I feel like I am finally getting into a rhythm that I don’t immediately want to change, which, if you know me, is honestly impressive.
My protein-first mornings are still working for me, so I am keeping them exactly where they are. I feel better when I get protein in early, and at this point.
I have enough evidence from my own life to know that when something consistently makes me feel better, perhaps I should simply keep doing it instead of abandoning it and rediscovering it three weeks later like it is groundbreaking information.
Not every Monday needs a new goal.
Sometimes the goal is to keep doing the things that are finally starting to feel normal.
The vlogging is staying too, and I am genuinely enjoying it. But I have noticed the way I want to make those videos is changing. I don’t want them to simply be a rundown of everything I ate that day because, well, you can literally see what I am eating. I don’t need to narrate a sandwich.
I want the food to be part of the story while I talk about what is actually happening in my weight-loss journey. What am I noticing? What am I struggling with? What is getting easier? What am I learning about myself now that I am years into this instead of standing at the beginning?
The food is still there.
The weight loss is still there.
I just want there to be a bigger story around it.
And honestly, I think that mirrors what I am trying to do in real life too. I don’t want my entire journey to become a constant analysis of every individual thing I eat. I want to be aware of my choices while still living a life that contains Pizza Hut on a Wednesday night.
Which brings me to the part of this week’s focus that is actually new.
We’re Eating Out Once
Last week, I wanted to limit fast food. This week, I want to make that more concrete.
Our goal is to eat out once.
We already know exactly when it is happening. Wednesday is Pizza Hut night, and I am very much looking forward to it. Instead of getting to Wednesday exhausted, deciding we don’t feel like cooking, ordering something, and then accidentally repeating that process several more times before Sunday, we planned the convenience into the week.
I don’t want eating out to be something that keeps happening to us because we didn’t have a plan. I want it to be something we choose.
And yes, I actually planned our dinners for the week.
Real dinners too. Nothing particularly Pinterest-worthy. Nothing requiring seventeen ingredients I will use once and then discover in the back of my pantry in 2028.
These are normal meals my family will actually eat, with leftovers intentionally built in so I have lunch the next day at work.
I’m sharing our entire dinner plan below, including how I am using leftovers to make this goal significantly easier, because if we actually make it through the week with only one meal out, the reason will not be extraordinary willpower.
It will be because we knew what we were eating before everyone got hungry.
Making the choice ahead of time is a whole lot easier than making it when you’re hungry, tired, and five minutes away from a drive-thru.
And that is exactly what I want to practice this week.
And This Is a Really Good Week to Be Inside Girl Code Daily
Before I show you the actual meal plan, I need to remind you that we have a lot happening inside Girl Code Daily right now, and if you’ve been hanging out as a free subscriber wondering when to upgrade, this is probably the week.
Our next Girl Code Daily bi-weekly Founders Meeting is this Sunday at 9:00 AM Arizona time. We meet live on Google Meet, we take turns checking in on our journeys, talk about what is working and what isn’t, and celebrate the wins together. These meetings are not recorded, so they really are something you have to be there for. If you want to join us this Sunday, upgrade to a Founding membership and come hang out with us.
Our October Steps Challenge begins October 1, and I want you in it from day one. This is not about everyone suddenly forcing themselves to walk 10,000 steps. Your goal might be 5,000. It might be 7,000. It might simply be more than you’re walking right now. We’re going to check in together throughout the month and use the community for accountability instead of trying to quietly do another challenge alone.
October isn’t about proving you can hit 10K every day.
It’s about intentionally moving more and having people there to keep showing up with you.
So if you’ve been thinking about upgrading, come join us before October 1. You’ll be able to start the Steps Challenge with us, join our paid community threads, and if you upgrade to Founding, you can be at our live meeting this Sunday too.
There is a lot happening in this little corner of the internet right now, and I want you doing it with us.
Now, for my paid members, let’s get into exactly what we’re eating this week and how I’m planning to make this one-meal-out goal actually happen.