Braxton Hicks are so much fun!!! I have been experiencing them almost non-stop the past few days. Oh, the joy. Ironically enough, the only time I don’t feel them is when I work out. Or perhaps I simply experience a workout high and don’t notice them? Either way, it just reaffirms my desire to continue fitness, even at 7 months pregnant. And even when the man next to me in spin class tells me to please not go into labor right there. If it wouldn’t have disrupted class, I would have been highly tempted to fake contractions and freak him out. Now, that would have been fun!

Not as fun as this though….

It’s official!! I am registered! So, anyone going interested in rooming together? I will warn you that, with a 4 month old at home, breast pumping will be involved. As discreetly as possible of course. 😉 I’m extremely excited and know I will have so much fun. We’ll wait and see if BlogHer is in the cards as well. I hope so!

We had to be at church for a little while this afternoon to meet with some others attending a church retreat with us. I wasn’t sure how long we would be, so I planned for a dinner on the go. Normally I go for a sandwich from Subway, but a different sandwich appealed to me tonight.

I would also normally opt for the half sandwich and half salad option. Not tonight! Something about a full, hearty chicken salad sandwich from Atlanta Bread Co. sounded perfect. Perhaps because the last thing I had eaten was a bean, cheese, and rice whole wheat wrap/burrito with a honeycrisp apple about 6 hours earlier. Who cares on the reason?! It tasted delicious. Now, today’s Q + A!

Why do you not post everything you eat on your blog? Do you ever not post something because you feel embarrassed or guilty?

First off, I don’t post everything I eat because it simply is not my style. As my blog states, I believe life is more than diet and workouts. To coincide with that belief and fit my blogging style, I don’t post all my food. I would feel too tied down if I attempted to post all of my food. I LOVE reading blogs that share their daily eats and the ideas from them, but I don’t believe it suits Faith, Fitness, Fun.

Also, with my past, I don’t feel comfortable focusing that much on food. It works for some, but I fear I would lose my sense of eating intuitively. I could see myself feeling pressured to have interesting food or wondering if my food was “acceptable” in the blogging world. I eat a lot of repetitive meals and don’t have a passion for cooking like many other food bloggers. In other words, I would bore you all to tears if I blogged with more of a focus on food. I’m happy with how I eat and don’t want to take the chance of effecting that negatively.

With all of that said, I do not hide my food. I would do a play by play of my eats post without hesitation. And heck, right now I feel I post more of the meals I eat that aren’t the healthiest. I have no shame. I have a chicken salad sandwich on the blog tonight, some leftover Halloween candy on the blog yesterday, and a plethora of dinners out mentioned here. I even had an entire post dedicated to my “confession” of visiting a McDonald’s earlier in the pregnancy because I craved it and refused to feel embarrassed.

I do enjoy sharing meal ideas I feel worth mentioning or great new recipes I try. I also love sharing fun meals out as part of our weekend activities. In the future, I will likely have more to say about my food and will openly discuss my dietary choices when working to lose weight after pregnancy. Basically, I share food when it fits into topics I blog about. I will never share everything I eat, every post. I’m cool with that because that means I am being true to myself and my blog. 🙂 That is always a good thing, no embarrassment needed.

• How do you handle posting food on your blog?
• If you have something you wish to ask, CLICK HERE to do so anonymously. Or post a question in the comments.
• Check out my girl Jenn’s blog. She is a wellness coach and is giving away TEN FREE four week coaching sessions right now. All you need to do is comment so please CLICK!

It’s so true that venting can help relieve tension and help you move on in better spirits. After my post earlier today, I immediately felt better and truthfully found humor in it all. Then, things picked up quite nicely.

I got to enjoy my missing cup of coffee during M’s afternoon nap, while relaxing on the couch.

I managed to do all the dishes and finish laundry. Then, fit in a good sweat session with some TurboKick. And with my little fitness mascot. 

All in all, the day ended up pretty good. Even with the dreaded grocery shopping involved. You know what I realized though? I don’t think its the act of grocery shopping that bothers me. The whole act of trying to remember the reusable bags, driving to the store, and lugging a kid in and out is not what turns me off from this errand. I dread the preparation the most. The list making and meal planning.

You know how people experience the Sunday blues when faced with going back to work the next day? I do not exaggerate when I say I face those blues  thanks to having to come up with a grocery list. Every Sunday night the same drama ensues.

Me: What do you want for dinners this week?
Peter: I don’t know. Whatever.
Me: How about this?
Peter: No…I don’t like that much. How about this?
Me: We just had that this week.
Peter: Oh, yea.
Me: *rack my brain and scramble to come up with something*

This process usually leaves me with meals that, while tasty, lack creativity and rotate out fairly regularly. This week’s meals look like this:

Tonight we had brown rice, assorted roasted veggies, and Great Northern beans.

Tue: tacos with beans, local/organic/grassfed beef, corn, & other fixings
Wed: dinner at church with our small groups
Thur: chicken + veggie eggrolls (like Trader Joes but different brand…aka ingredients I know), broccoli
Fri: at home pizza night
Sat: dinner out after corn maze/pumpkin patch
Sun: Gina’s Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili

When making a meal plan, I always keep in mind our schedule for the week, meals that have an easier preparation, and what types of things we usually feel like on certain nights. For example, I tutor on Thursday night this week, so I need something Peter can get together easily. On Fridays we never feel like cooking a full meal, so pizza tends to show up. Sundays tend to leave us craving something simple and lighter after a dinner out on Saturday. I know how to make a meal plan that suits us. However, I wish our meal plans had more variety in them from week to week. 

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I do find meal planning beneficial for many reasons. It helps us stick to a food budget. It motivates us to prepare healthier meals. If I waited until dinner time each day to decide what I felt like preparing, I would likely end up eating pizza or cereal every night because I would not want to cook. Meal planning also fits my schedule better because I don’t have to run to the store numerous times each week. I love what meal planning does for us, but I hate not ever knowing what to make and facing that dilemma each and every week.

So, how do you manage it? Do you plan out your meals and do one big shop each week? Or do you go day by day? How do you incorporate variety in the dinners you make?  Any great, easy dinners you want to share? And any other meal planning tips you have? Spill your list making and meal planning habits in the comments section. I want to hear them!