Weekly Meal Plan & Goals

Morning y’all! Hope you guys had a wonderful weekend. We are stilll recovering from Emma’s first fever/flu. Thank goodness she is feeling better but things got scary on Friday night when her fever shot up to 103 and infant Tylenol didn’t kick in till 5am. But thank goodness her fever finally broke and we are just dealing with tons of congestion in her cute little nose. 

Unfortunately, my husband caught whatever Emma had, so he’s down for the count this morning. Which means he wasn’t able to start Hammer & Chisel with me! I’m super bummed because he wanted to do this program together, but he can just jump in once he’s feeling better! I did the first workout today and realized how much I miss lifting weights! Can’t wait to see my 60 day progress and share with you all! 

With these programs, you get a certain amount of portion control containers for each food group to make sure you are following a balanced meal plan all day long. My husband and I both fit in to the 1800 to 2100 calorie bracket since I am breastfeeding and need the extra calories and nutrients! Which means we both get a ton of food every day! Here’s our tentative meal plan for the week!  

Pre workout: energize, the ONLY pre workout I’ll drink because it is plant based and what could be better than that!? 

Post workout: recover, the cleanest protein drink I’ve found that tastes like chooclate milk, yum! 

Breakfast: shakeology w/spinach, eggs

Snack: pumpkin oat muffins, vegetables  

Lunch: ground turkey, rice, roasted veggies OR salad and leftovers if hubby leaves any ;) 

Snack: nuts, fruit, rx bar

Dinners:

• kufteh (basically ground beef and cracked wheat mashed together, a family favorite!) 
• healthy sesame chicken w/rice and veggies
• tilapia w/salad and potatoes
• and leftovers of course!  

Of course, this is all tentative because we never know what the week will bring. This used to give me so much anxiety because I’m a perfectionist BUT I am so happy I’ve learned to have more balance and make last minute changes fit into my healthy lifestyle! 

 If you have trouble making a meal plan that you find balances your nutrients and keeps you full throughout the day, contact me up above and let’s get you on a plan that works for you! I work with clients one-on-one or in a group coaching setting to figure out what will best meet your needs to help you stick to your goals. Meal planning and prepping have basically become a hobby of mine and something I am so passionate about sharing with my clients. So don’t hesitate to reach out if you need some extra support! 

Easy Meal Plan Staples

Meal planning can be overwhelming for a lot of us! I've had to find a balance between

1. meticulously controlling every breakfast, lunch dinner
2. planning out meal options so I know what to shop for, and...
3. letting the week take control and eating out every night.

Let me tell you, all three of those have happened! 

Sometimes I buy too much and all the food goes to waste, sometimes I don't buy enough and find myself at Trader Joe's 3-4x/week. And don't even get me started about BUDGETING! My husband and I have been really careful since getting married because we have been saving for big things, and the area we found that I spend the most is on groceries. I LOVE grocery shopping and trying out new things, but most of the time, simple is always better, especially for the bank account! I've found a way to make foods we love that won't break the bank, and will still nourish us.

But what about the freedom part? Isn't meal planning and prepping too controlling? I would say, no!

Sometimes, when you are trying to eat in a nourishing way, but also not let food  rule your life, it can be hard to know how to meal plan and prep so that you know you have healthy options on hand, but also feel freedom and flexibility in the process. The way I like to go about it is to have staples for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners that we can alternate throughout the week. We usually alternate meals, and we don't find ourselves getting bored especially when we use different seasonings and ways of eating! Below are some of my staple meals and what I haul each week from the grocery store to make it happen!

1. Taco seasoning. Listen up, Trader Joe's has THEEEE best taco seasoning out there. When we first got married, I had Vasken buy me about 10 packs. And when we ran out, Trader Joe's ran out...for 2 months. I was so sad, and tried to make my own mix (which I know is possible), but sometimes convenience wins, and TJ's seasoning just tastes better. Our local trader just got these packets back in stock, so I hoarded them again and have been using this taco seasoning to season turkey meat (both tacos, and burgers), lentils (taco seasoning + salsa= amazing!) and beans and rice dishes. Make your life easier and go get a few packets of this seasoning mix, you won't regret it! 

2. Rolled oats! These are so versatile. I like making a big pot of oatmeal at the beginning of the week (add 1-2 T of chia seeds for extra gooey-ness!) or making a breakfast oatmeal cookie! Plus, oatmeal is full of fiber and other goodness to help us feel full in the morning. Top with fruit and your favorite nut butter and you're good to go!

