Weekly Meal Plan, Food Prep, and Exercise Routine (November 2nd, 2020)

In my weekly meal plan posts, I share my meal plan, food prep pictures & tips, exercise routine, along with the progress (or not) I’ve made on my weight loss journey.  My goal with these posts is to give a little glimpse into my lifestyle and for you to see I’m human and have good and bad weeks just like everyone else.

Well, we are officially in November! This means it’s time to think about goals for the month. But, it also means we are only 2 months away from 2021. Hallelujah! 

If there’s one thing that all of us can agree on it’s that we are ready for 2020 to be over! I’m definitely a glass-half-full kind of girl but, I’ll admit, this year had me stressed at times. But, I’ve learned that I can’t worry about things I can’t control, all I can do is adapt and overcome. So, that’s what I try to do. 

Basically, I just keep it moving.

Okay, before I jump into November goals I just want to give a final update on October goals. Overall, I accomplished the goals I set for myself in October. You can read more about that in last week’s meal plan. 

The goal that I couldn’t report on last week was the “no candy” Halloween challenge because I wrote my meal plan prior to the challenge. But I’m happy to say that for the 6th year in a row I completed the “no candy” Halloween challenge. This simply means I didn’t eat one piece of candy on Halloween. 

I started doing this challenge as a way to reset my self-discipline. At that time, I was really getting off track so I decided to focus on staying away from candy on the biggest candy day of the year. Well, it worked. I woke up the next day feeling accomplished and proud that I did it. 6 years later and I still had those same feelings waking up on Sunday.

If you’re lacking in discipline then I recommend giving yourself a 1-day “no” challenge. Basically, stay away from one trigger food for one day. You’ll learn that if you can do for it 1 day then you can do 2, and so on. 

Let’s get to November’s goals.

As I’ve said before, most of my monthly goals build off the previous months. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel every month. Instead, I’m trying to get better. That’s not saying I don’t add some new goals in but, for the most part, I’m always trying to focus on getting better at what’s working for me.

Keep exercising 4-5 times a week. I going into my 4th month of consistent exercise. Not every week has been easy, and there have been many days I had to force myself to walk 30 minutes on the treadmill. But I did it and I plan to continue this into November. I’ve been following the exercise routines I put together for the Organize Yourself Skinny eBook Bundle. You can see a version of it below. You can purchase the OYS Bundle here.

Continue to drink green smoothies 4-5 a week. Bottom line, smoothies help me feel amazing. I can tell the difference immediately when I don’t drink one. So, these will continue to be a priority this month.

Protect my weekend meal prep time. In the last few weeks, I haven’t been able to meal prep until Monday. Our weekends have been busy and, instead of making meal prep a priority, I just put it off until Monday. Is this a huge deal? Yes, because even though I still get meal prep done it sets me back an entire day with work. So this month I’m focusing on protecting my Sunday meal prep time even if that means cooking meatballs at 6:00 am!

Keep carbs to under 100 grams. I do best on a lower-carb diet. I feel better and it’s easier to manage my weight. 100 grams also helps me keep good carbs a part of my diet without feeling deprived. I’ll use My Fitness Pal to keep track.

Continue to keep sugar out of my coffee. I’ll admit I’ve been slacking on this a little bit. Ugh. This is obviously always going to be an issue for me. My goal is to only use heavy cream Monday – Friday and then allow myself to have some french vanilla creamer on the weekends. 

Keep up with my night routine. In October, I made it a priority to have the kitchen cleaned up before bed. This was so helpful! It allowed me to wake up in the morning and get right to exercise and then get started with work. I’m going to continue this into November.

Stock my freezer with 2 breakfast recipes and 4 dinners. Okay, last month I wanted to stock my freezer with all kinds of food. I had big dreams. Well, it didn’t happen. I decided this month to set a smaller goal of 2 breakfast recipes and 4 dinners. Setting an actual number makes it more realistic and actionable. 

Those are my major goals for November. I’d love to read your goals, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Progress this week

Clothes are continuing to fit great! There’s nothing that makes me happier than putting on a pair of jeans and feeling comfortable. Or just feeling comfortable in a tighter fitting top. I have some clothes coming from Trunk Club today and I can’t wait to try them on! If you’re interested in working with a stylist, and having clothes delivered to your door, then read my Trunk Club Review. I get all of my clothes from Trunk Club or Stitch fix so when you see a picture of me you can bet I got the clothes I’m wearing from one of those two places. 

I see my legs, arms, and tummy starting to change shape. Little by little I can see my body starting to change and this motivates me to keep going. I know that these changes are the direct result of staying consistent with my toning routine. Cardio is helping for burning calories but building muscles helps to burn fat…and continues burning fat longer. 

