Tag Archives: Food Prep

REVERSE DIET – WEEK 5 RECAP

Reverse Diet Week 5 FitQuestMomWeek 1 11.2.15 FitQuestAt the very top you will see my Week 5 Reverse Diet progress pictures as compared to Week 1 (directly below that set of pictures).

My weekly update is coming to you a bit early because my schedule next week may not permit my normal Monday check-in.

Date:  11/28/15

Height: 5’8 3/4″

Weight: 129.4 this morning (130.7 at my week 4 recap / 134.8lb at end of cut).

Below is my weight log for the past week and a half.  Despite adding calories in on Monday I continued to lose weight each and every day, so I added in MORE calories on Thursday…that’s two increases this past week (Monday and Thursday).  Thankfully my increase on Thursday and my refeed yesterday resulted in me not losing any more weight this morning.

I definitely do not want to lose any more weight, which is why I keep increasing my calories.

Week 5 weight Reverse Diet

Last Week of CUT Macros:

Monday -Thursday & Saturday 1555 calories 125C / 140P / 55F

Friday 1792 calories 190C / 150P / 48F (heaviest weight lifting day)

Sunday 1562 calories 106C / 145P / 62F (rest day)

Week 4’s Macros:

Monday -Thursday & Saturday 1682 calories 165C / 125P / 58F

Friday 1919 calories 230C / 135P / 51F (heaviest weight lifting day)

Sunday 1665 calories 145C / 125P / 65F (rest day)

Week 5’s Macros (Monday’s Increase):

Monday -Thursday & Saturday 1740 calories 170C / 130P / 60F

Friday 1948 calories 235C / 135P / 52F (Refeed day.  Not lifting now, but keeping this higher cal day.)

Sunday 1714 calories 150C / 130P / 66F (rest day)

Week 5’s Macros (Thursday’s Increase):

Monday -Thursday & Saturday 1778 calories 175C / 130P / 62F

Friday 1986 calories 240C / 135P / 54F (Refeed day.  Not lifting now, but keeping this higher cal day.)

Sunday 1752 calories 155C / 130P / 68F (rest day)

NEXT Week’s Macros:

If I continue to lose weight this coming week I will do ANOTHER increase on Monday.  I may not have access to a scale for the next week, so I will have to go by how I feel and how my clothes are fitting.

TOTAL MACRO INCREASES TO DATE:

Monday -Thursday & Saturday +223 calories +50C / -10P / +7F

Friday +194 calories +50C / -15P / +6F (Refeed day.  Not lifting now, but keeping this higher cal day.)

Sunday +190 calories +51C / -15P / +6F (rest day)

Week 5 Abs Reverse Diet FitQuest Balanced Grettie (1)Workout Plan:

I have been staying active by doing a lot of cooking and having people in town, but haven’t technically exercised since my walk last weekend.  This coming week I MAY do some light weight training depending upon how I feel, but I do plan on doing at least 5 days of some easy cardio.

My body has been getting very stiff from the lack of exercise.

Comments:

This was a wonderful holiday week for me.  ALL of my immediate family came and stayed at my house (15 of us) and it was so nice to be together.  My kiddos and their cousins have so much fun together.  Earlier in the week I cooked a Chinese meal for everyone and it was so yummy.  When it is just the four of us I usually only cook 1 dish, so it is nice to be able to do a banquet and get a taste of many different dishes when there are a lot of people around.

Chinese Food Prep (2) Chinese Food Prep (1)

Our Thanksgiving was another great feast with ham, and two different turkeys.  One turkey was brined and smoked and the other was brined, cooked sous vide, and then fried (OMG!!!).

Thanksgiving FitQuestMomI am feeling better each day and look forward to another week of healing.

______________________________

Click HERE to see the weekly logs of my 8 Weeks to 40 Cut

Click HERE to see the recap of Week 1 of my Reverse Diet

Click HERE to see the recap of Week 2 of my Reverse Diet

Click HERE to see the recap of Week 3 & 4 of my Reverse Diet

Click HERE to see the recap of Week 6 of my Reverse Diet

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Filed under Education, Exercise, IIFYM and Macros, Nutrition, Reverse Dieting, Rhabdomyolysis, Weight Issues, Weight Lifting

How I Prep Chicken & Grilled Veggies

I am a big-time food prepper.  In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle it has to be easy and for me that means keeping healthy food in the fridge ready to go.  It’s easy to grab some carbs to round out a meal, so having some protein and veggies ready is key.

For years now I have been prepping mass quantities of chicken breasts every few weeks.  I’d rather do a WHOLE BUNCH every once in a while than every few days.  BBQ in bulk I say.

This is the method that works for me and I thought it might be of interest to you.  My Greek marinade recipe is so simple and not a perfect science in that it is a little bit different every time…I don’t do any precise measurements when I make it.  Growing-up my parents made a Greek Lemon Oregano Chicken and that is what this is based on.

With regards to counting macros, I know some people would count the lemon and the olive oil, but I take a somewhat laid-back approach to that and don’t include that in my daily macros because let’s be honest, most of the olive oil cooks off on the BBQ and just makes it so it doesn’t stick to the grill.  Now, if my chicken had a sauce poured over it after it had been prepared and was served to me that way, I would most definitely count that in my daily macros.

For the “cup” measurements I just use those that are written on the side of my Vitamix.  Today I doubled the recipe since I was making 15 chicken breasts as well as 2 bunches of grilled asparagus.

Balanced Grettie Greek Lemon Oregano Marinade Collage

Greek Lemon Oregano Marinade

  • 1 cup lemon juice
  • 1 cup organic olive oil (I buy mine at Costco)
  • 1 head of garlic, break apart the cloves and peel them
  • 1 Tbs kosher salt
  • 1 Tbs whole pepper corns
  • 1/4 cup dried oregano

Method

Place all ingredients EXCEPT for the dried oregano into the Vitamix and blend until smooth.  Add the dried oregano and blend briefly so you preserve the leaves and don’t pulverize them (just personal preference).

CHICKEN & VEGGIE PREP

When it comes to prepping the chicken, the best trick I have discovered is to pound it.  By pounding the chicken and making it all the same thickness, you end-up with evenly cooked chicken and chicken that BBQs a heck of a lot faster!  It is super moist vs. having uneven dry spots like so often happens with THICK chicken breasts  (as long as you don;t overcook it!).

I allow the chicken to marinade for 4-8 hours…with this amount of lemon overnight would be TOO much (learned that the hard way)!  Make sure you reserve some of the marinade for your veggies.  This works awesome with asparagus, zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc.

I like to place a flat black trash bag on my counter in order to avoid chicken juice flying everywhere (and it makes the clean-up a snap).  I also pound the chicken inside a produce bag from the grocery store for the same reason.  As for how the rest of the prep goes…I’ll tell it in pictures.

Balanced Grettie Chicken Prep pounded

Balanced Grettie Lemon oregano Greek Chicken prep pounding method Balanced Grettie Marinating Asparagus in a bag

Chicken Asparagus Prep 2

Once my chicken is BBQ’d and has cooled, I put about 4 breasts in the fridge and I vacuum pack bags of 4 and put them in the freezer.  When I am running out of prepped chicken in the fridge I pull out a bag from the freezer and defrost it in cold water (MUCH better result than defrosting in the microwave…I’m not a huge microwave fan).

Do any of you have food prep tricks you’d like to share?

 

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Filed under Gluten Free, IIFYM and Macros, Main Dish, Nutrition, Paleo, Quick, Quick Tips, Recipes, Sauce / Spread / Jam / Yogurt