It's Monday & You're Feeling Good.

You're off to a great start! You had the weekend off to relax, clean the kitchen and got your lunches prepped for the week. You even managed to portion out your snacks for the week and made a large batch of Chia Seed Pudding. DInner's are planned out on the calendar on the fridge so you know exactly what you're eating each day. You've now gotten a few solid days of consistency and eating all your meals ontime.

But Thursday comes and magically you've run out of food. Whether the kids ate your precooked food, you over ate, under planned or didn't actually cook as much as you thought. You start to think about the new burrito place that opened just down the road. Heck, what's one takeout meal going to do, right? By Thursday you're starting to hit a wall and getting sick of cooking so you grab takeout again for dinner.

But then Friday rolls around and the kids want pizza. With no more groceries in the house, you cave and have a slice or two. Saturday hits and you've slept in later then expected. Feeling lazy you grab a Starbucks wrap on the way to the grocery store then Burger Priest on the way home. All of a sudden you've been eating out everyday for the past 3 days. But meal prep only happens on Sunday for you.

If this sounds like you, how is it that we just 'run' out of food? With the endless amounts of whole food options that can be kept fresh or frozen it really doesn't make sense.

Here's simple tips you can implement so that you're staying on track all week and weekend. Because truth be told, it sucks starting over with your weight loss goals every Monday. So lets kick the habit of eating out and start nourishing our bodies with home cooked meals the entire week.

1. Meal prep 2x per week minimum. Maybe even three times if you don't like eating the same thing over and over again. Block off time in your calendar and set this as a non negotiable. Wednesday or Thursday works best so you have food ready for Friday night when you're exhausted and don't feel like cooking.
2. Order grocery deliver mid week. Top up on things half way through the week so you don't run out of anything or have as much to get and prepare on Saturday/Sunday.
3. Order a meal prep delivery service to deliver on Wednesday or Thursday so you're well stocked up going into the weekend.
4. If you don't like eating cold food, pull out your slow cooker and actually use it! It takes 5 minutes in the morning to toss in a few ingredients so that you have a nice large batch of warm food ready for you later that day.
5. Jump on the sheet pan meal train. Batch cook & cook extra. Plan to make an extra serving or two at dinner & repurpose this meal for lunch the next day.
6. Source out healthy take out alternatives and keep this list in your phone. That way when you're hungry and can't think straight you have a list radially available filled with great options that won't completely throw you off your plan or make you crash an hour later.

Make yourself a priority and don't let anything get in the way of you and/or your goals. Yes, Monday comes around each week but its the start of a new week, not a re-start to your diet. Feel good about the choices you're making and stop making excuses for yourself.