Meal Plan February

Did I tell you that I wrote a dinner meal plan for the whole month of February?

Yup. The whole  month.

After I spent all that time doing an inventory of my freezer, I decided I should actually come up with a plan to use all that great stuff!

Now, I don't expect to follow this exactly. In fact, there have already been several alterations or changes that have occurred over the last week or so.

But I have been using it as a guide and even if I decide to make something different from what is on the menu for the day, switch days around, or as happened on Saturday night, something unexpected comes up and we aren't home for dinner, it has still given me a greater awareness of what is hiding in my freezer.

As a result, I have been doing an incredible job of using stuff from the freezer in my meals instead of buying more stuff.

I went grocery shopping yesterday and as far as food went I bought some fresh veggies, some lunch stuff (meat/cheese/wraps) for Chris and a bunch of household stuff like toilet paper and paper towels.

Another great bonus is that our meals are being varied and I'm bringing back some favorites that sometimes get skipped, like Posole and spinach lasagna.

This week:

Monday: Pesto veggie pasta
Tuesday: Pork chop, healthy fries, green veg
Wednesday: Poblano Corn Chowder
Thursday: it says cod, but I realized is is Valentine's Day so I am changing it to steak, potato and veg.
Friday: Pesto Basil Artichoke Mozzarella pizza
Saturday: Shrimp Poblano "curry"

As far as workouts go, well I am still doing a pretty good job of doing something most days. I am still really struggling with my neck/shoulder/back issue. It gets better, but then I DO something, like workout with high intensity or scrub my bathroom from floor to ceiling and then I am put back out of commission for several days. I'm working on it though and trying to keep my chin up.

Sunday: Walked for 2.5 miles
Monday: Recumbent bike for 40 minutes
Tuesday: Yoga for 28 minutes
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday: rest day
Saturday:

I don't know exactly. My workouts are somewhat dependent on how my shoulders and neck are doing. Yoga if I'm not doing so good, a walk or some other cardio if I am doing better. My ultimate goal at this point is to just keep doing some kind of workout, ANYTHING, at least 5 days of the week.

That's the plan kids!!

Do you have a plan? Lent starts tomorrow...do you observe? Are you giving anything up?

I am taking on a meditation practice. I hope to use the next 40 days to incorporate guided meditation into my life on a regular basis. I won't say daily, but several times a week.

Meal Plan 1.27.13

Okay, so I know this is late. I haven't made the time to come and post for the last couple of days, but I want to keep doing this, both for myself and for others who may want/need it.

Let's quickly review last week:

Sunday: We are having Slow cooker curried beef short ribs with greens and rice for sure! CHECK!

Meatless Monday: Eggplant and pasta delight (I only used half the eggplant I bought, so I don't want it to go to waste) CHECK!

Tuesday: Chris' choice, he said it is Taco Tuesday! CHECK!

Wine Wednesday: Smoked pork chops and cauliflower "faux"-tato mash, and wine! CHECK!

Thursday: Thai curry shrimp chicken with rice and sauteed snow peas CHECK!

Over the weekend my friend Kelsey came to visit (more on that later) and so we didn't have specific plans for food. Friday: Steak, potato, salad. Saturday: Dinner out. Sunday: Pizza in. 

Overall I did AWESOME with sticking to my meal plan last week. 

Workouts for the week:

Sunday: Yoga - no

Monday: Yoga - yes!

Tuesday: Swim - no

Wednesday: Yoga or Walk - yoga yes!

Thursday: Swim - 2.7 mile walk yes!

Friday: Yoga or Walk - no

Saturday: Walk - yes! hike in the snow. 

Sunday: Walk - no

Not too shabby!

What's on the menu for this week:

Meatless Monday: Portobello mushroom and red pepper quinoa salad

Tuesday: Trader Joe's Lime Chicken Burgers on thin buns with salad

Wednesday: Thai Chicken Salad w/peanut dressing

Thursday: Cod with broccoli and salad

Friday: Pork Chop, sweet potato wedges and green veg or salad (depends on what is left in the fridge)

Saturday: wing it

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY: I think I'm making a chili and some snacks for the day. 

Workouts

Sunday -none

Monday -none

Tuesday -none

Wednesday - Yoga

Thursday - Walk/swim

Friday -Walk/swim

Saturday -Walk/swim

Sunday -yoga

Alright...that's the plan! Did you do your meal planning this week? How's it going? Are you sticking with it?

Weekly Meal & Workout Plan 1.20.13

Eggplant and Pasta Delight with Green Salad

First let's recap how we did last week on the food and exercise front and then I'll share the meal plan for this week! 

Sunday: Actually, I don't know. Chris wanted to grill something and bought a variety of stuff at the store, so I'm not sure what he is making. - Uhm, nope. Chris ended up being really tired after his middle of the night work call, so I made dinner and it was nothing healthy. I made a chili-mac mix. Yes. It was easy, from a box and can, though I did spice it up with some extras like red beans and feta. It was very tasty, just not super healthy. 

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Jumbalaya with sauteed mixed greens (Trader Joe's!) - A total winner! But I forgot I was serving the greens and made a salad instead. Still good!

School Night Tuesday: Chris' choice - He ended up making an amazingly good seafood soup. Thank you! 

Wine Wednesday: Eggplant and pasta with salad and wine - check! 

Thursday: Thai red curry shrimp with rice and sauteed snap peas - I switched out this meal for Saturday's and we had Korean Noodle Salad instead. Totally delish!

