washington. Check out my blog if you like "BFITB445.blogspot.com"
and best of luck to you. I will be watching to see how your training is going. You will find the lbs. just melting away when you no longer look at exercise as a means to a weight loss end but a fitness end. It is AWESOME!! You go girl!
Hooray! I'm excited you are doing a triathlon! Mine is also on the 22nd. Please make lots and lots of comments when I write my monthly post about tri training. You will have so much fun training and doing it!
About the triathlon- that IS super exciting! And it made me laugh when you said you're not good at swimming because I really just had a dream last night that you and I were going swimming and you couldn't find the little skirt thing to wear around your swimsuit and you were going to pay some girl $2 to buy hers from her, but just before you did I found yours wrapped up in my stuff and the girl got REALLY mad at me since I gave you yours and you didn't buy one from her anymore. And then I realized that there were no keys for the lockers and that she was probably going to steal my stuff. Anyway, I think the point of the dream was that you will always look beautiful swimming. Haha. For reals though, way to go! I'm sure it will make fitness more fun.
As for the baggies, that is a super great idea. But you are more organized than most people are in EVERY aspect of your life. Maybe people don't realize that. Maybe if they knew you color-coordinated your jewelery they wouldn't feel quite so overwhelmed for not being as cool as you. :)
I'm curious to know how you will train for the swimming...
I'm excited for you! I hope to be strong enough to do a small triathalon someday.
whoa whoa whoa! way to be training for a triathlon. swimming would definitely be my weak point.
p-day is a great idea--i used to cut things up when i had roommates so everything would fit in the fridge (namely very large fruits), but i haven't been so much lately. and i think there are some rotten carrots in the bin...
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