I was excited to get back to clean eating foods after being on vacation for an entire week! Don’t get me wrong, I love trying new restaurants, but eating out every single meal for days gets old for me. I love cooking and I love knowing exactly what is in my food. The trip was great and I loved the food, but coming home and making food again was fantastic!
It is no surprise that I gained weight while on vacation (I didn’t track one single calorie the entire time), so I wanted to get back down to normal fairly quickly. I don’t do any crazy cleanses, but I try to pay particular attention to what I eat and drink. My meals are typically clean anyway, but I tighten it up even more right after a vacation or indulgent weekend.
Check out yesterday’s Grocery Shopping & Meal Prep Week 18 post to see how I prepared these foods. If you have questions beyond that, then feel free to comment below, email or send me a Facebook message! You can also check out past Mel’s Meals posts here.
4:30am – Pre-Workout:
The day started as usual with 1 liter of water, half plain and the other half mixed with 1 scoop MusclePharm Assault (pre-workout supplement). I also had 1 BCAA capsule pre-workout and another immediately after my workout (I keep them in my gym bag).
I prefer to eat a little something before a workout, but don’t want to eat too much. If you follow my Mel’s Meals posts, then you know that I have been having this as my pre-workout snack for a while now. I change it up slightly, but it remains fairly similar. I had 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese mixed with 3 grams MusclePharm 100% Whey Protein (chocolate) and topped with 20 grams sliced banana.
6:30am – Meal #1:
Breakfast was a Chocolate-Cherry Smoothie Bowl. Sometimes I enjoy my smoothies right out of the smoothie cup, but other times I pour it in a bowl. I like my smoothies super thick, so if I get it the proper consistency then it helps to eat it out of a bowl with a spoon rather than out of a cup with a spoon. My smoothies consisted of 1/3 cup almond milk (2 almond milk cubes and the rest regular liquid almond milk), 1 scoop MusclePharm 100% Whey protein (chocolate), 100 grams frozen dark sweet cherries, one frozen spinach cube and a touch of water on top to get things moving in the blender. I poured that in a bowl and sprinkled 1/2 tsp hemp hearts on top.
The smoothie didn’t have quite enough calories, so I also had 1 slice Alvarado Street Bakery Flax Seed bread topped with 1/2 Tbsp homemade peach chia jam. On the side I had 1 cup black coffee.
10:00am – Meal #2:
My second meal, aka Breakfast #2, was a sweet potato yogurt bowl (I made is slightly different than this recipe). I mixed 6 oz 2% plain Greek yogurt, 1/3 scoop MusclePharm Isolate protein (vanilla), cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. I took 2 oz mashed sweet potato and put in a container with the yogurt then topped it with 1 tsp unsweetened shredded coconut and 1/2 oz pepitas. I am loving this snack! If you haven’t tried the combo then please do!
12:30pm – Meal #3:
I usually eat lunch at my grandparents house, but they were out of town. My sister suggested taking our lunches to the park since it was so nice out. I loved the idea! Most people don’t enjoy kale sitting at a picnic table in the park, but I don’t eat like most people. I had 1 1/2 cup shredded kale that had been dressed with a homemade mustard vinaigrette (recipe in my Meal Prep post). I added 3 oz cooked chicken thighs, 1/4 cup garbanzo beans, 2 tsp sunflower seeds and 1 oz cherry tomatoes. Occasionally I make the same meal to eat all five days of the week. Sometimes that gets boring, but I have looked forward to this salad each and every day! It is really good and keeps me full until my next meal.
4:00pm – Meal #4:
My afternoon meal was 3.75 oz cod, 100 grams broccoli, 30 grams bell peppers, 50 grams carrots and 1 oz avocado. I really enjoy adding cooked bell pepper and cooked carrots to my mix-and-match meals. It adds crunch and a little different flavor, plus additional veggies! Perfect.
7:30pm – Meal #5:
Donny & I had planned to cook dinner together, but then Donny decided to go golfing. I didn’t mind because I needed to catch up on a few things anyway. I ended up working on my computer for quite a while and didn’t realize it was past 7:00pm! Luckily we keep cooked food on hand, so I threw together a quick meal.
I had 3 oz pork tenderloin, 100 grams zucchini, 50 grams carrots, 115 grams beets and 1 slice Alvarado Street Bakery Flaxseed bread (toasted). Surprisingly I needed quite a bit of fat still for the day, so I had 1 Tbsp Kerrygold butter. I put about 1/2 Tbsp on the toast and drizzled the rest on the beets. So good! I am never mad when I get to have buttery vegetables!!!
Well that was everything I had for Day in the Life: Mel’s Meals. I also had five liters of water, one immediately upon waking and four throughout the workday. In terms of macros I ended the day with 163 grams protein (3 over my goal), 120 grams carbohydrate (right on my goal) and 52 grams fat (1 short of my goal). My calculations were different than My Fitness Pal’s (slightly), but I consumed roughly 1,600 calories for the day.
Be sure to calculate your own calorie need and figure out your own macro needs based on your goals. Your numbers will not be the same as mine! Let me know if you have questions about counting macronutrients (macros).
