Off

I started eating "normal" food again on Monday after eating next to nothing on Saturday & Sunday because I felt so sick. Ever since then, my eating has been so off...so much for 4 solid weeks of eating on plan. :/ And for the record, "off" does not mean binging on sweets, eating out, or anything like that. I've actually eaten very clean, but I have no appetite and eating veggies does not sound like fun...my plan calls for 6 oz of veggies at each meal and that certainly hasn't been happening!

In hopes of getting myself back on track, here's what I'm planning to eat for the rest of the week. I'll be going out with my family sometime this weekend, which will be my cheat meal, but I'm going to keep it as cheat-free as possible. No sweets, and a salad or chicken/fish and veggies.

M1 - 2 egg, 2 egg white omelet with 6 oz. of zucchini, yellow squash, & green onions; topped with 1/2 small avocado
M2 (post-workout) - 4 oz. chicken, 6 oz. green beans, banana
M3 - Protein pancakes (1/4 c. oatmeal, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder & vanilla almond milk blended until smooth; cook over medium heat on the stove) & 6 oz. roasted broccoli
M4 - 4 oz. ground turkey, 6 oz. roasted cauliflower, 1/8 c. brown rice, apple
M5 - 4 oz. chicken, 6 oz. roasted mushrooms, yellow squash, & bell peppers
M6 - 4 oz. fish (tilapia or salmon), 4 oz. baby spinach, 2 oz. cucumbers, 2 T. balsamic vinaigrette, pear

I'm into roasted veggies right now...can you tell? ;)

Meal Planning...Wednesday?

I was told recently that my weekly meal plans were missed...well, there's a reason I haven't been posting them. They haven't been all that interesting and are pretty much the same thing day in and day out...and will be for quite a while! I'm training for something that requires me to eat pretty perfectly, except for one cheat meal a week. I got pretty hardcore about it this past week and am already seeing the type of results I want, even if I am dreaming about food nightly and had to force myself to choke down cauliflower and chicken at 9am this morning ;) It will SO be worth it in the end; I just have to make it through to that point first!

That being said, here's what I'm eating this week...

5:00am - 2 eggs, 2 egg whites, zucchini, 1 oz. almonds
7:30ish (post-workout) - 4 oz. chicken, 6 oz. green beans, banana
9:30am - 4 oz. ground turkey, 6 oz. cauliflower, 1/4 c. couscous
12:30pm - 4 oz. chicken, 6 oz. broccoli, small sweet potato, apple
3:30pm - 4 oz. ground turkey, 6 oz. asparagus, 1/4 c. bulgur wheat
6:30pm - 4 oz. salmon, 4 oz. baby spinach, 2 T. balsamic vinaigrette, grapefruit

I've been getting crazy hungry before bed, so I've been having another serving of protein and veggies...I probably going to start subbing that with a chocolate protein shake because there's only so many times one can eat chicken in a day ;) The times of my meals vary a little bit depending on what time I wake up in the morning, sometimes I'll switch my veggies around, and this morning I was craving almond butter, so I had that instead of almonds. But this is it pretty much.

Exciting, right? ;)

Meal Plan Monday

I had my meals all completely planned, but after discussing them with Ashley, I'm making some minor tweaks. I have some very lofty fitness goals (ones that I'm not quite ready to go public with), which are going to require very strict, clean eating for the next several months. I'm SO on board and ready to get the show on the road :) So here's what I'm eating this week!

Meal 1 (pre-workout): 2 eggs + 2 egg whites, 1/2 c. oatmeal (steel cut), banana
Meal 2 (post-workout): Pumpkin Protein Pancakes (these are insanely delicious!)
Meal 3: 6 oz. chicken, small sweet potato, broccoli
Meal 4: 6 oz. ground turkey, 1/4 c. brown rice, bell pepper/onions, 1 c. strawberries
Meal 5: 6 oz. chicken, 1/4 c. brown rice, steamed green beans
Meal 6: 6 oz. salmon, LOTS of baby spinach, 1 T. balsamic vinaigrette, apple

Not much variety, but thankfully I don't require too much. This also isn't a huge change from what I'm already eating - more calories, more protein, and bigger portions of veggies...but more or less the same. Workouts are getting more intense (which I LOVE) and I can almost do a chin up without having to jump to start it! Exciting stuff, people! :)

Meal Plan Monday

My boy is sick, y'all. Really sick. We had to go in for chest x-rays this morning and I had to help hold my baby down. And it was every bit as awful as it sounds. But the good news is he doesn't have pneumonia...yay! He does have a nasty virus that's causing inflammation in his lungs and we're under strict orders to keep him drugged up and resting for the next 3-5 days as he gets feeling better. That was easy today...but I foresee telling a 2 year old to stay on the couch for 5 days being a fairly difficult task!! Here he is in his hospital gown getting ready to go in for the chest x-ray. Isn't he pathetically adorable??