3. Justin's nut butter packs. I am OBSESSED with these! Healthy fats on the go can be hard to find, but these make it so easy! Just give them a little massage before tearing them open and they have the consistency of melted peanut butter. I eat a packet daily with a banana or apple, or just on its own!

4. Cut up veggies. Sometimes, we can get burnt out from salads, which is why I always love having some cut up veggies to snack on! My favorites are carrots, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, broccoli, and sweet mini bell pepper! Dip in hummus or guacamole for added flavor and a dose of healthy fats!

5. Beans + Rice! When on a budget, beans and rice are a dream come true. I love the Cuban black beans from TJ's. I mix in some brown rice, salsa, taco seasoning, and some frozen fire roasted bell peppers, heat it up and there you go! A delicious burrito bowl! Use as a topping on a salad or sauteed veggies to still get your greens in!

6. EGGS! I feel like eggs go without saying, but they are a delicious and nutritious protein source for us! Yes, even the yolk! The yolk is full of healthy fats that help with hair, skin, eyes, and pretty much every other organ. Plus, each egg has 6-7g of protein in them depending on their size! Scramble them, boil them, fry them, and enjoy!

7. Salad+chip+hummus makes the world go round. This is my go-to lunch combo when time is tight and options are few. I always have the ingredients on hand to make a salad, plus have some kind of healthy chip and dip. Usually, I go for the veggie flax chips or sweet potatoes chips from Trader Joe's! (Can you tell where I do most of my shopping??)

8. Shakeology! Last but not least, my healthiest meal of the day is Shakeology. This whole-foods shake is jam packed with vitamins, minerals, probiotics, digestive enzymes, antioxidants, and more. The best part for this dietitian is that it comes from all whole food superfoods, no weird powders, fillers, or chemicals. I refuse to call it a protein shake, because it's not! It's full of so much more, which makes it incomparable in my professional opinion to other powders on the market! If you'd like to know more about it, please don't hesitate to reach out and ask questions!

If you need help simplifying meal planning and prepping, don't worry, I've got you! It's taken me years to hone in the skills to make this process as easy and as nutritious as possible. I hope this list helps you all, and if you ever need more ideas or added support or info, use the contact me button above to get in touch with me! I love hearing from my readers and helping in however way I can! Have a great Thursday, all!

Made for More: January 26-31 Food & Fitness Plan!

Well. Here it is. The last week of January. I am in shock and can't believe how fast this year is already going! There is hardly any time to do the things that I want to do. I think being busy is one of the most stressful things for me. I like to have time to plan things out, and time to do everything I want to do. However, I'm pretty sure every second between now and June is accounted for on my calendar...oops! Which definitely means meal planning and scheduling my workouts is even more important in order for me to reach my health and fitness goals. This morning, I've had the following verse swimming around in my head: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." 2 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬

It came to my mind after I saw this saying on Pinterest this morning:

What we think about ourselves is usually how we act. If we see ourselves as weak and failures, we will most likely act that way. God says we have been given a spirit of power, love, and self control. I don't know about you, but those qualities definitely counter being afraid or feeling like you are destined for failure. We are not meant to be living in fear. We were made for more. We were made for victory. This is the concept that I will be focusing on this week in my own life. I want to claim the identity that God has given me this week. It's already in me, I just have to own it, claim it, and live it out! How do we do this? Through prayer (and lots of it), and really surrendering our hearts, thoughts, and goals to God.

I am such a goal oriented person. I love to make lists, reach for the stars, and check things off as I go. This week, I will continually surrender all of my goals and aspirations to God, because really, His hands are the safest place they could be!

Here are my goals for the week: 1. Finish my Bible study homework 2. Update my resume 3. Blog more 4. Run 2x this week 5. Break from baking (maybe I will write about this more in the future, maybe I won't haha we will see where God leads, but for now, I'm going to take a nice little break from all my scrumptious baked goods). 6. Do NOT go grocery shopping (I have so much food at home that I am determined to use up before spending more money!)

And considering all that food at home waiting for me, here is my meal plan for the week!

Pre workout meals: Hard boiled eggs Nuts Larabar Banana w/nut butter

Breakfasts: Scrambles Hard boiled eggs Meatballs w/veggies stir fry

Lunch/Dinner: Meatballs w/taters Stuffed zucchini by my Mama! Frozen meats such as: chicken, turkey burger, mahi mahi burger, etc (I have a ton!) Salads/veggies

I'm feeling good about my food options this week and am excited to save some money in the meantime!

