Health & Fitness • Page 82

Depends on what you're making, for instance last night I made 4 days of overnight oats but realistically I'm probably pushing it even at 3 days. Probably shouldn't do more than 2 or 3 days for something like that. I was being lazy.

Salads I'll probably only do 2 days at the most because of wilting veggies and moisture. But you can prepare food like chili, soup or rice and freeze it in pre-portioned section and only pull out what you need the night before.

I'd be wary about eating 5 day old chicken as well, which is why freezing meals can sometimes be a good option. I'd only prepare about 3 meals at once and either freeze the rest or have some things prepared to throw together another 2 days worth of meals mid-week.

As for when to do it, I do it on Sundays or maybe Monday nights if I didn't get a chance over the weekend, because I work M-F, but that's going to be dependent on your schedule and what works best for you. Always make sure to let your meals cool completely before freezing or putting in the fridge and buy a pack of glass containers, as I find they work best for meal prep.

EDIT: Meat is probably fine for 4-5 days if you buy it the day of or the day before and prepare it immediately, I often forgo meat altogether though and do veggies patties or something. Just like I said make sure to cool everything completely cause that moisture will spoil everything fast.

 

For chicken specifically? I did a couple different ways depending on how i was feeling. My favorite was making shredded chicken salsa. I put like 3-4 chicken breast in a crockpot, put in a 16oz jar of hot salsa, some taco seasoning mix, and let it cook on low for around 8 hours, stirring once every hour or so. At the end of the 8 hours, i take 2 large forks and shredd the chicken, stir again for consistency, and scoop into a couple glass storage containers. That usually makes me two storage containers full and lasts met at least a week. I'll put the second storage container in the freezer and then thaw out when ive got a day or two left of serving. I'll eat it with tortilla and whatever toppings you'd like.

Chicken and rice in a slow cooker is good too. Or, I'll just bake them in the oven with seasoning and make a shit ton of broccoli for a side.

Meal Prep Sunday is a good resource

 

I honestly have no idea what to ever eat for lunch. I don't eat breakfast so typically lunch is my first meal and three days a week, I go to the gym on my lunch break, so by the time I'm eating lunch, it's after 1:30 p.m.

I drink quite a bit of coffee in the morning which decreases my appetite so I'm never like starving during the day.

For years, I'd eat just a deli sandwich for lunch (with chips), but now that I learned I had higher cholesterol following my last physical, I cut out deli/processed meats from my diet. I've lately been packing fruit (grapes, apple sauce, bananas) for lunch and it fills me up, but there's barely any calories and I've lost quite a bit of weight in the past three months (unintentionally). On the days I don't go to the gym, I'll go home twice a week for lunch and either eat a salad and soup or cheerios.

I've never been a big lunch time eater, I don't like to fill myself up to the point of being too tired to work in the afternoon but I would like to start eating more healthy calories throughout the day.

Food prepping isn't really for me either, because I couldn't stomach the thought of eating 2-3 day old chicken or other foods.

 

5 day old chicken is nbd but use your best judgement. if it looks or smells weird maybe don't eat it. also invest in a meat thermometer and make sure each piece is cooked to 165.

 

i need ideas for healthy snacks that aren't vegetables or nuts.
also i live in the frozen tundra of minnesota so the more non-fruit suggestions the better.

 

Omg lunch is my fave meal. I'm all about sandwiches (they don't need processed meat! Veggie sandwiches 4ever!!) Today I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich and baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and a hard-boiled egg. Then a yogurt and protein bar for snacks, both of which prob have too much sugar oop. I also love making salads. I'll add chickpeas to things like chickpea salad sandwiches with vegan mayo and some sort of nut with protein. Tomorrow I'll prob make a fruit salad with Greek yogurt, chia seeds, and granola with something on the side that I haven't figured out yet. I like lunch because I'm more of an assembler than a cook and I feel like lunch is more ... Assembleable

 

Also the amount of time I just sat in the gym parking lot and didn't go in.... I could've just gone in lol. I will try again tomorrow

 

I bring string cheese, wheat thins, granola bars, mini peppers, almonds, etc

 

I actually brought Wheat Thins with me yesterday to work for the first time ever with my fruit. Almost brought a string cheese too, haha.

 

I usually prep on Sunday evening and make meals for Monday-Friday. It only takes me like an hour to put it all together.

I haven't gotten sick from eating 5 day old chicken/salmon or ground beef.

