New Lite N Easy summer menus are out today.. Yays!

Breakfast – Fruit n’ Bran Cereal with milk

Lunch – Roast Chicken Tender with Baby Leaf Salad and Mayonnaise in a Wrap

Yes that is tomato – I can eat it sometimes, just not every day. This was so fresh and tasty, I really loved it.

Afternoon Snacks – Spiced Fruit Cookies – Spinach & Feta Muffin – Tropical Crush

Love these spiced fruit cookies, they are awesome. Would love the recipe so I can take them to work for everyone.

It was while I was eating the above that the other half arrived home and informed me we had been invited out to dinner. It turns out this was an interesting exercise, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat the size meal that would be given to me. I know now after 10 days of Lite N Easy that portion sizing is important and key to everything.So I chose a starter sized calamari with salad.

I got through the majority of the calamari, and some of the salad. And I felt like I was going to burst afterwards. :(

Breakfast – Bacon and Egg Breakfast Roll with Tomato Sauce

Not just any tomato sauce, peoples, Beerenberg tomato sauce! Had this much later than usual – around 10pm. I used coconut oil to coat the egg ring and a non stick pan so didn’t need any oil under it when frying the egg. It turned out very well.

Missed out on – Kiwifruit

Might be a bit late updating tomorrow, got to work a late shift. :(

Lite N Easy Wrap Up Post –

Make sure to drop in and read it – this post contains my overall thoughts on Lite N Easy and also links to all the daily posts. You can find the wrap up post by clicking here.

So as you guys know, I am trying the Lite N Easy 1500 calorie plan for 7 days, then I will be switching to the Lite N Easy 1200 calorie plan for 7 days, and I’m blogging it all..

I wanted to add in a word about cereal. If you take the scales and weigh out a recommended serving of cereal as per the side of the packet it will be somewhere around 40-45grams of cereal. I did that a long time ago and as it turns out that is a perfect amount of cereal for my breakfast frightened stomach.

Some days on Lite N Easy (like today) you get a little bag of cereal and when I put it in the bowl it is exactly the right amount. So far I have had two different cereals – the berry bites and todays option – Fruit n’ Bran Cereal. Both of these cereals I have liked which surprises me.

So because there are days where you do not get a small cereal bag I wanted to find one of the same cereals to have a small bowl of. I already had Uncle Tobys Antioxidants which I have been using when necessary to make sure I get me a small bowl of something before I leave home for the day. And yesterday at the supermarket I found this – which is a perfect match for the Fruit N Bran cereal.

Lite N Easy Wrap Up Post –

Make sure to drop in and read it – this post contains my overall thoughts on Lite N Easy and also links to all the daily posts. You can find the wrap up post by clicking here.

Lunch – Roast Chicken Tender with Tomato and Fruit Chutney on a Round Roll.

I love these chicken tenders on a roll. The frozen bread roll goes in the microwave for 30 seconds. The chicken tender is frozen and in a plastic packet. You cut off one corner and that goes in for 50 seconds.

I am still trying to find appropriate substitutes for tomato when at work (you cant be cutting up an avocado there or any complicated type of things, this is probably as complex as it can get, I only have 10 minutes!) – when at home I am thinking beetroot might work or maybe a pineapple thin. For something this small probably avocado is a bit of overkill and I don’t like to cut one up and not use it all.

Afternoon Snacks – Apricots & Pears – Popcorn – Sultana Tea Cake

The popcorn is a little unusual. It seems to have something sweet and yet salty on it. I like it though I find it is way too much and takes ages to eat. That is a very large bowl, by the way.

The pears still have the skin on, I am surprised to find I like that, too.

I had the Sultana Tea Cake on arriving home from the gym. It goes in the microwave for 30 seconds. It was *amazing*.

Dinner – Homestyle Savory Mince

6.5 mins in the microwave. It does not look very tasty – it was quite tasty but I feel like it was missing something. Maybe red wine? Black pepper? I would like it a little more spicy – will try the Chili Con Carne next time.

Breakfast – Baked Beans, Ham and melted Cheese on a toasted Multigrain Muffin –

Minus ham. I’m not a big fan. :)

Multigrain Muffins are an awesome thing. I don’t know how long I’ll be doing the Lite N Easy for but one thing I do know is that muffins will be something I continue to eat afterwards. They are the ultimate convenience food yet still healthy – easily frozen – quick to defrost – you can put anything you like on top of them.

One of the first ones I would try would be toasted multigrain muffin, avocado, smoked salmon, cream cheese.

With that said, it is not easy to put baked beans on top of them – and keep them there.

Missed out on – Orange – not enough hours in the day to eat all this food! I should have added it to my drink.. like this Mineral Water with Orange.

Gym Visit –

I’m thinking about going as many days as possible this week – I am pretty sure I won’t make it on Tuesday as I’m on a late shift, but am hoping to make it every other day.

