100 Days of Eating at Home Challenge - Update!

Today is day 82 of the 100 Days of Eating at Home Challenge!  How are you doing?  I have found that making my meal plans more realistic assists with sticking to my meal plan most days.  I still have problems with planning ahead and taking food with me to work or if I'm going to be away from home, but I'm still improving.

I think the best news is that I am currently 31.6 pounds lighter than I was in July 2011!!  I'm still loosing slow and steady, which I am excited about.  Now, I have the "problem" of finding pants that fit me correctly.  I honestly do not have one pair of jeans that I have worn in the past couple of weeks that I thought were actually comfortable and fitting me correctly.  SAD.

I think the worst news is that I still drink commercial HFCS soda everyday.  Addicted?  Absolutely.  It seems to be less, but I guess I should be proud of myself for the times I choose water over the pepsi.  Baby steps...

Other changes:  With the rapidly increasing food prices in the country right now, I increased my food budget to $200 a month instead of $150.  I think that is more realistic, especially when I'm buying milk and eggs from a farm and possibly my chicken (saving my pennies for a spring chicken order!).

I'd love to hear how you are doing with eating at home.  18 days to go!  Will you make it?

100 Days of Eating at Home: Day 30 Update

Eating ALL my meals at home or making them at home has proven more difficult than I originally predicted!  So, I started sort of slow.  The first week, I tried to eat 2 out of 3 meals at home, and I've been scaling down from there.  So far, it's going well this week.  I did forget my lunch at home today (doh!), so I went to Crazy Bowls and Wraps for a chicken-veggie-rice wrap for lunch.

I think I have learned that meal planning and taking the time to prep food for my work week on the weekend to be the most important things.  I am trying to make myself stick to the plan instead of making an impulsive, emotional choice of food during the day.  This is getting better!  I am finding it comforting that I have already decided what I will eat each day, and it's lowering my stress a little bit. :)

I also just weighed myself last week.  Honestly, I hadn't weighed myself since mid-July last year!  So, I was surprised to see I had lost 20 pounds!  And, since then, I have lost 6 more pounds!  Am I exercising regularly?  Uh, no.  So I'm going to just continue what I'm doing until I plateau, then add more exercise into the routine.  I have a goal to lose a total of 50 pounds by the 1 year mark in July.  It's an ambitious goal, but I'm sure I can do it if I try!

How is your meal planning and eating at home going?  What is the hardest part?