Meal Plan Monday

Meal Plan for Week of July 29th

Here is my meal plan for the week. I base the majority of my meal plans on what I like to eat and what's readily available in my home. We have a pretty big garden that we eat from every day. We have lettuce, arugula, kales, Swiss chards, collards, beets, Bok Choy, Asian greens, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers and a variety of herbs like cilantro, parsley, basil.

Dinner is typically something that my whole family will enjoy. But it has to be something that I can modify to fit my nutritional or fitness goals for the week. I prefer not to make 2 separate meals so it has to work for my family.

New this Week!!!

The 5 of us, (my husband, 3 kids and me) are doing 1 complete day of Clean Vegan Style eating.

On Wednesdays, our meals and snacks will consist primarily of fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts. No animal products like dairy or meat. No breads, processed or junk foods. The kids are excited about juicing and making smoothies and I think I will try out making the zucchini and carrot pasta this week. We will keep this up on Wednesdays for August and then make adjustments when school starts. This week will be our first complete day so I am still working on a plan for dinner. (If you vegetable entree ideas please let me know)

I will post pictures of our meals and share next week. :-)

Setup for a Comeback!

I didn't exactly do what I originally set out to do with Body Beast last month. As much as I loved the workouts and the progress that I made during months 1 and 2, I did not maintain the nutrition aspect for the Beast phase, which is the last 4 weeks of the program. During this phase, you shred the extra fluffiness you put on during the first 8 weeks of the program.

What happened exactly?
For starters, I jumped into the program without fully taking the time to read and understand the nutrition guide. I did calculate and understand my daily calorie intake. But the dynamics of it- keeping up daily with my percentages of carbs, proteins and fats per day- I did not do so well. 
Despite the above, I still managed to build pretty good muscle definition in my biceps, shoulder and upper legs during the build and bulk phase. I am happy with those results.

What happened last month during Beast Phase?
Vacation- 9 days with my loves in sunny Jamaica at one of the best all inclusive family resorts. Then a 4-day roadtrip out-of-town 3 weeks later. So my surroundings were out of the norm.  I did not go crazy and eat like I was having my last meal, but my routine was definitely out of sync. For the most part, I eat pretty healthy even while out but when Im on vacation, Im on vacation. If you know what I mean. So if I want to have cake, ice cream, chocolate, wine.... all at the same time and for breakfast, I will, lol.

At some moment during my travels to Jamaica, I finally (after 8 weeks) understood how to manage and track my macros-(fat, carbs, protein). I created a system to make sure I ate what I should eat per day. So upon returning, I followed it the first week and felt FANTASTIC! The fluffy feeling of the Bulk phase was going away, and I could definitely see a difference after about 9 days. My biggest challenge was the limit on carbs-1 serving of fruit a day. I typically chose blueberries because 3/4 cup equals a portion and I split it up in 3- 1/4 servings.

My system to track my daily requirements and intake

Fresh fruit is in season and my fridge is full of mangoes, apples, oranges, peaches, every kind of melon, grapes, strawberries, blackberries you name it. Every hour I'm literally in the kitchen cutting and washing fruit for my children. At some point during week 2, I decided that I didnt want to seriously cut down fruit for 4 weeks. Sounds crazy, but it was a decision I made and stuck with.

 

What I Learned

Well, I did not feel like a failure. It made me realize that Timing is everything sometime. My progress and muscle development during the first two months was awesome. When it came to month 3, I was not ready.  At that time, I just didn't want to do it. I know that my results, or lack of complete results, are a result of my own actions and I am ok with that.  I didn't feel guilty or depressed about it. I continued and kept my meals within my calorie range and I finished the program.  I know I could have made serious progress had I maintained those 19 portions of protein daily and limited that fruit to 1 portion a day but that wasn't that important to me last month. I learned that its important to know what you are getting into, what it requires and plan it around your life. If I had known that I would be fluffy (aka- bulky, slightly heavier, chunky, a lil more thick) while on a beach in Jamaica, I would have planned otherwise.  Plus, if I had really figured out the whole percentage thing early on, I would have had a better idea of what my meals would look like for the months to come.

 

I will be Back to Body Beast and make a Comeback this Fall! My mind will be ready to follow the nutrition guide fully, (plus the supply of fresh fruit in my home will be less abundant.)