meat, tomatoes, tons of veggies. No beans which is why I ate the pasta with it :)

thats true, but I had a few without thinking so I added the apple and called it my last meal.

How can i clean it up more? Do you have any suggestions?

Now this is something I have thought a lot about, and rethough again after I saw your post. I am incorperating a bit of John Berardi in my nutrition with this one. I agree with him about the 90% and 10% rule of eating. The 4 free meals is his way of incorperating some less than stellar meals into life. I have tried in the past to achieve perfection and it leads to a horrible binge. I have also tried to do the one free day thing and again, I just binge the whole day. By allowing myself to have 4 free meals out of the 42 I will be eating in a week, it allows me to have treats, and to know that those 4 meals are part of my plan so I dont say " oh well I screwed up might as well binge for the rest of the day" Psychologically its probably the best way for me to make BFL a way of life, instead of just a 12 week challenge that I will probably fail at. Now, I plan those free meals into my daily plan (well I have so far.. I have planned my meals for the rest of this week) and knowing where they are makes things easier for me. Also, while I am having free type of meals, I am still planning and have made sure that I am still sticking to appropriate portion sizes. Thats a big one for me, and a big one to ensure it works out well :)

I shall check that out, thank you

Does anyone have any ideas about more protien things I could make instead of meat all the time? I was reading the bodybuilding recipes at the top there, and I like the idea of the pumpkin muffins.. has anyone tried those?They would be a meal all in themselves right? like the muffins themself has the right blend of protien, carbs and fat? They would be good for on the go times :)

Here's a list of protein sources and portion sizes borrowed from BFL for Women :) :

Eggs, Cheese, and Dairy

Cheese, light or fat free = 2 oz
Yogurt, low fat and sugar free = 8 oz
Egg whites = 4
Eggbeaters = ½ cup
Cottage cheese, low-fat = ½ cup

Fish

Any fish or shellfish = 4 oz

Meat or Poultry

Skinless chicken or turkey = 3 – 4 oz
Lean beef or pork = 3 – 4 oz
Lean deli meat = 3 - 4 oz

Meat Substitutes

Soy chicken patty = 1
Soy burger = 1
Soy hot dog = 1
Soy cheese = 2 oz
Soy milk = 8 oz
Soy nuts = 1/3 – ½ cup
Tofu = 4 oz

Out of my five meals each day, I tend to have one protein shake, one egg/egg white meal, and one cottage cheese meal. The other two are usually meat, fish, or chicken.

Mel's muffins and protein bars are great for 'on the go' - they beat commercial bars hands down. :D

I was also going to mention the free meal problem, but Vanessa if it works for you and you are in portion control, go for it... I take glutamine sporadically specially if I've had a tough workout and I know I'm going to be sore and it helps, I think :lol:... One thing I have noticed since I have been taking it, even sporadically, is that I haven't had a cold in at least 3 winters now... When I do feel some sniffle coming on or if someone in the family is not feeling well, I will take glutamine and vitamin C several times/day for a couple of days....

hrbabe, just want to thank you for the compliments on my photo and that you can see a difference in my face. That is especially encouraging right now since no matter WHAT I do I can't lose any weight. :) But I will keep right on going!!!! Blessings to you.

I eat one of the muffins almost everyday for meal #4 because it's portable, isn't messy, and I'm always working at that time. I bake one or two batches of the pumpkin or chocolate pumpkin almost every Sunday.

It sounds like you've really thought out your approach to the free meals. As long as you plan like that, you should be fine. My concern was that too often, I've seen people rationalize a free meal "on-the fly", then another, and another...you get the picture! Congratulations on thinking about this in the longterm. John Berardi's ideas about nutrition are much more geared to lifestyle rather than a 12 week challenge. The problem with 12 week challenges is that they end- like diets. If you go into it thinking that it has an end, you'll also end up saying goodbye to your results after a while.

So congratulations on a great start to the rest of your life- not the next 84 days :D

Mel

Mel - the muffins you mention.. are they the ones in the bodybuilding recipes thread? do you still follow that recipe? What is the recipe for the chocolate pumpkin muffins?

muffins
 

Here ya go- I just made them yesterday!

Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup dry old-fashioned oatmeal, ground to flour in a blender or food processor
4 scoops chocolate protein powder (I use HDT Problend 55 Alpine Vanilla:27 g. protein and 135 calories per scoop and add 1 tbs.unsweetened cocoa)
2 teaspoons Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 T cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
************************
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
4 egg whites
1/2 cup natural applesauce
1 t vanilla
1/4 c Splenda
1/4 c chopped walnuts

Procedure

Mix dry ingredients and wet separately. Add wet to dry stuff, mix up. spoon into muffin tin that has been sprayed with Pam.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes...or less, I like them browned on top.
I wrap each and freeze in a freezer bag.
Make 12 sm. Muffins or 6 oversized
Nutritional Information:
For the whole batch: Per 1 muffin (12 total):
Fat: 53g Fat: 4.5 g
Calories: 1662 Calories: 138
Protein: 174g Protein: 14.5 g
Carbohydrates: 121 Carbohydrates: 10.1

Cool! Ill have to try that. They are a complete meal?

What about the pumpkin ones in the bodybuilding recipes? Are they a complete meal too?