Full Day of Eating

  
It’s been a while & I want to make more posts like I did while I was in prep! I am not currently prepping for a competition, but I did just start a meal/workout plan this week with a woman I’m so glad to call my coach! As some of you may know, I was an avid follower of iifym (if it fits your macros). I still love the concept of iifym, but I wasn’t taking into account the timing of my macros based off of my training so much. I have always eaten on a pretty regimented schedule, but my coach made me realize the true importance time plays with growth. With that being said, I am now following a meal plan that she has developed for me & I have to say that I absolutely LOVE it! It has allowed me to step away from all of the tracking that I have become so obsessed with after doing it ritually for about 6 years now… crazy!! So it’s not only great for my body in terms of gaining muscle, but also my mental sanity as well. 😉

This meal plan cuts out a lot of the unnecessary sugar I was consuming before and allows me to love whole, natural foods as I should. Like I mentioned before, timing is everything! It has only been 4 days & I already see a difference in my body in terms of definition. It has been magical in terms of water weight. Prior to these 4 days I was retaining water a decent amount for my liking and I am slowly watching it ware away. Another thing I have to say I love about this plan is that I only weigh/measure myself 2x per month! Constantly looking at that number on the scale, whether it be multiple times a week, daily, or even multiple times a day becomes obsessive. It’s easy to get wrapped around that number, letting it consume your mind. However, that number is not always the best reflection to your success. A great number of factors come to play in that number you look down on – never let it define you!

After blabbing on, I’ll get to what a full day of eating looks like for me on this meal plan. 🙂 Please remember though that these portion sizes are custom to me – my body, my goals, my activity level, my schedule. This is not going to be what works exactly for you! You need something custom to you as well, please remember that!!

BREAKFAST (7:30-8:00 a.m.) 

 4 egg whites
1 cup sautéed pepper/onion mixture
1 cup cherrios

After I wake up and get ready for the day (not really ready, just gym ready) is when I make my breakfast. This is also when I take my daily vitamins/supplements. I take a biotin, probiotic, fish oil, and a multivitamin. I also only drink water when I eat and workout (just a personal preference) so I disperse it throughout the day. With breakfast, I had 22 oz. water.

PRE-WORKOUT (9:00 a.m.) 

 1 Greek yogurt whips
1/2 cup strawberries

12 oz. water

DURING WORKOUT: 18 oz. water mixed with 1 scoop Amino X Watermelon amino acids (tastes like a Jolly Rancher!!)

LUNCH/POST-WORKOUT (11:00 a.m.) 

 4 oz. chicken breast (baked with hot sauce, spray butter, & garlic)
1 cup sautéed pepper/onion mixture
2/3 cup jasmine rice
Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning

OR

  4 oz. lean pork, 1 cup corn, 1/3 cup jasmine rice

As you can see, my high carb/low fat meals are revolved around my training time, yet protein is always present. Veggies are also becoming my new best friend with this plan!! Not pictured is a different lunch I had this week with 4 oz. chicken, 1 cup corn, & 1/3 cup jasmine rice. Endless combination options, I love it!! Also, 22 ounces of water.

SNACK 1 (1:30 p.m.) 

 Protein Shake:

• 1 scoop PEScience Snickerdoodle protein powder
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cashew milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 tbsp natural peanut butter

SNACK 2 (3:00 p.m.) 

 1/4 cup mixed, lightly salted nuts

Also, 16 oz. water with 1 slice of lemon.

DINNER (5:30 p.m.) 

 4 ounces London broil
1 can green beans
spray butter & seasoning

OR (another day I had): 

 4 ounces ground beef (9g Fat)
1 cup cauliflower (made into cauliflower rice – posted the recipe a few posts ago!)
1 cup broccoli

Dinner is low carb/higher fat. With this meal I drank 22 oz. water.

SNACK 3 (7:00 p.m.) 

 2 rice cakes
1 tbsp natural peanut butter

This is my absolute FAVORITE peanut but so addicting & I love that I get to have it every single day! This is the meal that I end my night with, drinking 12 oz. water.

As I mentioned previously, I am not following iifym in particular. Though I do have a macro count/range, I do not have to track it so I don’t have numbers on everything. It’s better for me not to worry about it if I don’t have to, but they can easily be calculated if you desire! I also get 1 cheat meal a week which I will gladly share – just haven’t quite decided what I want this week yet. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!!