Other happenings

I have a box of Sun Basket dinners coming today! I excited about receiving these meals because, while I planned out and prepped breakfast and lunch this week, I slacked on dinners. So, I’m looking forward to getting 3 healthy dinners delivered to my door. If you want to give Sun Basket a try here’s a $35 off coupon. Or for more information read my Sun Basket Review.

Also, Butcher Box is still running their free Thanksgiving turkey sale. New subscribers get a free 10 – 14 lb turkey. This sale ends on November 15th. Get your turkey here. Butcher Box is my favorite company to purchase organic meats and seafood. If you want to learn more about this organic meat delivery service then read my Butcher Box review.

Exercise routine

My exercise routine stays basically the same week after week. I do think, starting in December, I’m going to focus on some other toning exercises to add. But for this month, I’m going to continue with my same routine.

My goal is to burn between 500-600 calories a workout.

Monday

45 minutes on the treadmill.  I do a mix of walking, power-walking (on an incline), and running. 

Core –

•  2 (30-second) planks
• 50 crunches
• 50 side crunches
• 2 (30-second) Russian twists

Arms –  I do 3 sets of each:

• 8-10 bicep curls
• 8-10 tricep extensions
• 8-10 front lateral raises
• 8-10 side lateral raises
• 8-10 dumb-bell kickback

Tuesday

Cardio – 45 minutes on the treadmill.  I do a mix of walking, power-walking (on an incline), and running. My goal is to burn between 350 – 400 calories.

Core –

•  2 (30-second) planks
• 50 crunches
• 50 side crunches
• 2 (30-second) Russian twists

Legs and Butt –  do 3 sets of these

• 12 – 15 plie squats
• 12 – 15 squats
• 12 – 15 lounges on each leg

Thursday

Cardio – 45 minutes on the treadmill.  I do a mix of walking, power-walking (on an incline), and running. My goal is to burn between 350 – 400 calories.

Core –

•  2 (30-second) planks
• 50 crunches
• 50 side crunches
• 2 (30-second) Russian twists

Arms –  I do 3 sets of each:

• 8-10 bicep curls
• 8-10 tricep extensions
• 8-10 front lateral raises
• 8-10 side lateral raises
• 8-10 dumb-bell kickback

Friday

Cardio – 45 minutes on the treadmill.  I do a mix of walking, power-walking (on an incline), and running. My goal is to burn between 350 – 400 calories.

Core –

•  2 (30-second) planks
• 50 crunches
• 50 side crunches
• 2 (30-second) Russian twists

Legs and Butt –  do 3 sets of these

• 12 – 15 plie squats
• 12 – 15 squats
• 12 – 15 lounges on each leg

Saturday

Cardio – 45 minutes on the treadmill.  I do a mix of walking, power-walking (on an incline), and running. My goal is to burn between 350 – 400 calories.

Core –

•  2 (30-second) planks
• 50 crunches
• 50 side crunches
• 2 (30-second) Russian twists

Arms –  I do 3 sets of each:

• 8-10 bicep curls
• 8-10 tricep extensions
• 8-10 front lateral raises
• 8-10 side lateral raises
• 8-10 dumb-bell kickback

Weekly Meal Plan

Breakfast

Detox Smoothie

Steel Cut Oats

Meal prep tips

• I put together detox smoothie kits last week and still have a couple leftover. If I run out I plan to make a smoothie the morning I drink it.
• I going to make a batch of steel-cut oats today. My daughter loves this oatmeal so I make it more for her but we have some on my non-smoothie days.

Lunch

Protein Power Mason Jar Salads

Mike’s work salads

Meal prep tips

• I made both mine and Mike’s salads for the week on Monday. Our lunch salads are always a priority so no matter what these get done.

Dinner

Leftover Slow-Cooker Classic Chili

Italian Meatloaf and roasted potatoes

Sun Basket Meals

Meal prep tips

• I made the chili last week. We had leftovers on Monday and then I froze the rest.
• The meatloaf and potatoes I made yesterday for dinner.
• Sun Basket recipes will be made the night we eat them.

Meal prep supplies I used this week

32-ounce Wide Mouth Mason Jars – I used these to prepare my mason jar salads for the week.

Ello Rectangle 3.4 cup rectangle containers – I use these to store my husband’s salads. These containers fit perfectly into his Stanley lunchbox.

Pyrex Simply Store containers – I’ll use these to store any leftovers from the meatloaf or Sun Basket meals this week.

If you’re looking for meal planning guidance then check out my free healthy meal planning guide.

Other meal planning and prep resources

Green Chef – This organic meal kit company is my favorite for Keto and Low-carb meal kit options. Their balanced living menu also works well for families. To learn more, read my Green Chef Review.

Daily Harvest – If you’re looking to stock the freezer with delicious vegan grab n go meals and smoothies then Daily Harvest is a great option in a cup. See my Daily Harvest review for more information.

Hello Fresh – The best meal kit to feed the whole family. See my updated Hello Fresh Review.