Hello! How are you doing? I’m good and hunkered down inside because of the rain. Is this El Nino or what????!?! I’ve lived in Southern California my entire life (expect for that one year in Maryland when I was young and dumb and full of love). Anyway. It has NEVER rained this much here ever ever ever. I don’t even know what is going on here.
(Sporting Sketchers Go Run 4. They are super light and dried super fast after my last run)
I ran 10 miles this morning aiming for a good pace. Running quicker on tired legs is going to help me since I have a lot of races coming up!
I’m running the Los Angeles Marathon coming up in March and just put up a countdown on the fridge. I am on a mission to really train hard and get it together. I really want to PR this year and have a few races coming up already. But, I didn’t realize how soon LA was so I’m eating, sleeping and breathing marathon training right now. And I really dig it!!
Post-run I made a big green smoothie. I hold it with a towel so my hand doesn’t freeze.
Vegas is keeping me company as I blog and check email. After lunch time he moves from the bedroom to the front room for a little while. I think he considers this a nap. Then, he eats 4 bites of food and goes back to sleep in the room.
I’m roasting up a big pan of cauliflower right now and it reminded me about something I wanted to ask you about…
Last night I was talking to my bff about meal planning. She is a single mom who works full time and doesn’t like to cook. So she wants quick, easy dinner ideas that her kids will eat. I’m working with her on this – but I’m curious what (if any) kind of help you need on this.
Do you meal prep? Do you meal plan? Why or why not??
Run Eat Reader
Lindsay emailed me this week to share her victorious post-race picture!! She ran her first marathon last weekend! Congratulations Lindsay!!! I thought this was super awesome and wanted to share.
If you want to share your Running Win feel free to email me with what you did and a picture. It doesn’t have to be a race – just a pic of your win that you want to share.
Run Camp Day 15 – Monday Mini-Goals
What are your mini-goals for this week?
What 1 thing can you do this week that will help get you closer to goal?
Name 1 or 2 mini-goals and write them down on your Running Goals Worksheet.
Examples of mini-goals:
Stick to training plan – specifically –> Make sure to leave work on time so I am able to run… Wake up early enough to be able to run…
Buy a foam roller and use it 2x this week.
Sign up for the race I’ve been thinking about.
Note distance, time and how I felt in running log after every run.
It’s called climate change.
Meal prep for weekday dinners – so cooking abt 1-2 times a week. Weekends are mostly about eating out with family and friends.
Yes I absolutely meal plan! I do all my shopping for the week on Saturday or Sunday and usually plan 4 or 5 meals for the week. Leftovers are eaten on the other days. I usually always have 1 crockpot meal, 1 vegetarian meal to help save money, etc. it might seem tough at the beginning but it gets easier as you do it.
It is so wonderful that your bff is in a totally different life phase than you – I think it’s awesome when friendship endures despite very different life circumstances. That’s like me and my sis, she is single and workin’ full time and I’m a mom of 3 soon to be 4 and work part time, and we are besties.
I’m an also an RD and I would say you don’t have to like to cook, but you do HAVE to plan if you want to eat healthy without spending a million dollars. SIGH!! it’s true. I think a single working mama’s best friend is her slow cooker, as well as inexpensive, heathy, partially prepared foods (i.e. frozen veggie medleys from Trader Joe’s + seasoned chicken breast + instant rice to throw together after work for a quick but healthy dinner). I cook from scratch sometimes but I cook like that A LOT. Like, most of the time. And it’s great. And healthy. So there 😉
I make meals every other Sunday and freeze them. They usual have a protein, roasted veggies and some whole grain. It’s basically like my own version of lean cuisine but all healthy no preservatives. I get about 10 meals to span 2 weeks and then fill in remaining slots with simple things like eggs or oatmeal or tuna or soup.
I definitely meal plan and meal prep 🙂 I usually grocery shop on Thurs or Fri after work so I plan out dinners for the following week. I usually try and make 3 fresh things and 2 pantry things so that if we eat out it won’t be a big deal if I wait until the next week to make it. I almost always try and have stuff for spaghetti and tacos on hand just in case too.
For meal prepping, I either plan to make extra food on 1 or 2 nights or I prep for the whole week on Sunday night. The only problem with that is that I am usually tired of chicken and roasted veggies come Friday’s lunch 😉
We definitely meal plan and meal prep when we need to. My husband is a dietician and exercise physiologist by training but believes everything in moderation. We plan out our meals for the week on Saturday and buy everything we need. We sometimes assign a night for a meal because it is easy to prepare (and our kids have a function) or because we have time for something more complicated. I usually take leftovers to work for lunch. I cannot imagine not planning our meals for the week! I hate going to the grocery store and would end up eating out every single night!
Yes meal prepping is key for me to eat healthy through the week. I am not a fan of cooking so only cooking 1-2 times a week is a good thing. I workout every day after work so I do not get home until 6-7pm every night. So with meal prepping I always have healthy options on hand for meals and snacks.
I used to meal plan and meal prep a lot. Until Wednesday came through and I didn’t want to keep eating what I had. So now I’m just trying to meal plan and eat freshly cooked food every day. It’s a little bit more of effort but makes my eating experience more enjoyable for sure.
I used to meal plan but I stopped – and now I can’t get back into it! I really want to though, because I was a lot healthier when I did.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com