A balanced meal

I haven't been eating very well lately. I have breakfast at 9am, or later, and then I have very random lunches. Some days I'll have leftovers at 2pm, or apple pie at noon, or just snack from 11am on, hoping to finally eat enough to constitute lunch by 3pm. I'm sure I'm taking in more calories than if I just sat down and ate. Here's the problem. During breakfast time Kara's in her high chair for a good 20 minutes, so I have to make the most of it. I usually blow dry my hair or do dishes, two things I don't like her to help with. Then it's pretty late by the time I eat, and I don't want to eat too much, so I end up hungry. I'm always hungrier on the days I don't exercise first thing, which is weird. And if I exercise late, after Hayden gets on the school bus, I'm showering afterwards and I don't eat lunch in time.

I have more problems with the lunchtime meal. I'm trying not to eat much meat, and I'm also trying to cut back on saturated fat in things like cheese and eggs. So my "old" routine of a quesadilla, cracker and cheese plate, or a sandwich (egg salad -- yum!) is out. Kyle usually takes the leftovers, if there are any, so that's not really an option either, unless I plan on more leftovers. I know I should do something like make a pot of healthy soup at the beginning of the week, but I'm just not that together. So I usually end up doing what I did today. I eat some of my homemade bread and some fruit. Today the bread was warm and perfect and I had three slices. Add in some apples and clementine sections and you have a balanced meal. Kind of. What do you eat for lunch?

I am confessing my eating sins here in an effort to be better. Starting next week I'm going to keep a food journal for two weeks, and I'm going to eat regular breakfasts and lunches. I'm going to make some homemade granola, more breakfast cookies, and get some pita and hummus and other vegetarian options for lunches. I'm going to have regular snacks too, things like fruits and veggies, nuts, and yogurt. And I'm going to be more careful about my 1-2 sodas a week rule. I've been cheating a bit! And I'm not going to eat 6 toll house cookie bars in one day. Maybe 6 gingerbread cookies, but not 6 toll house cookie bars. Ha!

Amy