How I make this work

A common question that people ask me is how I have been able to fit it all in. I work full time, exercise 6 days a week, my children are involved in sports and church activities and here is how I make it work....

Exercise- Part of losing weight is exercise. When I first started working out I set a goal of exercising 3 days a week. Over the past two years I've added to that goal and now work out 6 days a week. Normally I do a combo of classes at the gym and running on my own. Here's my schedule:

- Monday- Kick-It class at the gym
- Tuesday- off
- Wednesday- Shred at the gym (High-energy old school PE type class)
- Thursday- Boxing at the gym
- Friday- Run
- Saturday- Step aerobics/Yoga at the gym
- Sunday- Run

This schedule doesn't always work. I am a teacher and often have meeting after work that don't allow me to make it to the gym. Sometimes I flex my day off and attend a class or run on Tuesdays. If I can't make a class and I can't flex my day that I wake up early and either (a) do a workout DVD at home or (b) run. The point is that I make the time. Exercise is a priority and an appointment that I keep- even when I don't want to do it. Just because I can't make a class that I enjoy is not an excuse to skip exercise.

Eating- For breakfast I usually have oatmeal or mini wheats. Morning snack is a latte. Lunch is usually a combination of veggies, yogurt, hummus, crackers, popcorn, cheese or a fiber one bar. I don't eat all of that at once. :) My lunch is usually between 300-400 calories. My afternoon snack is some type of fruit with nuts. I prep all of my lunch and snacks on Sunday for the entire week and take everything to work on Monday. Taking everything to work at once has really helped. We use to eat out- A LOT! By a lot I mean 3-4 nights a week we'd either get fast food or go to a sit down restaurant. This was probably the hardest charge for my family. It's hard for me to work all day, pick up the kids after work, go to the gym, and then get home and fix dinner. My husband has really helped in this area. He's a great meal planner and does all of the prep work so that when I get home from the gym I usually have to just heat everything up and dinner is ready. We also use our crockpot at least once a week.

I'm always looking for short cuts on eating healthy quick foods. What do you do to make sure you and your family are eating healthy?