Get fit in the Gym, Lose weight in the Kitchen.

That's the saying right?  It's a pretty easy concept to get...much harder to execute.  You can do all the exercise you want, but if you eat pancakes and bacon for breakfast, pizza and chips for dinner, it's just not going to do you any good.

I talk a lot about going to the gym, and working out. It's the high that keeps me going.  But the real work is done in rewiring my mindset, my tongue and my stomach.  I keep my trigger foods out of the house. When there are cookies, chocolate and other crap on the counter at work, I have to use my willpower to stay strong.  Trust me, that stuff still calls to me when I see it, but I control it so much better now.  I eat 6 mostly "clean/whole foods" meals a day, and I'm currently playing around with the calorie amount and balance, but one things I know - whole foods are key, veggies and fruits are absolute necessities.

So what happens when I come home from an awesome workout starving, and realize I don't really have much for food?  I get to work.  They say beauty is pain?  Well whatever. Those liars have never cut onions before.  These are not tears of joy people!

Needless to say, there was work to be done.    Within a matter of an hour, I had cooked some chicken, quinoa, chopped up 6 baggies of veggies for salad toppings and egg throw ins including purple and white onions, celery, mushrooms, and two bags of peppers. I chopped up three quarts of strawberries and mangos. And at the end I had a good sized bowl of chicken quinoa salad to fulfill my after workout cravings.  I have enough leftovers now to get me through my work weekend.  While I was cooking, I realized it was going to take too long so  I grabbed a greek yogurt and ate that.  You should always have something on hand for if you get a little desperate.

I generally have these items on hand at all time:
Greek Yogurt
Protein Powder
Cheese Sticks or mini babybell's
Lara Bars (or a good protein bar)
Fresh Fruit of some sort (In my house right now are mangos, grapes, cuties, strawberries)
Nuts - my favorites are the "wonderful" brand shelled pistachios  I buy by the giant bag full at costco.  Kids love them too.

All My Veggies

I was eventually able to whip up a batch of chicken quinoa salad, which will last me through my work weekend for lunches so that's great.  The point is BE PREPARED.  Think ahead about food. If you don't, and you find yourself in a hungry situation, try to think about your hunger and make the best of the situation, and always have backup items.  if everything else fails, and you just need some carbs and quinoa isn't going to cut it, pop some popcorn, because there's not a lot of point to working your arse off (literally) in Kickboxing class, just to come home and eat chips and ice cream.