Roller Coaster

My life has been a roller coaster.
Ya know what happens on a roller coaster? Once you get to the top- you crash back to Earth.
Ever since 2017, my life has been filled with these dramatic ups and terrible downs. Very little has stayed consistent, and I have felt out of control with so much. Well, really it's just that so much is out of my control: which is something I really don't like.
I like to feel in control: secure, safe, sure.

Within all of these crazy highs and lows, I have been able to keep consistency in my diet and *mostly* my exercise routine. Because those things I can control.

I can't control how someone else treats me, or what they think of me.
But I can control how many grams of rice go into my meals. 

I can't control educational mandates.
But I can control what veggies I eat each week.

I can't control the weather.
But I can control what spices I use to create my meals. 

I can't control someone else's beliefs.
But I can control when I get myself to the gym.

I can't control someone's else's ability to love or communicate.
But I can control what I chose to eat. 

So, since I haven't done a meal-prep post for a while, I will do that tonight.
I also started two new, separate challenges.
The first one is through our local newspaper, called "GetFit Sedalia" ... my partner and I paid $40 to compete against other teams from the area. The team who loses the most percentage of weight will win $$$! 

The second one is called "TigerStrong" and is through my gym in conjunction with the school district. It's FREE! And there will be prizes at the end..

For both challenges we weighed in and were measured on Saturday.
I also got my blood work from our final Healthy U eval.
All of my levels got better; and when I had my blood pressure taken Saturday morning it was at 116/73 ... which is GREAT! 

So here's how I meal prep:
(oh, and this time I tried to get about 3-months worth of meals done or 50 meals!)

Step One: I cook up all my meat

The invention of the instapot is seriously life-saving (not really, I'm being a little dramatic)
BUT... it does make this whole process WAY easier.
I put my FROZEN chicken breast in (fill it up) add whatever seasonings I want and some liquid, and turn it on to "meat" and wait... The first batch takes a little longer, but by my third batch it just took about 20 minutes! 

This is what it looks like when it's done and I've shredded it.
Sometimes I add bullion, sometimes I don't add anything... my last batch I put taco seasonings and salsa on for taco bowls!

I brown up some beef.
Most weeks I have beef in my plan. Some weeks I use deer or just chicken as well.

Step Two:
While the meat is cooking, I also cook up my rice.
I could do this in the instapot also, but I chose to do it on the stove the old fashioned way.
Plus, that means it's cooking while everything else does also (saves time) 

Step Three: 

I measure out all my rice. Each container gets 60 grams of rice.
Then (while meat continues to cook) I also add veggies.
I usually have a plan in my head: what types of veggies and spices will go together.
This time, I have regular chicken with mixed veggies (pictured) and rice and chicken taco bowls

Step Four: 

I use frozen veggies to put into my meals. This makes it easier because I am just going to freeze most of these meals anyway, and I know these veggies freeze well. 

There are so many options for veggies as well!
I put these peppers/onions into my "taco bowls" and the mixed veggies in the chicken and rice.
I also used some of the beef for Chinese. I used Chinese seasonings on the beef, and then had frozen "stir fry" veggies that I added in with the beef! The other set of beef I used for beef stew... one of my faves! Just seasoned the beef with a beef stew packet (2.25 pounds... one packet of seasonings... the flavor vs. calorie benefits are astronomical!) 

Step Five: 

Then I put my containers to use.
I use containers from Amazon; they are washable/microwave safe and all that good stuff.
I am a terrible person and just throw them away. First of all because I usually break the lids opening them (they are pretty flimsy) and secondly because that's less dishes I have to do!
Most of these got more veggies after these pictures were taken, and of course got the meat necessary. 

Step Six:
I measure out cottage cheese. I get one cup per day.
OR
I make up tuna (one can per day) ... but that I typically do only two days at a time or so. 

Step Seven:
I make muffins.
Usually I make a big batch and freeze them ... This time I made pumpkin spice muffins, and I still have some banana in the freezer. I eat one per day, unless I don't eat my yogurt and then I eat two.
So 24 muffins lasts me almost a whole month. 

Step Eight:
I cook up my eggs for the week.
(I haven't been as good at this lately)
But I get 3 egg whites + one whole egg per day.
I make them up and then just get them out of the fridge as I need them. 

Step Nine:
I make protein balls.
This is all I have left to do this go-round. 

Step Ten:
I usually make some "fresh" veggies to eat throughout the week as well, green beans or cauliflower are my go-tos!

Step Eleven:
Clean everything up!

Meal prepping is hard for me only because my kitchen is so small. I have learned to pull drawers out to use as an extension to my counter-top ... I can't wait until I grow up and I can have a BIG kitchen :) 

The other thing that makes it difficult is the clean up.
I HATE doing dishes... so I try to clean up as I go.

Aside from that, I have yogurt and cheese sticks that I "prep" ... I just separate them all so that its easier to grab them. Every little bit helps! 

=============================================================

This last week was a little crazy to say the least.
My Valentine's Day was just another day. My dad did send me flowers, and I got flowers from a student as well: 

This is an old photo from when our HU group went to dinner and passed out our cards to each other.
(I couldn't remember if I had shared it or not)
I am so thankful for this group for their un-dying support and enthusiasm! 

Every day is better if you get a chance to throw a ball around and hit a few!
My cousin came with me to the park and we played catch for a little while and then she soft-tossed to me. I hit five buckets of balls. So about 25 balls/bucket, 125 hits.
It's a workout for sure! 

This week I'm going to focus on controlling what I can control.
Which in reality isn't a whole lot!
But if I can control that, I will feel better about all the other craziness! haha