Monday I started a Les Mills Challenge Group with a group of girls, some who I currently working with, some who I knew from other restaurants. Going back to a menu plan was indeed some work. Just setting it up was a mini project, and then teaching others my process was also a learning experience. The first week of the Eat Right for the Fight Nutrition Guide is a 7-Day Metabolic Jump-Start Program where women are suggested to eat around 1200 calories and men 1500.
1200 calories for me was like food prison. With P90X I was eating about 1800-2100 calories a day, never mind that I had been over eating for the last week leading up to that Monday, so you can imagine how that caloric deficit made me feel! But, I went through the meal plan, set up my meals for the week, and made my grocery list based off of that. Little did I know, this was going to not only introduce me to some awesome new recipes, but it was going to finally catapult me out of the 'snack' rut that I had been in for months.
What follows is just a brief glimpse of what I ate during our 7-Day Metabolic Jump-Start Plan. In the end, some meals near the end of the week ended up getting swapped around because I did not want anything to go past it's expiration date.
7-Day Metabolic
Jump-Start Plan
|
|
MONDAY
|
TUESDAY
|
WEDNESDAY
|
THURSDAY
|
FRIDAY
|
SATURDAY
|
SUNDAY
|
|
BREAKFAST |
Rainbow
Scramble
|
Eggs with
Smoked Turkey
|
Pro-Oatmeal
|
Broccoli and
Feta Omelet
|
Rainbow
Scramble
|
Eggs with
Smoked Turkey
|
Pro-Oatmeal
|
|
SNACK 1 |
PB Toast and
Cottage Cheese
|
Chocolate
Green Tea Smoothie
|
Turkey and
Cheese on Rice Cake
|
Chocolate
Green Tea Smoothie
|
PB Toast and
Cottage Cheese
|
Chocolate
Green Tea Smoothie
|
Turkey and
Cheese on Rice Cake
|
|
LUNCH |
Avocado,
Tempeh, and Almond Salad
|
Brown Rice
Bowl
|
Burger and
Salad
|
Greek Pita
Sandwich
|
Avocado,
Tempeh, and Almond Salad
|
Brown Rice
Bowl
|
Burger and
Salad
|
|
SNACK 2 |
Citrus Berry
Smoothie
|
Turkey & Cheese of Rice Cake
|
Citrus Berry
Smoothie
|
Mediterranean
Eggs
|
Citrus Berry
Smoothie
|
Roast Beef
Sandwich
|
Citrus Berry
Smoothie
|
|
DINNER |
Southwestern
Chicken Salad
|
Grilled Tuna
over Mixed Greens
|
Spicy Tomato
and Lentil Soup
|
Grilled Steak
and Arugula Salad
|
Southwestern
Chicken Salad
|
Grilled Tuna
over Mixed Greens
|
Spicy Tomato
and Lentil Soup
|
|
Calories |
1207
|
1243
|
1207
|
1220
|
1207
|
1234
|
1207
|
Day 1
Proved to be pretty darn delicious. Convenience definitely went out the window basically because I had to learn new recipes, prep, and remember how to measure ingredients and use correct portion sizes, but it definitely refreshed my memory on how I had been way over eating!
Day 2
Again, the food was amazing. I had never really used Shakeology with Greek Yogurt, and truth be told, I didn't love this recipe, but I like that it included the the metabolic boosters of yogurt and green tea, and for that, I'll make sacrifices on my usual recipe. Also, my original scheduled snack wasn't Turkey and Cheese on Rice Cake with Raspberries, but I wasn't in the mood for what I had originally put on, so I substituted. The Tuna salad for dinner was amazing, although I could find Tuna Steak in either of the two grocery stores near me, so I ended up having to use canned tuna. Still, it was an amazing recipe!
Day 3
LUH-UV the Pro-Oatmeal, although I have to say I was a bit shocked to see just how little the portion size was for it. I mean, I served it with egg whites and fruit, but still, it didn't even fill the 1 cup ramekin that I had it in, and that was just disappointing! However, the burger was AMAZING, and the tomato and lentil soup was something I couldn't wait to have again.
Day 4
This was probably one of my favorite days of meal plans. I loved that I could have Feta Cheese, in fact I love all cheese, so any cheese is better than no cheese. Also, I cannot believe how much I like the hard boiled egg whites with the hummus in place of the yolk. It tasted so much like deviled eggs, that I'm pretty sure it tricked my brain into thinking it actually was deviled eggs. I was bummed when I realized later in the day that I forgot to put Feta Cheese on my pita. It was still pretty delicious, but I was bummed nonetheless! And steak on my salad, well, I am a red meat lover, so that was a nice little treat.
Day 5 repeated Day 1's meal plan, and Day 7 repeated Day 3's meal plan, so there were no big surprises there. Day 6 did have a tiny bit of a change up in that I made the Roast Beef Sandwich (I wish I had done that earlier in the week, it was delicious), and the Grilled Tuna over Mixed Greens got a bit of a remix because of what we had left in the fridge.
Day 6
The Roast Beef Sandwich was amazing, and I ended up modifying the Tuna Salad again because I couldn't find tuna steak, and I put an over easy egg on the salad because I didn't have any hard boiled. I also used the remainder of some canned tomatoes because I didn't have any fresh tomatoes, and I didn't want to waste what I had already opened.
I do want to briefly touch on how I felt during this 7-Day Metabolic Jump-Start Plan because I think it's important for other people to realize that this journey is not easy, even for someone who has made the clean eating jump already, and knows how to organize and set up a menu plan, and shopping list.
The first couple days of this Challenge we extremely hard. The workouts weren't nearly as intense as Asylum, which I had just finished, but the lack of calories really did a number on my energy levels. I know that the second day at work was a real challenge, not only for myself, but for the other girls who were working that night as well. We were all hungry, we were all tired, and we were all cranky. When your body is used to a certain number of calories, and you introduce a new and different workout, you're going to see a reaction in how you function and how you sleep. FACT. I found that my Coaching really took place during these first few days when we were all getting in the swing of things, and were struggling to adjust our daily caloric intake.
Just like my workouts, I approached this caloric deficit day-by-day, crossing off each day on my calendar. Was I hungry the first couple of days? ABSOLUTELY, but I trucked on until I was feeling amazing by day four. I had adjusted to the calories that I was taking in, I was in a rhythm with my meal planning, and I was enjoying being introduced to new recipes. I had totally fallen into a rut with my clean eating where I was eating the same snack all of the time, and preparing the same meals all of the time because I was getting lazy, and not paying attention to what my body needed.
Below you will find a video on how to transition from the 7-Day Metabolic Jump-Start Plan to the day-to-day menu planning for the remainder of the program. So, if you're someone who is interested in the program, and is curious what the meal plans are like, or you're someone who's currently doing the program, and needs help moving forward, definitely check it out!
Stay tuned throughout the next couple months, as this journey continues for myself, and my Challenge Group girls. Who knows, maybe I can get one of them to share their experience with changing over to a new clean eating lifestyle!
Until then, KEEP STRONG. KEEP MOVING. And, KEEP PUSHING PLAY!!!
