So it Begins!

Okay folks, not gonna lie, today was the first day of my No Eating Out Challenge and I was soooo tempted to grab something quick and on the go! Today was HECTIC.

Breakfast as usual was easy-peasy. I blended some mango pineapple water with spinach, a banana, vanilla Greek yogurt, and no salt added cottage cheese. Sounds weird but I dig it and it gives me enough protein to keep my energy up until lunch.

Lunch was also nice and kind of a no-brainer, as I had things ready to go at work. I usually keep frozen veggies and pre-cooked chicken breasts on hand for a quick fix. Today I also walked over to my local grocery store and picked up raspberries and blueberries for an after lunch treat. Now, a coworker asked me if I was cheating if I purchased pre-made items from the store, for example something like hot soup. I had to think about that for a moment. My main reason for this challenge is to hold myself more accountable financially and to not rely on restaurant food because I didn't plan ahead for meals. I didn't stipulate that I had to have all the items needed to make my meals before the challenge started. If that was the case I'd be in deep trouble for the next two weeks. My meals from the current state of my pantry would be some gnarly mish-mash that I'd probably be too ashamed to photograph. While I am endeavoring to be better at meal planning and doing all my shopping a week at a time, I'm still at the point where I'm going to the store almost daily to pick up some last minute item for a meal. So my answer I decided was no. I won't consider myself cheating on my challenge unless I am paying someone to prepare something for me from start to finish at any type of eatery. Basically anyplace I'd be adding a tip to my meal because someone else cooked it all and served it to me or packed it up for takeout. Besides looking at overall calorie and fat intake, I am also watching how much sodium is in the food I eat. Therefore pre-made deli food or sodium-laden soups aren't on the top of my list lately. As much as I can I want to cook or assemble all my meals.

Work was really fast-paced and crazy today, and I ended up staying a half hour later than usual. This made me late in picking up my Little Sis. For those of you who are just getting to know me, I am a volunteer Big Sister with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. For the privacy of my Little Sis I will simply call her "Z" if I post anything about our time together. So Z and I were going to hang out after I got off work. She is on summer break so we can spend more time together in the evenings without my worrying that she's going to be too tired for school the next day. So after picking her up we went to my house to watch a movie and catch up. Z had already eaten, but wanted a snack so I made her some popcorn. I was starving at this point, and there was nothing more I wanted than to have a hot meal magically placed in front of me. I had leftover chicken from my trial run dinner, so I cut up some of the chicken breast and heated it up in the remaining red pepper cream sauce. I boiled up some whole wheat rotini, and finally I threw together a quick salad of spinach with raspberries and a pear champagne vinaigrette. It was quick and tasty, and there was so much pasta, half of it is going to be my lunch tomorrow!

Z and I caught up and chatted about some of the things we'd been up to, and I mentioned my hike and told her how nice it was to be out in nature and getting exercise. Z told me she'd never been on a hike and that she might be interested in trying one with me on a nice day in the near future! I was so stoked that she  expressed enthusiasm in doing what I consider to be such an enjoyable pastime, I'm really looking forward to sharing that with her. It means a lot to me that I can share my experiences with others and make a difference in their lives, no matter how small. From the tiniest ideas have come the greatest adventures, and I can't wait to share more with all of you!

I survived the first day of my challenge, yay! I already had to turn down a restaurant breakfast outing, so I know that I'm still going to need plenty of willpower in the upcoming weeks. I'd love to hear any of your tips or methods for meal planning or grocery shopping strategies!