Here is another Day in the Life: Mel’ Meals post. I document everything I eat for the day (and non-water beverages). If you have questions about how I prepared something or where I bought something then let me know.
I have decided to decrease my calorie intake slightly and do less cardio (more details at the end). I only cut out 150 calories and kept my macro percentages the same, but it always takes me a couple days to get in the habit of how much food to pack for each meal. Here is everything I had on Monday.
4:30am – Pre-workout
The typical start to my morning…. 1 liter of water, half plain and the other half mixed with 1 scoop MusclePharm Assualt (fruit punch). 1 BCAA capsule pre-workout, one post-workout.
1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese mixed with 1/4 scoop MusclePharm Isolate Protein (chocolate). This picture shows some agave drizzled on top, but I skipped that.
6:30am – Meal #1
1 slice Alvarado Street Bakery Flax Seed bread topped with 1 oz avocado, salt, and red pepper flakes. 5 egg whites scrambled with 50 grams broccoli, 1 large egg cooked overeasy and topped Cholula. I was suppose to have 2 oz avocado and spaced it, so I had the other ounce later (no picture). Whoops.
I did have warm water with lemon in it. Notice the lack of a Christmas mug…. my mom gave me a Colorado mug so I started using it every morning!
9:45am – Meal #2
My midmorning meal was chocolate peanut butter protein overnight oats. I happened to finish four different nut butters in a matter of 3 days (I know, I have a problem)! I saved them to make overnight oats because that is THE BEST way to make overnight oats. I scrape the nut butter jars pretty dang clean, but there is still a very small amount left in there to enjoy with the overnight oats.
The oats consisted of 1/2 scoop MusclePharm Combat Protein (chocolate peanut butter flavor), 2 Tbsp rolled oats, 1 Tbsp chia seed, 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, and 4 oz plain 0% Greek yogurt. I generally start with mixing the protein powder with the milk until dissolved, then add the chia and oats, and mix the yogurt in last. I made all four protein overnight oats on Saturday so they had a few days to get ready. I topped the oats with 1/2 Tbsp peanut butter before going to work. If you top it with nut butter right after you make it, then it sinks to the bottom. If you wait until it thickens then it stays on top.
12:30pm – Meal #3
Lunch consisted of 100 grams of zoodles, 3.4 oz Jennie O ground turkey, and 1/4 cup marinara. On the side I had a very tiny gala apple (about 80 grams) and 1/2 Tbsp almond butter.
3:45pm – Meal #4
I had a chicken salad for my afternoon snack. I had 5 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, 1 1/2 cup chopped romaine, 50 grams garbanzo beans, 30 grams carrots, 1 oz broccoli slaw, 35 grams grape tomatoes, and 1 oz sugar snap peas.
6:30pm – Meal #5
Dinner was delicious! I sautéed 4.5 oz pork loin, 100 grams asparagus, 1/3 cup edamame, and 1/3 cup green peas. On the side I had 1/3 cup sweet brown rice and I topped the pork-veggie mix with 1 tsp sesame seeds and Sriracha. Super easy and super green!
I have been addicted to Sriracha and sesame together! It is soooo good. Try it out, you’ll like it.
My totals for today according to My Fitness Pal were 1,563 calories consumed, 166 grams protein (6 over my goal), 118 grams carbs (2 under my goal), and 52 gram fat (1 under my goal). Not too bad! I have been talking to Jodi a little bit about cardio. I have been doing more and more of it lately and need to stop! She mentioned that if you are consistently doing 30-60 minutes of cardio everyday, then it makes it difficult to use cardio as a tool when you plateau. I have gotten on a kick lately where I feel like I need to do at least 30 minutes of cardio each day, but I don’t.
What I need to do is make sure I eat well every day and continue to lift heavy. She recommended 3-4 days of cardio, 20 minutes of HIIT each time. Boom, done. I would love a reason to ditch the cardio and lift more. Maybe that is what I needed to hear!
Anyway, I am doing less cardio so I am going to try to lower my calories to about 1,600 and see how that goes. It is only 150 calories lower than before and I am sticking with 40% protein, 30% carbs, & 30% fats in terms of macros. If I am miserable then I will adjust. I’ll keep you posted!
Let me know if you have any questions!
