Weekly Meal Prep and Weigh-in {April 23rd, 2018}

Hallelujah the sun is finally shining in Buffalo, NY!! Woohoo! Yesterday, I actually went for a run outside  and spent a few hours enjoying the sunshine with Mike and some friends – it was a glorious day. I can’t remember the last time I was outside for that long. October, maybe? Spring is finally here and summer is right around the corner.

Of course, this has me in high gear with diet and exercise. But I’m not just concerned with the 2-3 month bathing suit season Buffalo summer’s offer. I’m doing a lot of traveling this year and want to look back on pictures feeling confident with the way I look. We’re going to Colorado at the end of the Summer, have a fall getaway planned, AND just booked a cruise for the end of the year. I’m pumped! So there’s no room for slacking in 2018.

Starting this week I want to do things a little differently with my weekly meal prep posts. I get asked a lot of questions in the general Organize Yourself Skinny FB group, and through email, so I decided to answer 1-3 questions a week in this post. The Q & A part will be after my weigh-in but before my meal plan.

Okay, let’s get to my weigh-in.

Starting weight (October 2010) – 177

First goal weight – 145

Final goal weight – 135lbs

Last week’s weight – 154 lbs

Current weight – 153 lbs

Pounds lost – 1 lb

So, I decided – like right this second – that 2018 is going to be year I lose my final 20lbs….and keep it off. I think these last 20lbs have been hanging around way to long and now that I have so memories planned for this year I want to look and feel my absolute best. I’ll document my journey, like I’ve been, in these weekly meal prep posts. The only difference is I’ll give that journey it’s own section starting next week 🙂

My exercise plan this week looks like this:

Monday – Friday and either Saturday or Sunday

45 min – 1 hour on the treadmill

1 min bicycle crunches

1 min planks

100 crunches

24 bicep curls using 5lb resistant bands

24 lateral raises using 5 lb weights

24 tricep extensions using 5 lb weights

24 lounges on each leg

50 squats

OYS Reader Questions

In this section of the weekly meal prep post I’ll answer questions that I get via email or on the general OYS Facebook group. If you leave a question in the group please use #OYSquestion in the post so I can easily find it.

Question #1. Where do you get the plastic lids for the mason jars?

The lids you see in this picture are the ones referred to in this question. You can get these lids from Walmart or Target. I purchased mine from Amazon, for around $10.  I love these plastic lids and wish I got them years ago. The metal lids that come with the mason jars will eventually rust so if you plan to use mason jars for salads and other meals I reccomend getting plastic lids.

Question #2. Do you have a weekly meal planning service? I just want someone to send me a healthy meal plan and grocery list each week.

Unfortunately, I don’t offer a weekly meal plan service. Maybe someday, but right now I don’t. However, Emeals might be a great option for you. Emeals is an online service that sends a meal plan to your inbox each week. You can also download it off the computer and their app. I’ve had a yearly subscription to Emeals for almost 6 years so I’m very familiar with their meal plans.

They offer weekly Paleo, Vegetarian, Low Carb, Clean Eating, Mediterranean Diet along with many other meal plans. You can even get slow cooker meal plans or meal plans that use recipes from your favorite websites like Eating Well and Allrecipes.

A year subscription to a dinner meal plan is only $58 – that’s like $1 a meal plan. You can also add on breakfast, lunch, and dessert plans for a very reasonable price. I could go on and on. If you want to give Emeals a try they offer a 14-day free trial. Emeals is a great option if creating a weekly meal plan is a struggle for you.

Question #3. What type of vitamins do you use?

I get this question a lot. Now, I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on TV so my recommendation is based on my experience only. Mike and I both use Garden of Life mykind Organics whole food mutli 40+ vitamins. We’ve been using these for over a year. I purchase the vitamins from Thrive Market every 2 months. I’m sure you can find these in a natural food store or Wholefoods but I don’t have time to drive around to find vitamins. I’ve also seen these vitamins on Amazon but not regularly. Anyway, I just get mine from Thrive Market. These vitamins cost about $58 for 120 tablets – you need to take 2 a day. Typically, I’ll order mine when Thrive sends me a 15% off total order coupon.

Anyway, my experience with these vitamins has been great. I started to take them after experiencing a lot of hormonal symptoms last year. Within a couple months I was feeling so much better. I wasn’t as exhausted, my headaches got better, and many other symptoms were significantly reduced. Mike also enjoys taking these vitamins. He’s not as “in tune” with his body as us women but I can tell these vitamins do him good.

Let’s get to my meal plan.

On my journey to my last 20lbs my goal is to keep calories between 1300 – 1500 a day. Any less and I’m starving any more and I stay at 153 lbs the rest of my life.

Breakfast

Clean Eating Apple Pie Steel Cut Oats

Meal prep tips

• I made a double batch of this recipe yesterday. My plan is to eat this all week and, if my kids don’t eat some, freeze the rest.

Morning snack

Hard-boiled eggs

Meal prep tips

• I made these yesterday

Lunch

Greens and Quinoa Mason Jar Salad – new recipe

Meal prep tips

• Salads were made today. If you have questions about mason jar salads see my tutorial.

Afternoon snack

Bistro Protein Pack – new recipe to include hummus, cheese, crackers, and turkey pepperoni

Meal prep tips

• These will be made tonight.

Dinner

Cheeseburger Stuffed Peppers

Italian Parmesan Meatloaf with Roasted Broccoli

BLT with Avocado Wrap and Annie’s mac n cheese

Pita Pizza

Buffalo Chicken Subs

Meal prep tips

• rice, for stuffed peppers, was made yesterday
• Buffalo chicken will be made the morning/afternoon we eat the subs.
• Meatloaf will be prepped tonight.

That’s it for now. If you have any questions you’d like me to answer simply write them in the comment section below. Have a great week!