Eat Clean :: Lift Heavy :: Play Daily :: Repeat
Meal prep this week was non-existent. Honestly, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t have time to even come up with meal prep ideas, let alone cook anything.
Donny & I were on vacation and flew back to Colorado on Monday. We were suppose to land around 4:30pm, but our flight was delayed a couple hours. We didn’t get home until after 9:00pm…yuck!
Rather than cooking anything I bought some convenience foods and threw together some meals to get me through the week.
Clean eating meals do not have to be super intense to make. I am no chef, so I stick to basic meals of meat and vegetables. I’ll throw in some complex carbs occasionally including oatmeal, whole wheat bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown rice, etc. I try to keep all of my meals clean eating friendly using minimally processed foods.
Even though I aim for less processed foods, sometimes I need quick, grab-and-go foods to take with me. Lately I’ve been busy at work (including weekends) and I am not in the office as much in the afternoons. I don’t want to skip a snack/meal in the afternoon so I’ve been packing Quest bars to get me through until dinner. [Read more…]
Each week I try to make meals and cook food to have on hand for quick, healthy meals. It saves me time during the week and saves me money by having lunch ready so I don’t go out to eat. I hope that I provide you simple and healthy meal prep ideas for you to incorporate into your routine.
I come up with some meal prep ideas on my own, but Pinterest is also very handy. Browse Pinterest to find simple recipes to throw in your slow cooker (like I did last week) or for healthy ways to prepare vegetables. If you’re looking for ideas for meal prep or food prep then check out past Grocery Shopping & Meal Prep posts as well. [Read more…]
Beans, beans the magic fruit….the more you eat the more you toot! Why do you toot? Legumes such as means are full of fiber, which is important to add to a healthy diet. Beans are probably the most popular legume, but peas, lentils and even peanuts fall into that category. There are several legumes that are staple food items in our house.
Beans are the most popular legumes, but peas, lentils and even peanuts fall into that category as well. Legumes are low in fat, high in protein and provide key nutrients to your diet including iron and potassium. There are several ways to incorporate this staple food into your diet. Legumes can be added to salads, soups or spiced up and eaten on their own. [Read more…]
The holidays are a really busy time for us at work. I didn’t do too much food prep this week, but I still managed to eat healthy meals throughout the day. I hope posting Mel’s Meals gives you a few idea for simple, healthy meals to incorporate into your diet.
If you have any questions about Mel’s Meals then please email me at eatliftplayrepeat@gmail.com. Don’t forget to check out yesterday’s Grocery Shopping & Meal Prep Week 30 post. [Read more…]
The holidays are a busy time for a lot of people and meal prep might be the last thing on your mind. I feel ya. We do a Christmas promotion that runs the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is basically four weekends and three full weeks of craziness! Don’t get me wrong, I love to prep food on Sundays but these days I prefer rest.
My schedule gets crazy and I have to leave the office most afternoons so I actually didn’t plan an afternoon-meal this week. Instead, I opted for convenience, aka Quest bars! Obviously packaged bars are not as clean as foods I usually prepare, but it is definitely worth having a grab-and-go snack that I didn’t have to actually cook this week. Plus, it is better than skipping a meal because I didn’t have time to eat meat and veggies. [Read more…]
Each week I show you what I buy at the grocery store and how I prepare that during meal prep for the week. However, there are some items that I rarely have to buy at the store, but they are a staple food in my pantry.
Staple foods are ones that are eaten or prepared routinely. The staple food that comes to mind in terms of my diet is chicken. What is a staple food in your diet? [Read more…]
Day in the Life: Mel’s Meals is a weekly post to show you the simple, clean eating meals that I make throughout the week. I try to break my day into five different meals and rarely go more than 4 hours without eating. A 5-meal day works for me in terms of my schedule and appetite, but play around with your day and see what works for you. It might be three bigger meals and a snack or just simple three bigger meals per day.
My meals are generally smaller, consisting of 250-350 calories each. I try to get at least 30g of protein with each meal and like to spread my carbs throughout the day a little, but I like to eat the majority of them in the morning and at night. I prefer this timing because I workout first thing in the morning, so I like to have the carbs at night to use the next morning and then replenish with carbs after the workout. My schedule works for me, but it won’t work for everyone. Play around with your eating – it has taken me a few years to figure out that this is my favorite schedule. [Read more…]
Food prep and meal prep is a huge part of my weekly schedule. I try to take several hours on Saturday or Sunday to prepare meals and extra food to get me through the week. My meals are all clean eating friendly, but meal prep can be done for any type of diet or eating style. It can be adjusted to be vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, etc.
Taking a few hours over the weekend to prepare meals saves me a lot of time throughout the week. I keep my meals in the fridge grouped together so that I can grab a days worth of meals and head out the door in the morning. [Read more…]
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I love breakfast foods SO much, that I typically have Breakfast #1 between 6:00-7:00am, then Breakfast #2 between 9:00-10:00am. Yes, that’s right I schedule TWO breakfasts. Lately my breakfast addiction has been hot oats, especially Maple Pecan Protein Oatmeal. Oatmeal is awesome for a few reasons.
First of all, this Maple Pecan Protein Oatmeal recipe combines a few of my favorite fall flavors together in a delicious and warm bowl of oatmeal.
Second of all, oats are high in many vitamins and minerals, plus they provide a good dose of fiber making them a great start to the day! In fact, each 1/2 cup serving provides 8 grams of fiber, which is one-third of the recommended intake for women. [Read more…]
