(Sponsored Post) Fresh Diet FTW

So, last week was a doozy. My poor head was spinning twenty different ways–mostly good ways, but still.

A friend of mine who has successful lost weight and kept it off said that the two most important things she did were to learn about what proper portions actually look like and to remove as many opportunities as possible to make bad food decisions. She did this by figuring out what a good breakfast and lunch looked like and eating the same thing every day. (I’ll give you the breakfast recipe at the end–it’s delicious.)

She had a small-ish rotation of dinners, but breakfast and lunch rarely varied. This way she could basically dial it in, and not accidentally undo a week’s worth of diligence by eating loaded baked potato soup in a bread bowl for lunch just because it’s convenient. (And delicious.)  (God, doesn’t that sound good?)

This approach is very attractive, except that it would never work for me because I need my food to be both really tasty and really engaging. I like new things. I crave variety. Sometimes, I really can’t live without tofu and vegetables (true story, I love tofu) and sometimes, I want a steak. This is the genius of Fresh Diet; the menus are varied and the food is fun. I never felt deprived of anything. The breakfasts and snacks–two per day–were especially divine. It’s he closest I’ll ever come to having a personal chef.

In my week of meals–which I chose myself from their menus–I only had one thing I didn’t like. My aforementioned desire for variety typically leads me to order several more mistakes than that in a normal week. (Don’t get my friends started on this. I am frequently abused for my dining choices–olive oil ice cream sounded good! It wasn’t.)

I think a week of really intentional, healthy eating set me off on the right foot for the New Year. I learned a lot about the importance of portion size, satisfying breakfasts, and adorable snacks. Those three things are a winning combo, let me tell you.

(Speaking of adorable, have you ever lost an afternoon looking at the awesome things people put in bento boxes? Me neither.)

Fresh Diet is offering a deal right now for you lovely people–Start today for $29.99 per day and get 3 days free. The promo code is: singlejan3.

Now: before your fancy Fresh Diet food starts coming, make these. They taste like banana bread, freeze like a dream so you can heat them up at work, and are endlessly adaptable. EVERYONE likes them.

You can omit the banana, add apple sauce or peanut butter, put pistachios in it, flavor with dried cherries and almonds…you get the idea.

Baked Oatmeal (is such a boring name for these wonderful things)

Ingredients:

1 cup skim milk

2 cup uncooked quick oats

2 mashed-up bananas and/or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs or 1/4 cup egg substitute

Possible additions:

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup peanut butter

etc.

Instructions:

Fold everything together. Spray non-stick spray on muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes. Freeze them so you don’t accidentally eat them all at once.