Packing My Cooler!
Igloo...Your New Purse was a huge hit blog for me. I think it might be the blog that put me on the fat loss map with you guys. Over in the Phit-N-Phat forums (subscribers only area) we had a lot of newbies this week and a couple of questions that came up often is what do you put in your cooler? What are good snacks to carry with me?
Let's start with the basics in a cooler:
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Protein Bar(s) - they travel easy and you can keep them in there for in a pinch moments. I like South Beach Diet bars, Snicker Low Carb Marathon Bars, Detour Bars, and Pure Protein Bars.
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Protein Shake(s) - You can keep a good protein powder with scoop in your cooler in a ziploc bag for quick refuel. Couple it with a piece of fruit and you have a perfect after workout refuel. You can also buy pre-mades like EAS Carb Control (eat with fruit) or Myoplex Light (no fruit needed).
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Splenda - OK. I have a love affair with the stuff and many places don't have it. When I need coffee or hot tea I always have my Splenda. Sometimes I'm not really hungry but a good to-go cup of tea or coffee with a little Splenda will hold me until the next meal period.
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Napkins, plastic ware - I have one of those pop-up square baskets (9.99 at Target) in my trunk. It's got napkins, plastic ware, plastic bowls, wet wipes, and protein shakers in it. I also keep a few things my son needs in emergencies (peanut butter crackers, soy crips bags, prepacked almonds or nuts, raisins, etc. Stuff that can keep in the trunk without heat or cold worries.)
Now, we need to cover the things you need to pack on a daily basis:
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Wraps or stuffed pitas. I like La Tortilla Wraps, Flat Outs, and Toufyon (sp?) Low Carb Pitas. These are easy to eat and delicious. I stuff them with:
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Grilled chicken, spinach, onion, banana peppers, and lite Miracle Whip
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Thai Tuna with cottage cheese and lettuce
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banana and peanut butter
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Egg or chicken salad with lettuce and red peppers
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Veggies like peppers, carrot sticks, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes, brocolli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas
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Fruits like apples, orange slices, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, bananas
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Dinners like chicken and brown rice with a lite italian dressing for flavor, sirloin tips on a bed of lettuce and a little blue cheese (I put mine in ziploc throw away containers)
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Pre-portioned Ziploc snack sized bags of Wasa Crackers, Wheat Thins, Babybel Cheese, Laughing Cow wedges, cheese sticks, nuts, combination of Fiber One, almonds, and raisens (for energy pre-workout)
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Yogurts
To be a successful cooler girl, the only real trick or magic to it is to have a major food prep day each week, like Sunday. Get everything cleaned, chopped, cooked, and packaged for the week. Then each night or before you go to work, check your weekly meal plan and throw it all in the cooler. You'll never have an excuse to eat poorly if you have your food with you. And, don't forget ice packs. You need good ice packs to keep things cold and fresh.
I hope this helps you with ideas on how to pack and how to eat better than you ever have!!! To make this a blog that will help many, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR OWN COMMENTS, HINTS, AND TIPS!
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Workout Journal:Chest Day (today is shoulders)
5x10-12 25-30lbs of DB Incline Presses - we did some partials in sets 4 and 5
4x8-10 55lbs of barbell flat bench presses - all the way to chest and needed a bit of assistance in the stick on the last set
3x8-10 12lbs flat bench flies - short range of wide motion and it killed me!!!
2.5 mile run afterward
Food Journal for today:
B - Snicker Marathon Bar upon waking at 5am
B2 - Fiber One and milk
S post workout - PP shake with Diet V8
L - Beef and broc with cantaloupe
S - protein bar
S - apple before evening cardio (ez cardio)
D - 2 eggs, steamed mixed veggies, yogurt
S - protein shake with fruit (I have 8 miles in the a.m. so I'll take the extra carbs)