This week was definitely a tough one to find the time to commit to eating well and going to the gym. As the semester is coming to an end, the assignments, projects, and essays are ramping up, leaving barely anytime time to focus on myself and my wellness. Using this as my free inquiry I can see how time comnsuming it really is and how people struggling to remain consistent. It has really turned out to be a very trial-and-error topic as I still am learning how to find balance between it all.
This was my “meal prep” of the week. I decided to atleast have one healthy dinner this week as I have been so swamped and lacked the time to commit to making a huge load of food.
To make up for a lack of gym time as well as to assist in my stressful work load, I have really gotten into listening to mediational sounds as well as some ASMR..trust me it works. I really enjoy falling asleep to it and feel like I fall asleep faster and sleep better. Below is a video I have been falling asleep to.
This week, I filmed a short vlog on the meal prep I made this week!
Filmed and edited by yours truly! (featuring dad and sister)
I’m glad to be back on my meal prep grind and although this week, it was made mostly of things I had around the house, I also used this EXCELLENT website to help me find some leaner and more nutrient-dense foods to include in the meal prep!
This week was an excellent week for the gym! I am really starting to feel an “at home” at the gym. This week was tight budget wise. I had some work to get done on my car so I didn’t have enough to meal prep for this week. Although this isn’t ideal, I am also very self-awre that this can happen and this is just a challenge I may face again in the future. For this blog post, I will instead be walking you through a work-out from last Friday after our technology class.
I hit a nice glutes and hamstring workout but due to the gym being busy, I decided to include some quad workouts as well.
After a nice warm up and stretch, I started on the hip thrust machine. This by FAR is my favourite machine. I tried to take a photo without taking photos of others in the space so you are actually looking at the back on the machine. You strap in like a rollercoaster and use your hips to drive the weight up fast and down slowly. Over time, I have gradually been able to up the weigjht so currently, I am able to hipthrust one plate (45 lbs) and a 25 lbs plate on each side. In total, its 140 lbs. I do this workout for 4 sets of 10.
Next, I moved on to leg press. This is a more quad-based workout and its definitely a popular yet affecive workout. Your sitting back in a slanted chair and you place your feet on the platform and push the weight up and bring in back down. I have used this machine in my highschool mezzanine and have experience with it. As I have used it previously and have also played sports my whole life, I have strong muscles. On this machine, I am able to push 2 plates (45 lbs each) on either side plus the machine is 25 lbs. All together, it is 205 lbs. I do this workout for 4 sets of 12.
My next workout is probably my least favourite but it does create results. These are called RDLs (Romainian Deadlifts). It involves grabbing a dumbell in each hand (I used 30 lb dumbells) and standing approximately shoulder width appart, hinging at your hips forward while tucking your chin and keeping your back straight. You think about closing a door with your butt while letting the weights go down the front of your legs (closely touching with a slight bend in the knee if need be). Once you feel it in your hamstrings, you can come back up slowly. I do this workout for 4 sets of 8.
Following RDLs, I used the leg exstention machine. This as well is a quad based workout. By the time I got to this machine, I realized I could take a photo of the step-by-step instructions on how to use this. I also have used this machine before and enjoy it as it really makes the quads burn. I select the weight option at 100 lbs which is almost too tough for me but it is good motivation. I do this workout for 4 sets of 12.
My final workout was the hamstring curls. I unfortunately forgot to take a photo as, at this point, it was quite busy. It is very similar to the leg extension but reversed. Instead of kicking the weigh up wards for quads, you start up and push it down and under using your hamstrings. I use this workout for 4 sets of 10.
I found these workouts using this website. It is EXCELLENT! It has an easy-to-read description as well as a videos to show in-depth on how to perform it safely!
This week was a lot more successful compared to last week. The cold has officially swept through my family (and most of the cohort) and I have felt better than ever! Meal prep this week was fortunately very easy as we had plenty of leftover turkey, peas and carrots, and mashed potatoes. It wasn’t exactly a “meal-prep”, more just leftovers but still will do the trick this week. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the meal prep but as it was basically a turkey dinner, you can get an understanding.
The gym this week was excellent! I feel like I am finally finding my way around the gym and memorizing the different workouts of the week. I can already see myself changing and adapting the workout to not only fit my needs and wants but also my strengths.
Above is a photo of the gym I have been going to. It feels good to be not only be a part of a space like this but to also to be active and able to perform and better myself in this space. This weeks plan is too continue with gym, as well as take more photos for the blog as I often forget to do that! I also want to start incorporating mental wellness and some mental excersizes into my blog because I already find myself doing that on my own and want to maybe start blogging with that new addition!
This week, progress was a tad harder to commit to as not did I have a chronic migraine and vertigo early on but then caught the nasty cold going around so I did only what I could this week, all while staying on task with my future goals.
This week, as I didn’t exactly have time to grocery shop, I had to scavenge for a simple yet nutritious meal-prep for the week. I often struggle with finding new and different foods, specifically fruits and veggies. I did a quick research on Google and found a website that was a Healthy Grocery List website that really just helped me guage what I can shop for when I am with better health. I made a skillet-type meal using yams, lean beef, bell peppers, and a can of mixed beans. I, again, tried to stay focused on higher protein.
To keep myself safe, as well as others, I had to take this week off the gym. To try and keep as on schedule as possible, I talked to my friends as well as some Instagram Reels to get an idea of what a new gym schedule could look like when I am up and better. My goals are to have an additional leg workout day to increase my strength there as well as lose weight.
My free inquiry project has official began with my progression of healthy meal lanning and working out starting this past weekend! I started by comminting to a gym membership at Anytime Fitness and have began looking at high protien, low calorue meals that not only are easy, but also are good to use as a meal-prep system for school.
Today, as a quick Sunday meal, I made a simple rice stir fry with eggs and hot sauce, as well as an ice coffee made with sugar-free vanilla syrup to still hit that caffiene craving. I don’t have a food scale yet, but if I had to estimate this meal, it is approximately 350 calories and 24 grams of protien. Not only was it incredibly tasty, but it also used leftovers of rice which is always great to use up before it goes bad. I can easily see how this would be an easily recreatable meal that could easily become a staple in my new eating lifestyle.
I use Pinterest more as a search engine than a soical media app as it often has so many ideas especially for cooking and baking. While scrolling, I found a website titled “25 High-Protein Meal Prep (Easy + Healthy)” and just doing a simple scroll, I am getting many ideas for potential meal prep ideas! My goals for the following week are to go grocery shopping and find more “macro friendly” ingredients to make those swaps in my diet. As well, I’d like to test run a few workouts to hopefully begin the building of a gym schedule that works around school and work!
A free inquiry idea I’ve been thinking about is starting a fitness and wellness journey. Ive always been interested in tracking and analysis of workouts and healthy eating and meals and think that using this blog to track it and keep up with it would be beneficial. I don’t have much else to discuss until the meeting with Rich, but below is a list of ideas and things to get done to progress toward my goals.
Get a gym membership
Find recipes and foods that align with my fitness goals
Begin reasearching and writing up a work out schedule