 

Homemade Peanut Butter

 
Homemade Peanut Butter

Ingredients:  

 

• 9.5 ounces low sodium peanuts (or more, probably double for a full jar)

Directions:

1. Blend peanuts briefly just to chop to small pieces. At this point, remove 2 ounces of chopped peanuts out of the 9.5 ounces (or 4 ounces of doubled) to make crunchy peanut butter. Omit this step if you just want creamy.     
2. Blend peanuts for a minute & stir.   
3. Blend for another minute & stir. 
4. Blend for another minute & stir.   
5. Blend for a little longer if more creamy peanut butter is desired.   
6. Scoop into jar.   
7. Stir in crushed peanuts if making crunchy peanut butter.     
8. Store in refrigerator for 3-4 weeks. Enjoy!! 😋

Macros: 

  

Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash

  
Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

• 1 – 12 oz. container pre diced butternut quash (or whole butternut squash cut & diced yourself)
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2-3 tsp Truvia Baking Brown Sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. 
2. In a bowl, mix all ingredients together until evenly coated.     
3. Spread out on foiled, sprayed cookie sheet.   
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Longer if you have more than 12 oz.   

This tastes more like a dessert than anything. 😋 It reminds me of sweet potatoes in a way! & for 6 oz. butternut squash only has 15C 0F 3P so great macros!!

Enjoy ☺️☺️

Protein Pumpkin Parfait 🎃

  
Protein Pumpkin Parfait

Ingredients: 

 

• 1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1/2 Large Frozen Banana
• 1/2 scoop PEScience Snickerdoodle Protein Powder
• 2 tbsp PB2
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1/4 cup Pumpkin Puree 
• 1 sheet Low-Fat Graham Crackers

Directions: 

1. Blend all ingredients together except for graham crackers until smooth.     
2. Top with crushed graham crackers, slurp & enjoy! 🙂  

Macros: 20P • 7F • 38C 

Mashed Potato Bowl

  Mashed Potato Bowl
Yields: 5 Servings

Ingredients:

• 650g Sweet Potato, skinned & uncooked
• Dash Unsweetend Almond Milk
• Spray Butter
• Seasonings (Cajun, Garlic Powder, Pepper)
• 20 oz. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast – Fat Trimmed
• 1 head Broccoli
• 1-2 cups Spinach
• Reduced Fat Mozzarella

Directions:

1. Wash & skin sweet potatoes.   
2. Cut into cubes.   
3. Add to a pot of water. Boil until potatoes are soft (I poke with a fork & if they slide off, they’re done).  
4. While the potatoes are boiling, prepare chicken. Trim fat & cut into cubes. Add to a skillet sprayed with cooking spray & sprinkle with desired seasonings (I used Cajun, pepper & garlic powder). Cook through.     
5. When the potatoes are done, drain in a strainer & add to a mixing bowl with a dash of almond milk, spray butter & seasonings (garlic powder & pepper).   
6. Mash & mix with electric mixer.   
7. Wash off broccoli head & cut off florets. Wash off spinach. Add to a pot with water & boil for about 10 minutes or until soft.  
8. Strain broccoli & Spinach.   
9. This was a meal prep for me, so I separated into 5 bowls. First add potatoes, then chicken, broccoli/spinach.   
10. I waited until the day of to add the cheese, heat it up & enjoy!! 🙂  

MACROS (1 meal): 36P • 5F • 31C

Spicy Chicken Sandwich & Keeping Chicken Moist! 💦

First I wanted to share my lunch this week for all of you meal preppers (& non meal preppers)!! In the directions I will explain how I prepped both my chicken & green beans. This is how I always prepare my chicken for meal prep to keep it moist. You can also prepare cut up into chunks in a skillet, but cooking spray is still important to keep it moist! If you’d rather, olive oil does the trick too, just high in fat – but healthy fat at least!

Spicy Grilled Chicken Sandwich & Green Beans 👇🏼  
1 Meal Ingredients:

• 2 Slices of Bread (I used Pepperidge Farms CarbStyle 100% whole wheat – awesome macros! 5P • 1.5F • 8C for one slice 😍)
• 1 – 4 oz. piece of chicken breast, baked with hot sauce (I prepped this ahead of time, I’ll explain below)
• 1 slice Sargento Thins – Provolone
• Spray Butter
• Fresh Green Beans (also explained below on how to prepare. 

Chicken Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. 
2. Trim fat off of chicken
3. Measure out 4 oz. pieces for how many ever meals you desire. I prepped for 4 days. To do this, I first measured the whole breast & kind of guesstimated how much would need taken off. Easy one – an 8 oz. breast obviously cut in half for 2 – 4 oz. pieces. 
4. Once measured, placed on a foiled & greased baking sheet. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic powder & smother hot sauce all around. (You can add whatever seasonings you want & don’t have to add the hot sauce – that’s just for this sandwich). KEY!! Spray tops with cooking spray – this keeps it moist while baking. 
5. For 4 – 4oz. (Basically 2 breasts) pieces bake for 20 minutes. For 3 breasts bake for 30 minutes. The shorter time & higher temperature helps to not over cook them! 

