Monday Madness + Meal Prep

"Yup, still fabulous!" - My thoughts after being sick for a week and spending zero time in the gym. I was so worried about being behind in my meals and training, but my time away from the gym makes me more motivated to make these next 10 weeks count!

On Saturday after work I hit the gym for my shoulder workout, then took my cardio to the trail once I was home. I found this fortune while I was en route home:

Perfect timing! I kept this as a reminder to continue being positive on this journey. It's easy to get kind of lost in your head and pay attention to what other people are doing, but at the end of the day it all comes down to me. The mind is a powerful tool, and I refuse to be nothing but positive! Whether or not I place in this show isn't a huge priority for me. Of course, it would be nice, but what's more important is that I learn from these six months of training and enjoy the ride (as hard as it is - I miss having carbs four days in a row).

Every Wednesday I check in with my trainer via email, which consists of me sending progress photos and updated weight. I am not about to post these photos on here (not now, anyway), but one thing I will share is that my carb cycling has changed as of Wednesday. I was three days no carbs, one day refuel, but now it is four days no carbs, one day refuel. Thankfully my body is getting used to running on basically veggies and protein only (aside from protein shakes, but those are pretty much a different food group on their own in the world of prep), but the first week of carb cycling I felt so hungry! My morning snack usually had some kind of carb in there (vegetables are not counted as carbs), but now that is gone unless it is a refuel day. I must say, I wake up feeling lean on those days after carb cycling. Either way, I am looking forward to a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and sweet potatoes with my lunch on Wednesday!

Monday = leg day!

Here is kind of a run down of my day. I have Sundays and Mondays off, but I still woke up at a decent hour in the morning because I had a busy day!

7:00AM: Wake up, drink water, make breakfast (egg white omelette with mushrooms, onion, and spinach), drink coffee with almond milk and stevia.
8:00AM: Get ready for the gym, pack gym pack and grab reusable bags for grocery shopping after.
8:25AM: Start workout
9:30AM: Check in with personal trainer (down another 2.5(ish)% body fat, inches stayed mostly the same, weight is about the same too).

9:50AM: Pick up snacks for Brownie meeting on Tuesday and buy a ton of fish, including tilapia, salmon, tuna & shrimp.
10:30AM: Get home, shower, get dressed.
11:00AM: Make a quick lunch/bite to eat: tuna salad with broccoli slaw
11:40AM: Leave for a Brownie meeting with other leaders to plan an upcoming camp
12:00PM: Arrive at cafe where we are meeting, ordered a coffee and tossed salad.
2:45PM: Get home after running a few more errands. Make a protein shake.
3:15PM: Get on elliptical for cardio

And basically from 3:30PM onwards I relaxed, painted my toe nails, prepped lunches for the week, and Ryan BBQ'd us dinner (veggies and dijon salmon). Now we are just hanging out while I type up this post for you!

Some shots from meal prep this evening:

Tilapia and veggies. I also cooked up some salmon.

Lunches for the week! Since Wednesday is my refuel day, my lunch has some sweet potatoes in there rather than the usual fish + veggies. I switched things up a little bit and made a few salmon salads to take to work. Since store bought dressings are not in my meal plan, I like to use dijon mustard in my salads because you get a lot of flavor without having to load it on.

Time to get ready for bed! I hope you all had an excellent weekend. See ya soon!

(For more pictures throughout my prep, be sure to follow me on Instagram!)