The trouble with the gym is – if I finish work at 6, go home and get changed, get to the gym by 6:30, that is kind of peak time there. A lot of people go between 5-7. It annoys me when it is busy because people, in general, suck. There is a core of weightlifting muscleheads who bang the weights around and generally be all noisy, there is a bizarre woman who is a total fruit cake whose very presence irrits me, there are these two chicks who walk on the treadmills and talk at the top of their lungs.. I could go on.

To combat this I use my iphone and headphones. All the machines have teevees in them but you can’t control what is going to come to you as a surprise and the music channel these days.. egads. I like my own music.

Saturday and Sunday are the best most peaceful days, so I always like to make sure I go on those days.

Lite N Easy Wrap Up Post –

Make sure to drop in and read it – this post contains my overall thoughts on Lite N Easy and also links to all the daily posts. You can find the wrap up post by clicking here.

Why: I work shift work now, sometimes mid-day to 6pm, sometimes 6pm to midnight, sometimes 11am to 5pm, it can be all over the place or it can be midday to 6 for 5 shifts of the week. So I found myself getting out of the habit of eating meals regularly and just having one big dinner meal and then snacking until bedtime – if I could stay awake after the one big meal..

How: A friend at work was doing Lite N Easy and it looked tasty so I thought I’d give it a try.

Where: The food comes to you magically as a surprise after you order it online at Lite N Easy. More on that when I get the delivery next Friday, I’ll take some pics of how it turns up. You can choose between two options for breakfast and lunch and this works on a 4 week rotation so it does not get boring, and you can pick from over 50 different dinners.

An oddity: I’m not great with breakfast. My stomach is slow to wake up. The most it wants for breakfast is a small bowl of cereal. Plus, I dont have the time in the morning to make eggs or toast or anything fancy. About 3 hours after I rise, it is ok with lunch. I try to have dinner sometime between 6-7pm. Then I have breakfast around 9pm. I go to bed somewhere between midnight-2am, depending on what time my shift ended and what time I have to work the next day.

Also, I am having a bad allergic reaction to tomatoes, so I’m substituting them out where I can. They get fed to the chooks which makes them extremely happy..

$$$: 153AUD for all meals for 7 days and delivery.

Lunch – BBQ Chicken Salad with Crispy Noodles and Sesame Soy Dressing

This salad is huge, I had trouble fitting it all in, had to put it aside for a while.

Afternoon snacks – Wafer crisps and cheese, Mandarin, Double Chocolate Cake

I forgot to take the double chocolate cake with me to work, so I just grazed on the cheese, crisps and mandarin.

Dinner – Seafood Marinara

It was ok but I wouldn’t order this again. With the dinners it is a matter of personal taste what you like and it is a bit of trial and error – the majority of things I have eaten so far I have liked and one of them was outstanding (so much so I ordered 3 of them for next week lol).

Breakfast – Two Eggs, melted Cheese and Tomato on a toasted Multigrain Muffin

I replaced the tomato with avocado, just enough to spread on the muffin. I poached the eggs – you can pretty much cook it however you want. The muffin is frozen, so I put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, then into the toaster to crispy it up, then I put avocado and cheese on top, then put that under the griller for 4 mins, and on top of that the poached egg. It arrives like this –

Dessert – Double Chocolate Cake

This was meant to be an afternoon thing, but I forgot to take it, so I had it as a happy dessert. I’ve kinda been missing dessert this past week not because I was hungry but because I was in the habit of eating something sweet after dinner – now I am having a second savory with the breakfast instead.

Missed out on – Pear Fruit Cup – never found the time to eat this today.

Overall Thoughts So Far

I’ve found that the 1500 calorie menu that I have been ordering has way too much food for me, so for next week I have ordered the 1200 calorie menu.

While some people might not enjoy knowing today what they’ll be eating next Friday, I do like that aspect of it. Here is my weekly calender of meals –

I like the meals a lot and some of the snacks are incredible. They have fishermans pie yay you can’t find that in the supermarket anymore.

The one downside is that they do not seem to use much breast chicken – it is more thigh/tenders etc, and I’m not the biggest fan of that.

I certainly have not been hungry at all since starting Lite N Easy 8 days ago. But that is not the best part – the best part is because of my lack of eating previously and eating convenient foods or junk or whatever I felt like.. I had not realised how much this was affecting me overall. Over the past week, I have found that my sleep has improved, that I go to sleep easier and wake up easier. I also have a lot more energy, which means an exercise bonus!

Bonus Gym Visit –

40 minutes on the elliptical. I love that thing. I’m eventually going to get one for home. Time for bed – got an early start tomorrow.

Lite N Easy Wrap Up Post –

Make sure to drop in and read it – this post contains my overall thoughts on Lite N Easy and also links to all the daily posts. You can find the wrap up post by clicking here.

I’m going to be blogging a bit about food over the next couple of weeks – I’ve been trying Lite N Easy and today is the first day of the second week. When looking to check out what kind of food is offered I didn’t find too much on the web, so I thought I’d do a daily wrap up of what is provided.

Sorry if you feel a bit bombarded, I will try to keep it to just the one post each day, but they will be long and full of photos..

First post coming up shortly!