It’s week two but it seems I’ve been training forever! My biggest challenge remains diet. While abs may be built in the gym, they’re ultimately revealed in the kitchen, and my abs are comfortably buried despite their shape. I feel the hardness underneath my little belly flab but can’t seem to put the chips down.
While I was first excited about Anna Victoria’s meal plan in the app, it proves to be unrealistic if you’re feeding the family. I’d have to double my cooking time every day in order to cook meals for myself and my family. Since the app only provides one portion, I would have to dabble with doubling or quadrupling the ingredients every day. Even if I did so, my family has no desire to follow a workout meal plan with me, opting for hot dogs and casseroles as their meals of choice.
Let’s add the fact that we’re under quarantine into the equation. Most of the ingredients in the meal plan don’t last for more than a few days, so stocking up ahead of time and reducing grocery store visits doesn’t work. I found myself using leftover ingredients to make bulk meals for the family instead of one-person meals for myself.
The Diet & Exercise Progress
Despite wonky eating, I managed to stay around 1,700 calorie intake this week. To give a quick idea what’s going in:
Monday: Blueberry cereal bar, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich, Chicken tonkatsu ramen bowl, 2 whole wheat tortillas topped with Mexican cheese blend (toasted), Salami and fontina sandwich, Coleslaw with avocado, chickpeas and turkey meatballs.
Tuesday: Blueberry cereal bar x2, 2 whole wheat tortillas topped with Mexican cheese blend (toasted), Greek yogurt with strawberries and granola, Baked salmon with a side of homemade beet and cabbage slaw
Wednesday: Baked salmon with a side of homemade beet and cabbage slaw, Cinnamon toast crunch with almond milk, Ezekiel bread with fontina cheese, Hot buffalo wing pretzel pieces, peanut butter granola bars, 4 pancakes with maple syrup.
I don’t confine breakfast foods solely to breakfast, as you can see by the above list going from breakfast to dinner consumption by day.
The Plan Going Forward
Since my biggest challenge remains the diet, I’ll have to simply pay attention to the calorie intake in order to shed any fat without sacrificing muscle. I can’t dip too low and I have to be careful not to surpass my upper limits. Keeping myself in a range of 1400-1800 should theoretically help me eliminate extra pounds and keep my muscles.
As far as exercise, I tend to push it off as late as possible. Meaning, I typically do my workouts around 9 PM three times a week and for LISS I do yard work three times a week in the afternoon. This works for me so I’ll keep going with it.
