Week 21 begins now! I am wondering at what point I need to start using numbers in my post titles instead of spelling them out. Maybe when I get into the hundreds? Anyway.

Pounds lost: 38.2

% to super goal: 31.32

Still doing the damn thing!

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The Prologue

Before I get into the rest of the post, you might note that I’m pretty much the same as I was last week. While a little disappointing, I can’t hate it too much, because the reason is I traveled for work to Nashville (woot!) and spent some time with my workmates. There were a few drinks, eating out every night, and…this happened. I mean, seriously. Have you ever seen anything so decadent in your life?

Yes. It is a Chocolate Lovers Pinata. That is homemade whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Yes, it breaks (with a STICK!). Yes, it is FILLED with churros and some delicious sugary chocolate-filled pastries. I consoled myself with the fact that it also had several strawberries and pineapples. Of which I partook with great abandon. If you’re ever in Brentwood, Tennessee, and want to check out Uncle Julio’s for their AMAZING pinata, well, I certainly can’t blame you.

Anyway, I did yoga this morning and at least watched a bunch of cardio yoga workout videos, so that counts, right?

OK, enough of the chocolatey goodness. On with the show!

The Show

Last week I promised that I’d talk about lunch boxes and Bubbas! I will, but first I wanted to let you know that I finally finished the review of the Noom program that I promised as well. It’s on my Coffee, Grit, and Inspiration blog, and you can find the review here!

The Bubba Envy

I’ll start with the Bubba, since it’s relatively straightforward. I had to measure the amount of water it holds, and I’m happy to report that it’s the 48 oz size. Double-insulated walls, and it doesn’t sweat that I’ve noticed! I’ve only used it for cold drinks, though. I am not sure what would happen with a hot drink.

What I love about it is that it comes with a BPA-free silicone straw. While this doesn’t help to break up the ice, it’s large and it’s top-rack dishwasher safe, and it works its way down past the ice to where the actual water is. I fill this up at least once, maybe twice a day if I’m extra thirsty. You can get it on Amazon for about $15 as of 9/15/19.

It’s got a spill proof lid (those that know me know I have tested this out. Multiple times. Not always on purpose). You can drink from the lid directly, or from the straw! I’ve even used it traveling, just put the lid on and tuck it in my supersize bag and go!

The Lunchboxes (2N Style)

OK so, lunch boxes.

If you recall, I was having trouble because I was hungry in the evenings and eating a lot for dinner and evening snacks, and also eating too late in the day. At the same time, I was having very light lunches (if at all) so my coach and I thought perhaps if I ate more lunch it would help. So I needed to figure out something where I could eat more for lunch to see if that would stop me from being so hungry in the evenings.

I also needed to find something that was easy and quick to grab during the week. I work from home. While this is a blessing, it’s also not always sunshine and roses. My day is usually packed with meetings from the time I start at 8 am until the time I finally quit for the day at 4 or 5pm. It’s usually 1 or 2 in the afternoon before I even think about lunch, and then usually it’s just a fleeting wish before I get sucked into the next task or meeting. 

So I had a couple changes to make!

First, I added some alarms and blocked off time on my calendar to at least go grab lunch and eat it. I knew I wouldn’t always be able to leave my desk to eat, but I at least needed the time to go get something so that I could then eat it.

Next I Pinterested, of course, and found a bunch of make-ahead meal prep ideas for lunch. I won’t lie, most of them I wasn’t into – like tofu and weird sounding pudding and veggies that didn’t sound good. Then I remembered the protein boxes I got at Starbucks sometimes, with half a PB&J sandwich, a string cheese, apple slices, chocolate covered raisins and carrots! I decided that I’d make my own of these. 

Here’s what I used:

• Reusable Bento Boxes 
• 2oz condiment cups (not shown in the picture above)
• The Great Protein whole grain bread
• Deli sliced ham 
• Deli sliced Swiss
• Light Miracle Whip
• Cauliflower/Oranges/Celery Slices
• Frigo String Cheese
• Ranch Dip (not shown in the picture above)

You can make whatever sandwiches you want, and any fruit/veggies you want, obviously. The ones I made with ham and Swiss were about 190 calories for ½ sandwich. All of the items in my lunch boxes came to about 440 calories, so it was a fairly healthy lunch and I found it kept me full to where I didn’t need as much for dinner.

It only took like 20 mins to make the boxes for a week. I just made six – three sandwiches cut in half, then filled each box with a string cheese, celery sticks, orange slices or cauliflower. I also included a serving of my favorite ranch dip (Litehouse Homestyle Ranch dip, if you’re burning with curiosity). This is definitely a red food (if you don’t know what that is, read my Noom review!) but so delicious, and I found the condiment cup helped me limit my intake of it to just one serving instead of eating straight out of the container!

As a bonus, you can wash and reuse the bento boxes. There’s probably a reusable condiment cup option as well, but I was rushed for time and needed something easy.

Other Lunchbox Options

For those that want to get adventuresome, I created a Pinterest board of additional lunchbox ideas! I found some super yummy ideas in there, so feel free to check it out!

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