Fitness plans:

My 10K is about 20 days away and I could not be more excited! My runs have not gone longer than 5 miles and I am planning on just doing one 6 mile run before race day. If you have read my previous posts, I have a history of knee and hip injuries from overuse. I am determined not to let that happen again! I am balancing my runs with the elliptical/walking, strength training, stretching, and plyometrics and I really feel that this balance is helping me stay injury-free! Here is my fitness plan for this week!

Monday: Back/biceps day Elliptical 4 miles

Tuesday: Run 4 miles

Wednesday: TIU kettlebell workout for leg day! Cardio mix 3 miles

Thursday: Run 5 miles

Friday: Chest day Cardio mix 4 miles

Saturday: Toning (arms) Run 3-4 miles

I am also doing the 100 miles by Valentine's Day with Tone it Up and am so excited about my progress! I am at 60/100 miles and have 40 to go! Hoping to make a big dent in that this week.

That's it for this post, folks. I really hope to be a bit more present on my blog and make time for it! Writing is such a stress release for me, and considering how busy life has been, writing definitely needs to make a come back to my life!

Have an awesome and joyful Monday everyone!

Food & Fitness & Updates Galore!

Hello everyone!! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I can't believe Monday is upon us yet again. Last week was a challenging one for me. But God gave me the strength to pull through. Work was stressful and I was so happy to recharge this past weekend. And now I'm so ready to take on this new week!! I did a lot of meal prep tonight and am glad to be able to reach for healthy options throughout this week. I made my infamous sausage and tater bake, boiled some eggs, and made a new recipe with bananas, oats, and walnuts! That, and my pumpkin gingerbread recipe, will be on the blog soon!!

I'm also doing the Love Your Body challenge with Tone It Up (www.toneitup.com), and have reached 20/100 for my 100 miles by Valentine's Day challenge. Im feeling pretty good about that and hope to get more miles and toning in this week!!

But first, the foodie plan :)

Pre-workout options: Hard boiled egg Banana Oat Nut protein muffins Gluten free toast w/nut butter Banana w/nuts or nut butter

Breakfast: Oatmeal Scrambles Hard boiled egg Sausage and taters

Lunch/dinner: Sausage and taters Salads Turkey taco meat Leftovers

Snacks: Carrots w/hummus Banana Oat Nut muffins Larabars Nuts Turkey taco meat

I'm looking forward to my options for the week! I think it is so important to make sure you look forward to eating your food. Food should be enjoyed!!

And now for the workouts:

Monday: run/walk 2-3 miles, personal training session (probably leg day!), Yoga in the PM

Tuesday: Arms and cardio mix 3 miles (usually I do the bike, elliptical, and some walking) or stair master if I'm feeling brave!

Wednesday: circuits in the AM with Hanna, possible workout with the fiancé in the PM which will probably be some kind of cardio and toning!

Thursday: run 4 miles

Friday: personal training sesh #2 for this week, cardio mix 3 miles

Saturday: run 5 miles

Sunday: logbook workout from my trainer, cardio mix 3 miles

My goal is to reach 40 miles for my 100 by Valentine's Day challenge. This is kind of a big goal, but why not right?? Dream big or go home :)

I'm pretty excited about this week. I'm also a little anxious, since I struggled a bit this past week with my food choices. I know I shouldn't be hard on myself, but I also know I shouldn't overdo on indulgence. Balance is always difficult to find, but it's a journey worth taking!

I am also taking on the Tone It Up challenge this week of not weighing myself for 10 days! This means not till NEXT Wednesday! I'm pretty excited about it. I had given up the scale a bit ago, but that bad habit of weighing myself too often has crept back up on me. Why do these silly things get a hold of us? I don't know, but I know that only I am giving it the power it does NOT have.

I've also kept up with my no counting calories goal. I got my app back a few times in moments of weakness, but have quickly deleted it again. I am definitely still calorie conscious, but to be honest I do miss the structure of counting. I love numbers, planning, and figuring out puzzles, which is basically what counting became. I know, however, that it is not a very sustainable habit for me, and I hope to be able to continue on my no counting streak. I will obviously keep you all informed on the happenings in this department! :)

Ok. That's all for now! I hope you all enjoy these last few hours of the weekend!

Mega Meal-Prep Sunday!

Good morning everyone and happy Sunday! I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. Mine has been great, except for the fact that I seem to have injured my foot from my run yesterday...

