Food For Thought

Let me first say, I'm not a great cook. I make basic dishes.  In college, I lived off of cereal, turkey sandwiches, Sunchips, frozen chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, and Lean Cuisine meals. Surprisingly enough, it was one of the "skinnier" points in my life. Note I did not say healthier. Now that I am married, however, I am supposed to be more domestic. Let me tell you how that goes:

• Whomever is home first from work (Mike and I both have funky hours) is in charge of dinner.  Usually I screw around at work so he gets home before I do.
• When I do have to suck it up and make dinner, I usually brown some venison or bake chicken. I pair said protein with something green (beans or salad). Throw that stuff on a plate and voila! Dinner is served! Thirty minutes later, Mike is complaining he's hungry and asks to go get ice cream. We then go get ice cream.
• If Mike makes dinner, we usually have chicken, venison, or steak paired with a complex carbohydrate and vegetable. The food is loaded with flavor and tastes amazing! Mike piles my plate high, so usually I pass off my leftovers to him.

Needless to say, Mike is a better cook than I am. I'm ok with this fact, which is why I usually  let him cook. 

The rest of my meals usually go as followed:

• Pre-workout shake before exercising around 5:15am
• Protein shake after working out at 6:15am
• One egg and one egg white scrambled with hot sauce, toast, banana at 7:15am -or- protein bar and banana if I'm running late at 7:40am
• Yogurt or protein bar around 10am
• Leftovers if Mike made dinner -or- two whole eggs with two pieces of bread and hot sauce anytime between 12:15-1:15pm
• String cheese and almonds around 3pm
• Dinner is usually around 6pm or 7:30pm if it's my late night

I fully admit that I do not get enough fruits and vegetables in my diet. In fact, I'm probably way under my calorie count for the day! But hey, this is my accountability to work harder at eating better, right?! I have downloaded the MyFitnessPal app on my phone, in hopes that I can keep a better record of what I am eating. I will also be using it to ensure I drink enough water throughout the day. With my job, it's often hard to take water breaks, so I've been trying to be better.

I also have a problem of getting into a rut with not knowing what to cook. We are on a very tight budget, which makes affording all of the healthy, yummy stuff more difficult. (Side note: we have one grocery store in our town, which lacks variety. The prices are also super inflated since it is a monopoly. Typically, we stock up when we go to larger towns, however produce never lasts long enough to stock up the way we wish we could.) We planted a small garden this summer, which helped slightly. We are hoping to extend it next year, that way we can have healthier items around the house without breaking our bank. 

What are your biggest obstacles when it comes to cooking and nutrition? I would love to know if others go through the same thing as me!