I was able to take advantage of his bedrest and get my meals for the week prepped. I was so glad I sucked it up and went to the grocery store yesterday - there's no way I'd have made it today. Here's what I'm eating this week...

Meal One: 1/4 c. oatmeal w/ 1 T. ground flax seed & 1 c. sliced strawberries; 3 egg whites & 1 egg
Meal Two: 4 oz. grilled chicken, 1 small sweet potato
Meal Three: Turkey & Black Bean Chili, 2 c. steamed broccoli
Meal Four: Apple & 2 T. almond butter
Meal Five: 4 oz. fish or 4 egg whites, big spinach salad with lots of veggies & 1 T. Seeds of Change balsamic vinaigrette; 1 c. watermelon
Meal Six (post-workout...whenever that is!): Protein Shake, banana

I've got a training for the new part time job I'm starting tonight from 6-8 and then I'm heading to bed early. I've gotta get up early for a workout with Ashley and I absolutely can.not.get.sick. Snuggling with the little guy off an on all day makes me a little nervous that I'll catch his gunk - and I (literally) can't afford to get sick right now! Happy Monday!

Meal Plan Monday...on Tuesday

This weekend was crazy and hectic and fun and filled with love...and in the midst of all that, I had no time to meal plan or grocery shop, so all that was done yesterday morning while Will and I were eating breakfast. I hit the gym at 11 for a workout that I laughed at...and then ate my words when it was over! Man, I'm feeling it today!! After the gym, we went to the grocery store and quickly did our grocery shopping - I was sweaty and probably a little stinky...but who cares, right? ;)

Here's my meal plans for the week. I'm trying something a little different and have moved my nightly fish or egg whites and salad to lunchtime so I can eat dinner with Will and Greg. We'll see how that goes for the rest of the week!

Meal One - 1 slice Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread, 3 egg whites + 1 egg, 1 c. strawberries
Meal Two - Apple, 2 T. almond butter
Meal Three - 4 oz. fish (I'm doing sockeye salmon, tilapia, and tuna), 2+ c. baby spinach (+ any other salad veggies I want), 2 T. Seeds of Change Balsamic Vinaigrette
Meal Four - 4 oz. diced chicken breast, 1/2 c. black beans (slightly smashed), 1 chopped bell pepper (sauteed in a bit of olive oil, if you wish), 1/4 c. pico de gallo
Meal Five - Dinner with Greg & Will (plan below) + 1 c. watermelon for dessert
Meal Six (post-workout) - Protein Shake (Syntha-6 Chocolate) and a banana

Dinner Plans
Mon/Tues: Chicken stir fry with broccoli, red bell peppers, onions, carrots, cauliflower, and mushrooms; brown rice
Wed/Thurs: Turkey meatloaf w/ spinach salad and balsamic vinaigrette
Friday: Chicken Salad (use chicken broth and mayo to moisten the chicken - use the mayonnaise as sparingly as possible. I'll be adding sliced grapes, slivered almonds, apple chunks soaked in lemon juice, celery to the mixture) served on veggies for me and bread/crackers for the boys
 

Meal Planning and Prepping

Today has been a busy, but fantastic day. I started it out bright and early with a Sweet Session (ice cream sessions, if you're not in the loop! ;)), then we took Mikko to the dog park - more on that in another post later. When we came home, I spent an hour meal planning and making a grocery list and then headed to HEB. I hate fighting the crowd on Saturday, but it's the best time for me to shop. I like having Sunday to myself with my family - the way it should be! I came home and we got the groceries put away and I started prepping my meals for the week.

