Coming back from the long weekend means getting my butt in the kitchen to cook enough meals for the week ahead, so I can be sure to stick to my nutrition plan. As I mentioned yesterday, things changed up a bit last week and I’m down to SIX meals a day (instead of seven). You have no idea how excited that made me!
I was really struggling to eat that much food and six meals feels so much better right now. For the most part, the rules haven’t changed too much from the original plan.
Here’s where I am today:
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Eat every 2-3 hours, for a total of 6 meals per day .
- Each meal is assigned a specific number of ounces for protein, starch, & veggies. The amount of starch is reduced from the first 3 weeks, typically only included at 2 meals per day.
- Fruit every day!! Included in my post-workout meal, usually in shake form for me.
- Still keeping my 1 cheat meal and 1 glass of alcohol per week!
- Drink 1.25 gallons of water each day.
What Did I Eat Yesterday?
Meal 1: This has become a staple meal with only small variations each day. The base mix is rehydrated TVP (overnight soaked in Almond Milk) and pumpkin – that’s the basic protein & veggie that I need for my first meal of the day.
This morning, I added cinnamon, maple extract, and vanilla stevia to the mix & microwaved for 1 minute. Yum! I also down my morning supplements, chased with Fitmixer in 20 ounces of water to start the day.
Meal 2 (Post-workout): Okay, I missed the photo on this one as I down my Protein shake while rushing to get ready for work. I was running really late yesterday (which led to a speeding ticket on the way to work), so please forgive the lack of photo. My smoothie was TASTY though! In the mix:
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Almond Milk
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Vanilla Vega Protein Powder (Protein)
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Pumpkin (Veggies)
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Organic Rolled Oats (Starch)
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Vega Antioxidant Omega Oil Blend (Liquid Fat)
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1/2 cup banana (Fruit)
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and a little extra water for consistency
Meal 3: This lunch was inspired by a recipe I found on pinterest — Cajun Style Tofu with Veggies. I loved finally making a slow cooker meal and it was easy to customize for my protein & veggie mix. I added some bulgur for starch in the meal. Loved it!
Meal 4: Obviously I recycled this photo, but this was much prettier than what it would have looked like coming out of the Ziploc bag I packed it in. 🙂 I am still enjoying these Veggie Egg Muffins almost daily with a different mix of veggies.
Meal 5: I tried something a little different yesterday and prepped Laura’s 150 Calorie Chocolate Cake in Tupperware to take to work. Only prepped, so I didn’t actually cook the cake until right before I left work (I ate it on the way home). It turned out pretty well this way, so I’ll be trying this again!
Meal 6: Finally, Kirk prepared dinner while I was at bible study, so we could eat as soon as I got home (yes, I’m so spoiled!!). This tilapia was marinated in lime juice, srirachi, & cumin and served over a sweet kale salad. Delicious!!
And now that you’re good and hungry, it’s finally time to talk about MMAZ!
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You may have noticed I’m a little late with announcing this month’s Meatless Mondays from A-Z ingredients. I fully relaxed and recharged this weekend, including a complete miss in planning & sharing the next group of ingredients. So without further ado…
Because I want to give you the full week of creativity (and I really want YOU to join in the fun), we’ll have one more of MMAZ vacation and start back with KABOCHA SQUASH on September 16th.
As always, everyone is welcome (and encouraged!) to join us by cooking an original recipe with Kabocha squash! Share it on Monday, September 16th and link up with the rest of the MMAZ crew here. I hope to see you then!!
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Do you do batch cooking on the weekend for the week ahead?
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Are you up for the challenge of MMAZ in September?