  
Green Bean Directions:

1. Buy fresh green beans from the produce section. When ready to prep rinse them in a strainer. Cut ends off of each green bean. You can cut them into smaller pieces like I did or leave them whole. 
2. Place them in a pan with water covering. Once boiling, let them go for 5-10 minutes until they are bright green. 
3. Strain & place in a skillet with spray butter, garlic powder & pepper. 
4. Sautée for 5-10 minutes!

Sandwich Assembly:

1. Spray 2 pieces of bread with spray butter. 
2. Heat up chicken if priorly meal prepped. 
3. Place sprayed side of bread down in a skillet on medium heat. Top with 1 slice cheese, chicken & other slice of bread. 
4. Cool until golden brown & flip just like you would a grilled cheese!

ENJOY!!  

   MACROS (1 Meal): 38P • 6F • 22C

Naked Chicken Burrito

  Naked Chicken Burrito A.K.A Burrito Bowl

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups Fat Free, Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 14.5 oz. can Diced No Salt Added Tomatoes, drained 
• 2-3 Chicken Breasts, trimmed (about 20 ounces)
• 1 cup Brown Rice
• 1 can Black Beans, drained & rinsed
• Chili Powder, Garlic Powder & Pepper
• 1 1/4 cup Reduced or Fat Free Cheese (I used reduced fat Sargento 2% Mozzarella)

Directions:

1. In a crock pot sprayed with cooking spray, place chicken breasts at the bottom & sprinkle seasoning over top.   
2. Pour chicken broth & tomatoes over chicken.       
3. Cook on low for 4 hours.      
4. Remove chicken. 
5. Add in uncooked rice & black beans. 
6. Cook for 30 minutes & then turn to high until all liquid is absorbed into the rice. This took about an additional hour & a half for me.   
7. Turn crock pot off & shred chicken on top of the cooked mixture, I just did this by hand. Add cheese on top of that & mix.  
8. Place the lid back on & allow it to sit for about 10-15 minutes for the cheese to melt. Mix all together & serve or separate into desired containers.     

Macros (1 meal or 1/5 recipe): 40P • 5F • 47C 

No Bake PB Protein Cookie 🍪

 
No Bake PB Protein Cookie

Ingredients: 

• 2 tbsp Peanut Butter (I used PB&Co Dark Chocolate Dreams)
• 1 tbsp Agave Nectar 5 (or other form of honey)
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 scoop protein powder (I used PEScience Snickerdoodle)
• Enough unsweetened almond milk to make a batter

Directions:

1. Melt peanut butter & honey in a small pan.     
2. Once melted, remove from head & mix in oats.   
3. Add protein powder & mix.    
4. Add enough almond milk to form a batter.   
5. Form into a ballish shape, place on a plate & refrigerate for at least 20 minutes & enjoy!     

MACROS: 35P • 17.5F • 42.75C

Birthday Cake Protein Muffins 🎂

  Birthday Cake Protein Muffins
Ingredients: 

 

• 1 large egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 6 tbsp coconut flour
• 2 tbsp pb2
• 1 scoop protein powder (I used Nitro Tech Birthday Cake – 40g scoop)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 
2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with an electric mixer.     
3. Line muffin tins with liners & spray with cooking spray. 
4. Evenly disperse batter into 6 muffins.   
5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean. Enjoy!!  

You can either add something into the batter like chocolate morsels, berries, or whatever you like ORRRR top it with peanut butter!! I topped mine with Peanut Butter Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter & it was absolutely amazing. It tasted like the cake my mom used to make for our birthdays as a kid – yellow cake with chocolate icing, the perfect combo (but this one is much healthier 😉). 

MACROS (2 muffins): 23P • 5.6F • 20C 

 w. PB&Co. PB: 29P • 18.6F • 32C 

Breakfast Pizza 🍕🍳

  
Breakfast Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 – Whole Wheat Pizza Crust (I used Mama Mary’s)
• 12 Egg Whites (scrambled)
• 1 cup Fat Free Cheddar Cheese
• 4 slices Reduced Sodium Turkey Bacon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450F (or follow directions according to your pizza shell for cooking).   
2. Scramble your eggs & place on top of the crust.   
3. Sprinkle the cheese over top of the eggs evenly.   
4. Break the turkey bacon up into pieces & disperse it throughout the pizza.   
5. Decrease bake time to 425F & bake for about 7 minutes & it’s done!   

  
Macros (1/4 pizza): 26P • 9F • 27C 

Of course paired best with ketchup 😉