I've had a couple people ask me about meal prepping - what it is and why I do it. Basically, I set aside one afternoon a week (usually on Sunday) and I prep all of my cooked meals, portion into Tupperware containers, and stick them in the fridge. Since I eat the same thing every day for a week, it's not difficult to do and just takes some time. Why do I prep? I mean, I'm a work at home mom - it's not like I need to have food cooked to take to an office or something. I prep because it makes it easy for me to stick to what I've planned. There are many days a week where I get lunch ready for Will and I just want to grab something quick and easy. If I don't have a healthy meal already cooked, 9 times out of 10 I'm eating his leftover macaroni and cheese, grabbing a bowl of cereal, or snacking on Will's crackers...none of which have a regular place in my diet!

I actually really enjoy this time in the kitchen (unless, like today, I burn myself TWICE!). And I love the result after...neat little stacks of Tupperware lined up in the fridge, ready for me to eat them this week! And this is what's in them for this week:

M1 (preworkout): Eat-Clean Breakfast Burrito
M2 (post workout): Protein Shake, Banana
M3: Power Oatmeal Pancakes (2), 1 c. strawberries
M4: 4 oz. ground turkey breast seasoned with homemade taco seasoning and mixed with 1 sauteed red bell  pepper; apple
M5: 4 oz. chicken breast, 2 c. steamed/roasted veggies (I'm doing broccoli, squash, & onions), 1/2 small avocado
M6: 4 egg whites, 2 c. spinach, 1 T. balsamic vinaigrette, peach
M7: Greek Yogurt (my "dessert!")

The Eat-Clean Burritos and Power Oatmeal Pancakes both come from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet Cookbook...I *love* that cookbook (and all of her books, to be honest) and haven't made anything out of it that I don't like!

Eat-Clean Breakfast Burritos
Nutritonal Info: Makes 4 burritos; 198 calories; 4g fat; 20g carbs; 19g protein
2 c. egg whites
1/2 c. nonfat cottage cheese
1/2 c. chopped tomatoes
1/2 c. chopped red or green sweet pepper
1/2 c. chopped sweet onion
1/2 c. black beans, rinsed & well drained then mashed coarsely with a fork
4 small Ezekiel grain or other whole-grain tortillas/wraps
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 250*F. Place tortillas in oven to warm while preparing remaining ingredients.
2. In a small bowl whisk egg whites, cottage cheese, salt & pepper.
3. In a medium skillet coated with cooking spray, saute vegetables and beans until soft. Pour the egg/cottage cheese mixture over vegetables and cook until mixture sets. Once firm, divide egg mixture among the warmed tortillas. Roll each into a burrito. Garnish with salsa.
4. Roll left-overs in foil and refrigerate. Great cold!

Power Oatmeal Pancakes
Nutritional Information: Makes 6 pancakes - 2 pancakes/serving; 283 calories; 10.5g fat; 24g carbs; 21g protein6 egg whites, beaten until fluffy
1/2 c. low-fat cottage cheese
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 c. oatmeal, uncooked
1/4 c. wheat germ
1/4 c. flax seed
1 tsp. baking powder
1 T. canola oil
1/2 t. cinnamon

1. Place all ingredients except beaten egg whites in a food processor and pulse or blend until mixture is uniform.
2. Pour blended ingredients into a bowl and add the egg whites. Fold until just blended.
3. Prepare a griddle with cooking spray. Ladle pancake mixture onto griddle and cook until both sides are browned.
4. Skip the syrup and top with fresh fruit, a dollop of unsweetened apple sauce, or fruit syrup (1/2 c. berries + 1 T. water - mash berries & bring to a boil. When fruit is uniformly hot and begins to get syrupy, remove from heat)

Meal Plans

I attempted to keep it super clean this week so I could hit a major goal of mine. Since it's Thursday evening and I'm backdating this post to Monday, most of the week has now gone by. I can safely say that I'm not going to hit that major goal. I'm okay with it, I'll move forward and go after it next week. I have definitely I learned a few things this week...

#1 - In order to function like a normal human being, I need to have two servings of starchy carbs a day. Otherwise I feel tired constantly and brain-foggy.
#2 - I desperately need to get more sleep every night. Caffeine is not an adequate substitute for sleep.
#3 - My protein/recovery shake really does work. I could tell a huge difference this week cutting it out - I was much more sore and definitely didn't feel like I was recovering as fast. That could be due to #2 as well, though.

