Spacing the Protein Out

I wore a pair of pants today that have not really fit me since February. That felt SO awesome!!!

Today was a "normal" eating day - meaning for breakfast I had an IP product. Then for "lunch" I had a baggie of celery (about a cup or so) and a baggie of red pepper (a little over a cup's worth) -I grazed on this stuff from 10am through about 2pm. Then nothing until I got home at about 5:30. Then I had my 8oz of protein (chicken breast that I had crock-potted on Saturday with good seasonings -like pulled pork but chicken), 2 cups of lightly sauteed asparagus and 1 cup of lightly sauteed red cabbage -sauteed in half a tablespoon of grapeseed oil. Then an IP product. I have one more IP thing to have tonight.

In reflection, I am not eating enough for lunch. I am eating enough for the entire DAY...but I need to spread my protein out - right now specifically my Ideal Protein products. I need to get OUT of the habit of only eating raw veggies from 10am-2pm (typically the span of my "lunch"...which will actually slow down now and I will get a "real" lunch break now for about 2-1/2 months). I need to eat some IP stuff at that time and use some of those veggies as my afternoon snack instead of "saving" the IP food for afternoon snack time. That will help my metabolism out I think. Lately I've been eating about 80% of my calories after 4pm...that isn't good. I need to spread the love over the entire day and make that my new "normal".

When I eat celery or cucumbers as part of my veggie "allotment" for the day, I eat more veggies than 4 cups per day. This is probably not doing me any favors in the weight loss area, but it's much more healthy. I don't feel well when I don't eat a lot of vegetables. In fact, I don't think ANYONE eats enough vegetables in the grand scheme of life! That being said, I'm quite excited to have joined a community supported agriculture (CSA) group in the area. Each week from next week through early October, I receive a box of produce freshly picked from a farm. Hooray for fresh & locally grown food!!!!