What’s On the Menu: Week 1

Once I got my Conscious Muscle meal plan I immediately started dreaming up ways to put my own spin on it. The way the plan is structured, you choose an item from 1-5 columns for each meal ( or ‘feedings’ as I’ve dubbed them 😅), and those foods combined, in the specified amounts, will meet your caloric and macro goals for the meal. BUT, having the macro and caloric targets meant I could also use My FitnessPal to plan meals in advance and combine them to see where I’d be at the end of the day.

Personally, I think of calories and now macros as a budget. I have to spend them wisely to get the most bang for my buck. So this is how I decided to spend part of my budget in week 1.

Red Lentils & Air Fried Sweet Potato Bowl (Lunch)

Calories: 406 Carbs: 81g Fat: 9g Protein: 23g

Red Lentils + Arugula is a delicious combination.

Vegan Scallopini, Lentils & Quinoa (Dinner)

Calories: 395 Carbs: 56g Fat: 8g Protein: 31g – forgot to snap a photo of this one, sorry!

A Note on Preparation & Seasoning

I’m primarily boiling, air-frying or oven roasting all my ingredients to avoid adding oils and extra calories. For these meals, I air-fried the sweet potatoes and scallopini and boiled everything else. This week my top seasonings were garlic or garlic salt, lemon pepper, lemon juice and Himalayan Pink Salt. I also added some fresh cilantro for additional flavor.

But What About Breakfast?

I kept things easy this week for breakfast — when I remembered to eat/drink it. Breakfast is the meal I am least likely to eat so it’s definitely going to be a struggle to make it a regular part of my morning. I’ve found that the easier it is to make and take the better so I stuck with this simple green smoothie.

Vanilla Bean Protein Shake (Breakfast)

Calories: 208 Carbs: 19g Fat: 8g Protein: 23g

The rest of my calories throughout the day include my post-workout protein shake, aka more Orgain blended with water, Fuji Apples, extra sweet potato or the occasional 1/2 avocado for snacks and 6oz of Yellowtail Pinot Noir (it’s vegan-friendly) after dinner. Moving forward I’m going to work on continuing to pack in the protein without taking in more carbs, remembering breakfast, and staying on track with avoiding random snacks during the day.