M1 (4:30am - PreWO) - Apple, 11 almonds
M2 (7:30am - PWO) - Breakfast Quinoa, 1 c. strawberries, 3 egg whites, 1 egg
M3 (10:30am) - 4 oz. turkey breast, 1 bell pepper, 2 T. homemade hummus
M4 (1:30pm) - 4 oz. chicken breast, 2 c. steamed veggies (broccoli, yellow squash, onions)
M5 (4:30pm) - Banana, 1 T. almond butter, 4 oz. tuna
M6 (7:30pm) - 4 oz. salmon, 2 c. spinach w/ salad veggies, 1 T. balsamic vinaigrette, peach

Ashley and I did a crazy workout yesterday (Wednesday) called a tabata. The basic principle of tabata is doing a period of intense workout followed by a short period of rest and then right back into the intense workout. Ours yesterday was 50 seconds of exercise followed by 20 seconds of rest. We did deadlifts with 70 lbs, pushups, single leg lunges (one round per leg), upright rows, and woodchops (25 sec. per arm) with a 15 lb. dumbbell. We did 7 rounds of this and took a short, 1-2 minute break after doing 4 rounds. It took roughly 40 minutes and both of us were hurting by the end!!

Farmer's Market

This morning we all loaded up and headed to the Farmer's Market - Mikko included. I wanted to get some fresh summer veggies and I really wanted to take Mikko out in a crowd. She did relatively well  - she forgot what "heel" meant completely and was way more into trying to play with the other dogs there than listening to us, but for a puppy who has been with us for less than a week, I was happy with how she did! We got some zucchini, yellow squash, new potatoes, cucumbers, a huge cantaloupe, a seedless watermelon, Fredericksburg peaches, and the most delicious sprouted grain bread ever...seriously, I could've eaten the entire loaf this afternoon!!

After Will's nap this afternoon, we took all the dogs for a walk. Will got to walk Riley, which he thinks is the coolest thing ever. Mikko is doing pretty well with the dogs. Things have calmed down since Thursday (by far the worst day with her wanting to play constantly with the little dogs), though she still has to go to her crate to chill out a few times a day. I think in time they'll learn to love each other...or at least I'm hoping! :) Will and I headed to the grocery store this evening to stock up on food for the week while Greg took Mikko for her big walk. Apparently she pooped out halfway through (can you blame the girl? It's at least 100° out there!). Will had the time of his life at the grocery store - he sang songs (at the top of his lungs), told me all about the bones we were getting for Mikko, and picked out his "treat" for going with me and being a good boy - chocolate chip cookie dough. When we got home we grilled chicken, our potatoes and veggies, and made the cookies for dessert...so yummy!

Tomorrow I need to do my food prep for the week - I slacked majorly this last week and need to get back on track this week! I'm lifting with Ashley early MWF and I'm going to force myself to get up and get to the gym early for cardio on TTH - if I don't go early, I end up not having the energy to go after Greg gets home from work. I can't make that a habit! This is what I'm planning for my meals this week:

Meal 1 (4:45 - PreWO) - Apple, handful of almonds
Meal 2 (7:00 - PWO) - Recovery Shake, Banana
Meal 3 (8:30) - 1/4 c. oatmeal with 1/2 c. sliced strawberries & 1 T. ground flax seed; 4 scrambled egg whites
Meal 4 (12:00) - 4 oz. grilled chicken sliced onto 2 c. baby spinach with 4 T. pico de gallo, 1/2 c. black beans & a squeeze of lemon juice
Meal 5 (3:00) - 4 oz. turkey breast, 1 bell pepper, 2 T. homemade hummus
Meal 6 (6:00) - 1 slice of turkey meatloaf, 2 c. steamed broccoli, & a peach OR 4 oz. baked sockeye salmon, 2 c. baby spinach w/ salad veggies, 1 T. balsamic vinaigrette & 1 c. melon

One last bit of news - Greg has a job interview with a company he really wants to work for on Wednesday. Please, please, please be praying that this goes really well and that he gets offered the job. He's been looking for a new job for nearly 4 years and not only is this a good job, it's something that he is interested in doing and a company he could grow with. We're asking for all the prayers we can that God would bless him with this opportunity.