I know I know...I am always injured somewhere! I'm quite frustrated with the whole thing, but I am trying to focus on what I can do, and even feel that this was God's way of helping me take it easy on myself. As much as I love working out, I have been feeling worn down lately. I also feel that it was my new shoes, which I am beginning to think are a size too small, that put extra pressure on my foot during my outdoor run yesterday. In any case, I did NOT work out this morning, and I meal prepped instead! I want to be extra prepared and on top of my eating this week...so I made about 5-6 different dishes I can eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! As well as snacks!

The first thing I did was chop up some sweet and Yukon gold potatoes and baked them. I also made my Cajun chicken dish, but instead of rice, I wanted to use the sweet potatoes as my starch. The Cajun chicken recipe can be found on my blog...just search it! :)

I used ready made lemon pepper chicken and spicy jalapeño chicken sausage to add a kick to this dish, as well as Whole Food's Cajun seasoning! Yum!

I also made tzatziki dip with plain, nonfat Greek yogurt, cucumbers, mint, garlic, and lemon juice. This dip is so tasty and is extremely high in protein, which is perfect as a midday snack to hold you over until your next meal.

For some ready protein, I made some grass fed ground taco beef as an emergency protein source to have on hand. I always like to have some kind of healthy protein at home to rely on...because you never know!

Lastly, I made a frittata! I just used 8 eggs, 1/2 cup almond milk, kale, peppers, and tomatoes. I wanted a quick and easy breakfast I could eat at home or pack for work, as I've been doing a lot of morning overtime lately and need to get a healthy breakfast in before heading out the door!

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OH! And the BEST part of the morning was seeing on Instagram that Trader Joe's now carries cashew butter! I ran out and bought some and had it with a banana while I cooked. It. Was. Amazing!!!

Woooo! What a morning! And it's not even 10am! Now it's time for church! Have a great day everyone!

Weekend Recap and Meal Planning!

Hellooooo out there! I am fighting to keep my eyes open as I am recovering from my AMAZING weekend. Every bit of this tired feeling is worth it! :) We went to church family camp this weekend and it was SO much fun to fellowship with family and friends. The mountains were beautiful and being away for the weekend was exactly what I needed! God definitely spoke a word (as Beth Moore would say!) and I am again amazed at his awesomeness, love, and mercy on me. Here are a few pictures from the weekend! :)

It was a beautiful weekend that I will definitely never forget. But with every weekend...comes a Monday. And with a Monday, comes another work week. This week is going to be extra busy for me since I am going to be helping at VBS (Vacation Bible School) at church after work almost every night. What I have found is that the busier the week, the more careful I need to be about my meal plans. I don't want to be in a position where I have nothing to eat and am too short on time to make a healthy choice. SO! Even though I was pretty exhausted today, I went to the store and put together a plan for the week. Planning is key to a healthy lifestyle. Without planning, I feel like a chicken running around with no head. I don't know where that analogy came from, but I'll blame the sleepiness! Anyways, I thought I would share my plan so a) I would be held accountable and stick to it and b) I would remember it! I usually make a list of options for each meal, and switch them around depending on what I feel like and my assessment of leftovers! :)

Pre-workout options: 

- Hard boiled eggs with nuts

- Banana with nuts

- Larabars

- One of my healthy baked goods if I miraculously get a chance to bake this week!

Post workout breakfast options:

- Scrambles with veggies and/or sweet potato

- Hard boiled eggs

- Protein pancakes/waffles

- Taco meat with sweet potato

Lunch and Dinner options: I am going to have to eat a quick dinner before heading to church every evening, so I want to make sure to have extra food on hand!

- Leftover tri-tip

- Taco meat (I bought a pound of grass-fed beef from Trader Joe's today and it took about 10-15 minutes to prepare some taco meat! It was so quick and it is always so important to have emergency protein on hand!)

- Turkey burgers (I buy the frozen ones from Trader Joe's...they are so easy to whip up and extremely yummy!)

- Grilled chicken

- Spinach salads

Sides and snacks:

- Sweet potato (microwaving these has changed my lifeeee! So convenient!)

- Plantain chips

- Salads (obviously)

- Carrots w/hummus

- Larabars

- Nuts

- Fruits and veggies!

And that's my plan for the week! No gourmet cooking going on this week, but sometimes it is easier to just go back to your basics, plan some easy and healthy meals that are fool-proof, and attack that busy week like no other! Good luck with our Monday everyone!