The way I prepare, though, is to look at my week’s schedule and know what I will eat. For instance, I’m going to a catered dinner on Friday so I called ahead to find out what the menu will be. I know I will eat low-sugar oatmeal that morning and a salad at lunch to counter balance the meal (which isn’t too bad). I figure I will use 3-5 weekly points on that day.

Through it all, I remember that I can only do the best I can do. If I eat a frozen meal for lunch, that’s okay. Despite the processing, it’s better than taking my chances with the cafeteria across the street where I could get roped into a higher-point meal. And would spend more. I try to have veggies at every meal, but don’t beat myself up if sometimes it doesn’t work that way. My life has to be about all the parts, not just eating, so I have to make everything fit in and work together the best way it can.

I feel better when I have a plan. I have always been a planner I just make better choices now.

Another way I prepare is to leave healthy snacks/backup lunches in the cupboards and freezer in the breakroom at work. Then when the munchies strike or I am dying to eat out for lunch, I have an on hand back up no matter how rushed I was that morning!

We plan out our meals and shop accordingly. We don’t own a microwave either, so a lot of prep work is needed. Anything that takes more than 15 minutes to cook, we do the day before. That includes staples like grilled chicken and spaghetti squash (or any other veg we have to cook a while) and rice. We have time during the day to cut up any vegetables we might need to we can toss them in a pan to reheat. We bought a chest freezer to store things, though we haven’t been that good about cooking meals ahead. But we shop in bulk at Costco once a month, so all our meats, breads, well, anything, goes in there. I’ve started buying certain frozen vegetables (broccoli and green beans and edamame) so I have a quick side to any dish.

My biggest problem is that we are both in such a food rut. We’re both doing WW, and we’re running out of ideas! He used to be a chef, but only knows how to cook with lots of fat. It’s been challenging coming up with new recipes that we both will agree on. When that happens, we start eating out, and while we make good choices most of the time, it’s still much higher in points and cost than cooking at home.

I’ve been trying to do better this year, egged on my a New Year’s Resolution. Your recipes help. A couple of weeks ago, I made a pot of the sweet stuffed bell pepper soup, and it was fantastic!

Why, oh why, is it so much easier to gain the weight than to lose it? It doesn’t take any planning at all to put on 20 pounds!

Before I went back to work after having my daughter, I compiled a cookbook of easy recipes (many low fat or healthy) that are a good starting point for ideas for weekday dinners, and I had it printed at Tastebook.com. That way either my husband or I can cook dinner.

I always always have healthy snacks on hand — it’s so much easier to resist temptation if you have an alternative that’s on plan. Greek yogurt, fruits and vegetables, and organic snack bars are all necessary items in my pantry. I always pack my lunch for work and I always pack extra snacks too so I can resist the siren call of Starbucks and their evil evil pastries.