Meal Plan Week 14

Let this be motivation for you. The scale does not define you. It does not define your hard work. It does not measure the worth of your effort. It is just a number in a box. Don't let the scale put you in a box.

I KILLED IT last week with my workouts. I got a workout in every single day, except for Saturday. I made it to the gym M-W-F-Su, and rocked a T25 workout on T-Th. I even got a little yard work done on Saturday, so I wasn't a complete couch potato. I'm noticing my endurance increasing with my elliptical and bike routines. I'm lifting heavier and for more reps, and adding in new free weight strength exercises.

I knew I was going to have 2 meals out this week, so I tried to pinch my calories where I could. I made a couple dietary mistakes, but I recognized them and talked about them with E so I wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

I lost no weight.

It's craft beer week here in Pittsburgh. The coolest part of that is all the collaboration brews. How cool is it that brewers around the city get together to brew unique, small brewed collaboration beers? These beers are only available during craft beer week, and when they're gone, they're gone. Finding these beers often involves a scavenger hunt around the city. This year there were 8 different collabs, and they were all on tap at my neighborhood craft beer and pizza place! Now now, don't worry your pretty little head. I did not drink 8 beers (whew! maybe that's why the scale isn't moving!). I thought I was going to have to drink 8 beers to taste all of the collabs, but thank goodness for flights! Caliente, the craft beer pizza place, offered 4 4oz pours of the beers. So in trying all 8, I only consumed 16oz of beer (I split the flights with my husband).

It's all about choices people. Last year I fo sho would have been drinking 8 beers. Because I needed them after working in the ICU, lol! But really, every little choice that you make helps you get one step closer to being a healthier you. Eat an apple instead of that cookie, swap popcorn for potato chips, take the stairs instead of the elevator.

The scale hasn't moved in a week. It's not the end of the world. I am smarter. I am stronger. I am healthier. Focus on the positive improvements that you're making to your life, and I promise that you will see progress. Good luck with focusing on your goals this week!

Here's what we have on the dinner menu this week. I'm recycling some stuff that didn't get eaten last week.

Monday:

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Tuesday:

Southwest Stuffed Peppers and Mexican Rice

Wednesday:
Ranch Pork Chop Shake 'n Bake

Thursday:

Teryaki Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce and Jasmin Rice

Friday:

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Meal Plan Week 10

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone (knowingly belated)! We've certainly been celebrating here in our house. My husband is part Irish, and we use that as an excuse to indulge in stereotypical Irish-American traditions. Did you know that Pittsburgh is the best city in the country to celebrate? According to this blog post at least. We won because of our great access to bars, St. Patrick's Day Facebook hype, percent of Irish (13.5%), and the year a parade was established (1869). However, we learned long ago that going downtown to celebrate with the masses is pure insanity. There's typically at least a 40 minute wait for drinks, which is only if you can get into a bar. By noon there are lines out the door to almost every bar in the city. We started our own tradition of staying home and getting drunk off car bombs from the comfort of our couch. It's much easier to stumble into bed that way!

Pittsburgh had their big celebration on 3/14, so that's when we had our little shindig too. We had an Irish Brunch drink with breakfast, busted out the fondue set for Irish Whiskey and Cheddar fondue, and rounded out the afternoon and evening with lots of Guinness and car bombs. Here's how we stretched the holiday into the rest of the week. Sorry, no recipe links this week! Everything was made from scratch by moi, no recipes needed.

Monday:

Bangers and Mash

Tuesday:

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Wednesday:

Reuben Sandwiches and Sauerkraut

Thursday:

Homemade Corn Beef Hash and Fried Eggs

Friday:

DOUBLE FISH FRY!

*lunch and dinner, yay!*

Have a great week everyone!