Weekly Meal Plan, Food Prep, & Exercise Routine {10/19/2020}

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.

organize yourself skinny weekly meal plan

organize yourself skinny weekly meal plan

Hey there! Can you believe we’re already into the 3rd week of October! The holidays are going to be here before we know it. Also, I just looked at the calendar and we are only 11 weeks away from the New Year. I don’t know about you but I’m looking forward to putting this year behind us. Buh-bye 2020!

Before I start going all in on goal-setting for the New Year I want to pump the brakes a little bit and focus in on this month and a little anniversary of sorts that I’m celebrating.

10 years ago, this week exactly, is when I decided to start my weight loss journey. Of course, I’m sure there were 100s of times before that I “tried” to lose weight but October 2010 is when everything clicked for me and I finally made the changes I needed to make to lose weight and keep it off.

10 years later and I stayed the course. I never went back to my original weight. 

That’s not to say it’s been a perfect road this last decade. OMG, not even close. I lost weight, gained some back, lost more, stayed on plateaus, then lost again, and everything in between.

But, here I am. 45 years old and all these years later…still going strong. 

This is me this past week after a long sweaty workout. Sorry no make-up here but just keeping it real. 10 years later and I feel strong and healthy.

exercise routine

exercise routine

This picture was taken a couple months ago at our friends beach home. 

mike and I at the beach house

mike and I at the beach house

Anyway, I’m putting together a “lessons learned over the last 10 years” blog post so keep an eye out for that. If you’re not on the Organize Yourself Skinny email list then I recommend signing up so you’re always the first to know when new blog posts go up.

Sign up for emails here (I’ll send you a free meal prep guide for signing up)

Alright, let’s do a quick monthly goal check in.

This month, my goals are to:

  • Exercise 4-5 times a week. So far so good on this goal. I like to get my exercise in during the week so I can take the weekends off. However, the last couple of weeks I struggled to get in 5 days during the week so I needed to make up for it on the weekend. Unfortunately, that’s going to happen again this week. But, at least I’m getting in at least 4 days a week.
  • Keep sugar out of my coffee. During the week I’ve kept sugar out of my coffee, but I have snuck in a few tablespoons on the weekends. I really don’t want to get in the habit of drinking sugar creamer at all because I struggled so much to get rid of that habit. However, I really look forward to it on the weekend so I’m going to keep it to Saturday and Sunday morning for now and see if that works for me.
  • Drink a green smoothie 4-5 times a week. I’m doing great with this goal. As soon as I’m done with my workout I make a smoothie. I have to say that I feel so good on the days I drink smoothies. I feel alert, energized, and my stomach feels flatter. Drinking green smoothies really does make a difference with me. I just updated my how to make a green smoothie tutorial if you want to learn more.
  • Work on my night routine. Yep, I’ve been making it a priority to clean the kitchen before bed and any night chores I don’t want to deal with in the morning. Even when I’m super tired, I do it anyway and I can tell you I haven’t regretted it one time.
  • Do a freezer stock up. Unfortunately, I haven’t done this yet. I still have time though so I’m not going to worry too much. Tomorrow I’m going to look at the calendar and figure out a day where I can get this done. 
  • “No candy” halloween challenge. Halloween is still over a week away so I’m still waiting for this one but I did go to a Halloween party this weekend and didn’t have any sweets. So that counts, right?

Progress this week

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had a few non-scale victories. Each one has to do with clothes but nonetheless I experienced progress and results.

  1. I tightened my belt one notch. I wasn’t expecting that but it was awesome when it happened.
  2. I wore a sweater that I’ve owned for over a year yet never wore it because I didn’t feel comfortable. It’s a little tighter in the tummy area and that’s always been one of my trouble spots. But for the first time it fit nicely and I felt confident in it.
  3. My jeans are getting big. I’ve been in a comfortable, sometimes tight, size 8 for the last 4 years. In the last 1-2 weeks I’ve noticed my jeans are getting big in the stomach, legs, and butt area. So much so that I’ll probably be back into a size 6 within the next month. When I first lost weight I was a size 6 for about 6 years. Then I gained some weight back and went up to a size 8. Of course, a size 8 isn’t terrible but I feel my best when I’m a size 6. So, that’s my goal.

I believe that my progress is the direct result of making toning a priority in my exercise routine and keeping portions in check. But,toning especially in my mid-forties has made the biggest difference. 

Here’s my exercise routine for this week.

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

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

Wednesday

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

If you want an exercise routine to follow I put together 4 weeks of exercise routines in the Organize Yourself Skinny eBook Bundle. Actually, there’s so much more so if you’re interested take a couple minutes and check it out.

organize yourself skinny eBook bundle

organize yourself skinny eBook bundle

Weekly Meal Plan

Here’s what I’m eating this week.

Breakfast

Steel Cut Oats

Blueberry Smoothie

Meal prep tips

  • I made a triple batch of steel cut oats today. My daughters eat this for breakfast everyday and I plan to have a bowl on the days I don’t drink a smoothie. After the oats were cooled I stored them in 3 cup rectangle glass meal prep containers.
  • I’ll make the blueberry smoothie on the mornings I drink it.

steel cut oats meal prep

steel cut oats meal prep

Lunch

Protein Power Mason Jar Salad

Cobb Salad

Meal prep tips

  • I made both salads today and refrigerated for the week. For my husband, I prepared a Cobb salad in a rectangle Ello glass container.

mason jar salad for the week

mason jar salad for the week

Cobb salad made ahead of time

Cobb salad made ahead of time

Dinner

Cheeseburger Meatloaf & Chili-spiced Sweet Potatoes

Enchiladas using Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef

Buffalo Chicken Soup

Baked Ziti

Meal prep tips

  • I made the cheeseburger meatloaf and sweet potatoes and then stored it in glass meal prep containers. We will just heat and eat on the nights we have this.

  • I assembled the ingredients for the slow cooker Mexican beef. I’ll set this tomorrow morning.

  • Buffalo chicken soup and baked ziti I made a month or so ago and froze it into portions. On the night we’re going to eat these recipes I will warm them up in the microwave or on the stove.

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 love these glass meal prep containers and use them to store just about everything. This week I used them to store meatloaf and sweet potatoes. 

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.

Sun Basket – Sun Basket is a full-service meal kit company offering just about everything to help you sustain a healthy lifestyle. You can get meal kits, prepared meals, along with refrigerated and pantry items. See my Sun Basket Review for all of their latest offerings. 

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

Thrive Market – Thrive Market is an online marketplace that offers organic and natural food, beauty products, supplements, cleaning products, and other grocery items at great prices. Essentially, it’s an online Whole Foods with cheaper prices. I’ve been a member since 2015 and order from them monthly. You can learn more in my Thrive Market Review or check out this post with my favorite Thrive Market Items.

Butcher Box – Hands down, Butcher Box is my favorite online business to purchase organic, grass-fed, and high quality meat from. They really came through this past year when it was difficult to find any meat on grocery shelves. You can see my Butcher Box Review for more information or if you’re wondering is butcher box is worth it then check out this post where I answer that question and show you how I make it affordable for my family.

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