I have really grown to love Day in the Life: Mel’s Meals posts. I like to be able to show you the foods that I eat and hope that I prove that it doesn’t have to be difficult to eat clean. A little prep work does wonders. Your meal prep work doesn’t have to be as intense as mine. Start with a few tips here and there, then build on that. Here are some other reasons why I like to share Mel’s Meals with you:
- I am held accountable for what I eat. I am pretty good about eating clean meals and I do try each day to meet my macro goal spot on. However, I will occasionally grab a couple dried cranberries from the cupboard or I’ll sneak a few extra almonds as I’m packing my lunch for the next day. When I know I have to post my meals I don’t tend to have as many of those instances, because, frankly, I don’t want to take picture of it! It helps keep my extra bites here and there minimal.
- It shows you that easy, yet healthy meals full of clean eating foods is not always difficult. I hardly ever even use recipes when it comes to my meals! Doing the prep work beforehand allows me to make nutritious meals in a matter of minutes. It really can be that easy!
- I mix up my meals more often. If you’ve followed Mel’s Meals for a little while you know that I tend to eat yogurt parfaits a lot. You also probably notice I eat a lot of meat and vegetables throughout the day. I do try to mix things up every once in a while. For example, I had plenty of yogurt to make my typical parfait mid-morning, yet I decided to make a frittata instead. Great choice! I’ve loved it everyday. It not only helps me show you the various foods you can eat, but it also keeps me from getting bored with my food!
My eating schedule was a little bit different this week. Not drastically different, but different enough. I had a dentist appointment first thing Monday morning, so my meal times were off from my typical schedule.
If you have any questions about how I prepared these foods, then check out yesterday’s Grocery Shopping & Meal Prep Week 13 post. If you have questions after that, email me at eatliftplayrepeat@gmail.com, send me a Facebook message or comment below.
4:30am – Pre-workout:
No surprise here… I started the day with 1 liter of water. Half a liter was mixed with 1 scoop MusclePharm Assault (fruit punch), my preworkout supplement. I have been thinking about trying a new preworkout mix, but I don’t want to waste my money on something I don’t like. Do you use a preworkout supplement? If so, what brand do you suggest?
I drank the other half of the liter of water plain and also took 1 BCAA capsule pre-workout and one post-workout.
My pre-workout snack was 1/3 cup (84 grams) 1% cottage cheese mixed with 3 grams MusclePharm Isolate Protein (vanilla). I also crumbled up 1/2 of one Graze Summer Berry Flapjack (1/6 of the package) and sprinkled that on top. Finishing all my Graze Flapjack’s has been my goal lately, but I still don’t want to eat a whole one each morning. I’ll get through them all eventually!
6:30am – Meal #1:
We had to leave early for the dentist (it was out of town) so I made overnight oats the night before. I mixed 2 Tbsp To Your Health Sprouted Rolled Oats, 1 Tbsp chia, 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, 4-oz 2% Greek yogurt and 1/2 scoop MusclePharm Isolate Protein (vanilla). Those five ingredients make the base for my overnight oats and I combined them in a glass bowl. While sitting in the fridge overnight, the oats and chia soaked all the liquid up, leaving a delicious and creamy oatmeal that require zero cooking. I topped my oats with about 2 Tbsp raspberries, 2 Tbsp blackberries, 30 grams sliced banana, 1 Tbsp pepitas and a dash of cinnamon. Overnight oats never get old!
10:15am – Meal #2:
Donny & I each had a dentist appointment, but we couldn’t go at the same time. We didn’t leave the dentist until 10:00am and had a 30-minute drive home. Luckily, I had a plastic fork in my lunch bag because I was starving and I couldn’t stop thinking about that dang frittata! I ended up eating it in the car while Donny drove. Hahahaha I can eat anywhere!
1:15pm – Meal #3:
Since I’d missed the first few hours of work I didn’t take a lunch break. I ate at the office and had 3.25oz cod, 2 Tbsp lentils, 2 Tbsp red quinoa, 3oz Brussels sprouts, 50 grams grilled bell pepper and 1.25oz avocado. So good! Luckily I was the only one in the office, because the cod and Brussels sprouts are quite fragrant!
4:15pm – Meal #4:
My mid-afternoon snack consisted of 3oz chicken thighs, 50 grams grilled bell pepper and 100 grams broccoli. I still needed a little protein and some carbs for that meal so I also had 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese topped with 1.5oz grape tomatoes and black pepper. So good!
6:30pm – Random Snack:
We have a big golf tournament coming up this weekend so Donny wanted to practice a little bit. I don’t do very well golfing for a couple hours after work unless I have a snack. Honestly, I start getting grouchy towards the end and can’t focus to play well. In order to keep that from happening, I’ve learned to bring snacks along. I bought a couple of Rx Bars at Trader Joe’s the other day to try out. The first one I tried was Blueberry, but the other one I bought was Coconut Chocolate. Both were pretty good! I love the packaging. It shows you exactly what is in it, plus ends with No B.S. Awesome.
7:30pm – Meal #5:
The Rx Bar was not enough for dinner, so I threw together a “bowl” once we got home. We had a tiny bit of leftover filet mignon from the weekend, so I mixed 1.75oz beef (what was left) with 50 grams squash, 100 grams broccoli, 1/2 cup cooked kale and topped that with 2 Tbsp 505 Green Chile. So good and so simple!
I ended the day eating 161 grams protein (1 over my goal), 117 grams carbs (3 under my goal) and 56 grams fat (3 over my goal). Not bad for a random day. Days like this are when I am glad that I plan ahead. If I hadn’t packed any food I probably would have stopped at the convenient store after the dentist and grabbed who knows what to eat. Since I did have my meals with me I ate those instead. I also listen to my body enough to know I cannot go long periods of time without eating (unless I want to get hangry). I bring snacks with me everywhere!
It has taken me a long time to realize these things about me and figure out how to avoid those types of situations. I love golfing with Donny, but avoiding dinner is not an option. Instead I bring food along with me. Golfing AND food, what is better?!?
How do you plan for odd days on-the-run?