Friday: Homemade flatbread pizza (mozzarella, spinach, mushrooms, pesto) - Hmm..nope! I had friends over and we had hawaiian food takeout (teriyaki chicken, kahlua pork, yakisoba noodle, rice, macaroni salad)

Saturday: Korean noodle chicken salad - Chris decided to smoke a brisket, so we had that instead, with salad. 

Sunday: Slow cooker curried beef short ribs with greens and rice - this is getting ready to go in the slow cooker when I am done with this post! 

Well you can see we didn't follow along 100%, but that is totally okay. Having the meals planned is a huge help to me, and having the food in the house to make all these meals is a huge help in avoiding pizza takeout or fast food. Last Sunday's dinner wasn't the best, but sometimes ya just gotta roll with it. 

How did I do with my workouts? Honestly, only ok. You may know that I have an "issue" with my neck/shoulder muscles. Well, Monday I woke up with a headache. I went to the gym anyway and did a short run and some yoga. By the time I was done with the Yoga I had a screaming headache. I got home, took some advil, ate, rested and went to the chiropractor. She gave me orders for NO running/jumping/weights for at least a few days. Yoga and swimming were ok. 

Workouts for the week:

Monday: Run/Yoga Brick - Check!

Tuesday: Swim - Check! ~30 minutes/750 yards.

Wednesday: Yoga or X-train - no. I was still in pain so had a massage and another chiro adjustment.

Thursday: Run - no...rest for my neck.

Friday: Swim - I did a 20 minute Firm Express cardio/sculpt workout at home. I tried to take it easy, used light weights, did lots of stretching both during and after the workout. 

Saturday: X-train - OH...hell no. My neck was so pissed off from that workout yesterday! It was obviously too soon. I couldn't hardly turn my head. I spent most of the day laying down, went in the hot tub twice, took advil, Chris gave me a massage, I massaged it myself...ugh! 

Sunday: Run - hahahaha...a run is not happening today. If it warms up at all I might go for a walk, but otherwise I will be doing some yoga in the living room to try and continue stretching out my neck. 

Okay, so a minor setback with my neck. I am trying to take care of it, will go back and get another massage this week, and likely will keep all of my activity this week loooooow impact. 

Here's the plan for this week then: 

Meals (tentative nights)

Sunday: We are having Slow cooker curried beef short ribs with greens and rice for sure!

Meatless Monday: Eggplant and pasta delight (I only used half the eggplant I bought, so I don't want it to go to waste)

Tuesday: Chris' choice, he said it is Taco Tuesday! 

Wine Wednesday: Smoked pork chops and cauliflower "faux"-tato mash, and wine!

Thursday: Thai curry shrimp with rice and sauteed snow peas

Friday/Saturday/Sunday meals are a little up in the air. My bestie is coming to visit and we have some tentative plans for the weekend so I'm not sure how meals are going to stack up. If our plans work out Chris will make dinner one night and it will probably be steak and potatoes. I plan to make a beef tagine with butternut squash one night. But all of that is kind of up in the air at this point. So for the weekend we have a "tentative" plan, but will also be open to winging it and going with the flow. 

Workouts for the week:

Sunday: Yoga

Monday: Yoga

Tuesday: Swim

Wednesday: Yoga or Walk

Thursday: Swim

Friday: Yoga or Walk

Saturday: Walk

Sunday: Walk

The name of the game is to stay active, but keep it low impact to prevent more difficulties with my neck. 

Alrighty! Have you meal planned for your week? I keep saying it, but it is a key to a healthy lifestyle for me. No, every week and meal isn't perfect or follow the plan exactly, but I know that my eating would be worse if there was no plan. 

What's on your menu for the week?? 

Workout Schedule 1.6.13

It may have been a teensy bit ambitious to swim for a full 30 minutes my first time out in...oh...forever. My chest is sore today!

I really have no idea about how to swim "properly" as far as for exercise and fitness. I know nothing about distances or what is a good speed for a beginner. I didn't pay much attention yesterday to how far I went, I just had a goal to swim for 30 minutes.

I think I swam 25 yards in about 30 seconds, which is not fast at all. But I did it roughly 60 times, which would equal approximately 1500 yards. After doing some research today I have come to find out 1500 yards is a pretty significant distance to swim. Oops! Who knew?

I guess there are two things for me to take away from this: one, I have more endurance than I realize and two, sometimes being in the dark is a good thing.

Next time I hit the pool I will be paying more attention to distance rather than overall time, and I found some swim "workouts" that I may incorporate as time goes on.

After I got home from the gym yesterday I did something I have NEVER done before.

I took the time to actually put on my calendar the dates and times of the group exercise classes (yoga/pilates) that I would be interested in taking at the gym. Now I have this on my phone, tablet and laptop, so no excuses about not knowing when they are!

I also took some time today to write out a tentative training plan, something else I have NEVER done before. 

This is now hanging on my wall, I have recorded my weight for the start of the year on it and I will make notes each time I workout as to what the workout actually entailed and put a colorful sticker on each day my workout gets completed for a little extra motivation. 

Now, I don't expect to follow this to a T, especially since I didn't actually go for a run today, but it gives me a guideline to follow. Kind of like my meal plan, if things get moved around a bit, I am cool with it, but it is one less thing to have to THINK about. 

All in all I'm feeling pretty good about my healthy plan for the next week. I have meals planned, I joined a gym, and I have a workout schedule to guide me. 

Do you plan your workouts or can you wing it and still get them done?