my back to school plan (and some unflattering self-portraits)

I'm doing a three-in-one kind of post, since it's been a while since my last post and I have three things that I want to talk about.
The first thing is that I ate a yummy dinner tonight that I'd like to share with you guys. 

It may not look pretty, but this meal was great!

ingredients: brown rice, lentils (from dried), peas (canned, no salt added), and tomatoes (canned, with celery and green peppers), EVOO, salt

directions: Cook the rice and lentils according to instructions.  I used 1/2 cup dried lentils and 2 cups of cooked brown rice.  Combine the lentils and rice together.  Add the peas (about a cup) and tomatoes (entire can) and stir up.  Add a tablespoon or less of EVOO (I  used two teaspoons).  Salt to taste.  This recipe probably will be about 4 or 5 servings.

Secondly, I'd like to show some reverse-progress pictures.  Or "here's what I look like with some holiday weight on, squeezing into some new size 14's that would have fit perfectly only a couple of months ago" pictures.

And I want to make this perfectly clear:  I'm not upset with myself about this gain.  I had a LOT going on in my life, and eating right and exercise both took a backseat to those things.  But I wanted to be honest with you guys.  I haven't been weighing myself, but the last time I weighed in I was about 156 and I have not gotten any bigger since then, so I assume that I'm still around there.

I adjusted the saturation on Picnik!  Now it's "art".

neck... not too shabby.

ummm... I need to do some work on the ol' triceps.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, here's what I'm doing to get back down to a more comfortable size, and I'm calling it My Spring Semester 2012 Plan (clever, I know):

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Breakfast- Luna or Lara Bar + piece of fruit
Snack (if hungry)- fruit or nuts
Lunch- sandwich, veggies, pretzels, fruit
Exercise- gym class
Snack (if hungry)- veggies, redvines, yogurt, fruit, OR nuts
Dinner- something cooked that includes whole grains, veggies, and healthy fats
Snack (if hungry)- popcorn, pretzels, yogurt, fruit, nuts, cookies, ice cream, OR veggies
Before bed- tea

Tuesday, Thursday

Breakfast- oatmeal with peanut butter and piece of fruit OR cold cereal with piece of fruit
The rest of the day- just like MWF

Saturday, Sunday

INTUITIVE EATING
Exercise- walks, cardio at home, or DOR

Random Rules for every day-

Never buy chips at grocery store, can only eat chips when out .  Substitute with pretzels, baked potato, popcorn, etc. This is because chips are a trigger food for me to binge on, but for whatever reason, those other foods are not.

Exercise at least 6 days a week.  2 days a week do cycle class, 1 day a week do yoga class, other days mix it up.

No calorie counting unless I feel like I'm gaining weight; just go with hunger signals and follow the basic plan as outlined above.

And that's the plan!  :-)

This loose(ish) plan is to help me stay focused without being obsessive.  All the foods listed on Monday through Friday are favorite foods of mine, and the calorie count will be anywhere from 1200 to 1800, depending on which options I choose. 

I won't be tracking calories or PointsPlus, and will be listening to my hunger signals 100%, every day at every meal and snack. 

I will be switching up my exercise routine, which will probably help me out quite a bit.  I'm finally going to be taking advantage of my "free" membership to the University of Memphis gym and will be taking cool classes like kickboxing, spinning, zumba, and yoga. 

I'll take monthly progress pictures of the same three areas, and hope to fit comfortably into those way-too-tight jeans by the end of the semester, which is May 5th. 

Okay, that's it for now!  I hope to post again soon.  By the way, I'm back down to 199 followers, so if you want me to do a 200 followers giveaway, please tell a friend about my blog.  :-)

Do you follow an eating and/or exercise plan? 

How is it going for you?