Insanity Week 2: Let's Eat!

Think about that for a minute.  I'm guessing that if you're like most people losing weight and improving the shape of your body automatically triggers thoughts of boring, tasteless food, constant hunger, and possibly pills or shakes with an ingredient list that is not only long, but also mostly unpronounceable.  I was one of those people for a very long time. The keyword here is was.  Over the years I've learned to eat a mostly healthy mix of foods balanced with some not so healthy treats.  Let me tell you, it's been way easier sticking to this way of eating rather than trying to subsist on lettuce or shakes.

The Insanity Nutrition program is definitely not a diet.  It's a fueling system because the body is a lot like a car, it needs good fuel to run.  So, what does a typical day of fueling for Insanity look like?  I'll show you.

The Refrigerator Is Near Capacity Every Sunday Night

In the interest of saving time, money, and what's left of my sanity, I try to alternate 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 2 sets of snacks all week and then have a different dinner every night. I also tend to gravitate towards foods that can be made ahead of time, travel well (I keep all my food for the day in my Feed Bag, so space is an issue), and can be eaten at my desk.  The Insanity Nutrition Guide has lots of really yummy sounding food, but until my office lets me put a mini fridge in my office and installs a stove, I'll only be enjoying those on the weekends when I can make and consume them at home!  I'll talk about weekend eats in a future post.

Breakfast: I've been alternating between Proatmeal and PBJ toast with a side of cottage cheese.

Proatmeal tastes like a cross between cake batter and berry crisp, so it's almost like having dessert for breakfast.  Ingredients: 1/2 cup plain oatmeal, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1/2 cup skim milk, 3/4 cup fresh berries

PBJ Toast w/ Cottage Cheese: 1 slice whole grain bread, 1 tbsp natural pb, 1/2 tbsp natural jam, 1/2 cup 1% milk fat cottage cheese - large rocket fuel optional, but highly recommended.

AM Snack: This week has been all about the Apple Walnut Yogurt Mess and the TBLT.

I was initially really skeptical about the Apple Walnut Yogurt Mess since I've never been a fan of plain yogurt, but I'm now a convert. It has a nicer sounding name in the nutrition guide, but really, let's call it what it is - a mess!  Ingredients: 3/4 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt (I like Chobani 0%), 1/2 an apple - diced, 2 tbsp chopped walnuts, and a drizzle of honey.  I stir the whole thing together the night before and when I get around to eating it around 11:30, the apples are still crunchy and not even thinking about turning brown.  It's also super filling.

The Turkey Bacon Lettuce and Tomato (TBLT) is pretty standard, but still pretty good.  I microwave 3 slices of turkey bacon and pack it up along with some tomato slices and mixed greens.  Then, when it's food o'clock, I drop a couple slices of bread in the office toaster and I'm eating in under 3 minutes - as long as no one stops me on the way back to my desk!

Lunch: I don't know about you, but by the time lunch time rolls around, I'm usually elbows deep in some work-related thing and can only go about 30 seconds at a crack without someone coming into my office.  Thus, I've learned that my lunches need to be cold (or I have to make multiple irritating trips to the microwave) and easily pushed aside when necessary.  This week's lunches were a Roast Beast Pita and a Chicken Ranch Wrap.

The Roast Beast Pita is pretty basic: 1/2 whole wheat pita, 4oz lean roast beef, tomato slices, and a good handful of dark greens - shove in pita and consume along with a small piece of fruit.

I know this picture sucks, but you'll just have to take my word that the contents of the Chicken Ranch Wrap are delicious: Whole grain tortilla, 2oz grilled chicken, sliced tomato, dark greens, 1 tbsp of yogurt ranch dressing, and 2 thin slices of avocado.  I actually contemplated unwrapping this thing just to take a picture of the insides, but I was too interested in wolfing it down!

PM Snack: By the time my fourth meal of the day rolls around at about 4:30pm, I'm usually pretty damn happy to be eating.  The timing of this meal is also really important because I need to eat late enough fuel to get through my workout when I get home, but not too late or I feel like it's going to come back up during said workout!  This week's 4th Meal has been either 1/2 a pbj sandwich with cottage cheese (eaten on Proatmeal breakfast days) or grown up, homemade Lunchables.  Yes, I'm eating like a 4 year old, but sometimes I like indulging my inner child.

Same deal as the PBJ toast for breakfast - minus the toasted part!

The grown up Lunchable is just kind of fun. 100 calories worth of whole grain melba toast (my brand of choice happens to come in convenient, 5 packs that happen to contain the right number of calories), 2oz turkey, 2oz ham, and 1 ounce of swiss cheese.

Dinner:  Mr. R&R and I usually finish our workouts around 7:00-7:30pm and dinner needs to be both healthy and  quick because we still need to do dishes and food prep for the next day.  I forgot to take a picture of Monday's dinner, but here are the four other quick, healthy, and still really good tasting dinners we had over the course of the week.

Tuesday - Dinner Scramble: 1 egg, 2 egg whites, 1/2 box of spinach, 1/4 cup reduced-fat feta, and a slice of dry toast.  This is definitely the fastest and easiest of all our dinners.

Wednesday - Citrus Chicken with Honey Carrots: 5oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, 2 tbsp lemon juice, paprika, peeled and chopped carrots (Walter and Spot were thrilled to get the green leafy tops for their dinner), and a little honey.  Ready in about 25 minutes!

Thursday - Steak, Potato and Broccoli: I think this is one of my favorite meals in the book.  5oz filet (I like mine so rare it's almost moo-ing), small baked potato topped with spicy brown mustard, and steamed broccoli.

Friday - Baked Tilapia with Mixed Veggies: Tilapia Filet, 1 tsp olive oil, 2 tbsp whole grain bread crumbs, sea salt, pepper, and a bag of microwaveable mixed veggies. These tilapia filets were about 8oz each.  The nutrition guide calls for a 6oz filet, but I'm willing to take what I can get at the market. 20 minutes in the oven and we were eating.

As far as the workouts went this week, it was the same set of workouts as Week 1 with the addition of a 15 minute Cardio Abs workout after Saturday's Pure Cardio session.  The workouts felt a little more manageable this week, but I was still pouring sweat by the second round of the warm up and felt completely used up by the time I was done.  I think Plyometric Cardio Circuit kicks my ass the most, but Pure Cardio feels like the hardest workout - if that makes any sense?

Monday: Rest day due to mandatory happy hour.
Tuesday: Pure Cardio - I need pure oxygen after this one.  I actually crawled over to my water.
Wednesday: Plyometric Cardio Circuit - Level 1 drills followed by ski abs...ow!
Thursday: Cardio Recovery - Yoga, squats, and lunges.  Still hate lunges.
Friday: Cardio Power and Resistance - I made it through the walking push ups!
Saturday: Pure Cardio + Cardio Abs - What Fresh Hell Is This? I'm already dead and now there's an ab workout?  I thought I had strong abs.  WRONG!
Sunday: Rest - Time for meal planning, grocery shopping, and preparing for the week ahead.

So there you have it, Week 2 is in the bag.  Thoughts? Comments? Questions?