I like it simple so for lunches I eat pasta, spinach w/chicken, salmon or ground beef (i change the meats depending on whats on sale). For supper It's rice, spinach, avocado and again chicken, salmon, ground beef or steak.

I use a scale to split up the meat, pasta, into five equal portions. For rice I usually just do 180-200g a meal but you can do anything you want really. Not too picky with it tbh.

At first it's a pain in the ass to meal prep but once you make it a habit you'll thank yourself I think. It's nice not having to worry about meals during the week when you're busy with work.

 

I only meal prep lunches. I do it Sunday night and I make lunches Monday-Thursday, with a treat yo'self day on Friday. For dinner I usually make enough for two nights and have left overs the next day.

 

Treat yo self friday I admire your steez Kev

 

It's worth it! I eat salads all week, so knowing Friday I can get Chipotle, or pizza or something, it's nice.



I also just got under 160lbs. First time in probably 10+ years. Been doing some great Peloton rides lately; each one is a PR from the ride before it.

 

Ok, guys, I'm having this procedure done on May 7. Went to the GI Doctor this morning, he told me I am the prototypical example of someone with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (at least, I think that's what he was saying). He told me my symptoms were textbook and that he could pretty much diagnose me without the scope but is going to do the scope just to be 100% sure. He said the procedure will only be 3-5 minutes long but with the medication, I'll need a driver and to be there for anywhere between 45 minutes to two hours.

He thinks it's may be more allergy related given my history with really bad allergies, eczema and asthma (allegedly - I was diagnosed with Asthma in middle school but never used an inhaler and have been active my entire life and still run at least 3x a week with no breathing issues) and that my esophagus is probably getting inflamed from time to time.

Doctor was super cool and laid back so I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it. He did tell me that I'm lucky that out of all the times I had the burning/pressure sensation while eating that the feeling went away because he has patients all the time who have to go to the ER to have it surgically removed. Kind of scary to think that this will always be a thing in the back of my mind going forward.

 

That’s precisely what I was diagnosed with. The procedure was also super quick for me and it sounds like you’ll be under similar conditions. It was quite a relief to learn what the problem was. My doctor ended up putting me on an inhaler but I was instructed to swallow the medicine instead of breathing it into my lungs.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

Thanks!

Yeah, he talked about the inhaler/swallowing thing. Also said something about a steroid pill to relax the esophagus.

Were your symptoms pretty regular? Or was it a once in a while type thing? Mine seems to be totally random and happens very infrequently, but it's happened enough times over the course of the past 12-18 months where I figured it was time to get ahead of it.

 

Irregular for the most part. Like you though it was often enough that I needed to do something about it. I also have issues with acid reflux that I think compounded the problem but I’ve been able to manage that by cutting out sugar and a lot of carbs.

 

I went for a run yesterday, my second getting back on the wagon and my mile time was already 20 seconds faster than last time. I also was able to run 2 miles, although the second mile was at a much slower pace! The hills in my area are pretty brutal honestly so I'm trying to not get too hung up on mile time and just know that I'm getting killer workouts going up the inclines in this area.

Leads me to a question that maybe y'all can answer - my running has never been on a training schedule or anything, I typically just do whatever I feel like - today I'll run a mile as fast as I can, or I'll try to do a 5k or something - but I feel like it's really hindered any real progress cause I don't have concrete goals except "run faster" or "run longer." Does anyone know of a training plan that has worked for them, or any advice on how to set one up my myself?

 

I second that, the most running I've done is the handful of 5Ks I've done so far. I've never gone further than that and would like to know how to step it up

I've also tried to see what kind of mile time I could get one time. I was trying to get under 8 minutes (no idea if that's good) so I started strong and tired out fast. Ended up just running a couple miles at a normal pace

 

Been using Map My Run for a few weeks, and you can set a main goal and it gives you a somewhat custom training plan to hit it over whatever timeframe. Then you can track your runs and it’ll tell you your pace and split pace every five minutes or so which has been really helpful. I just set a goal to be able to run 10 miles by August so it has me running four days per week and I’ve been getting steadily better

 

What's your goal? Run a 5k, 10k, half marathon, etc? That'll be how you find your plan. Can't have a plan really without having the goal.

Most plans, give or take, are gonna have you getting about 7-15 miles per week depending on your distance goal.
When I was training for my 5ks it was typically:

Monday: moderately uncomfortable pace for 1.5-2 miles
Tuesday: light run at an easy pace 2.5-3.11 miles
Wednesday: rest or cross train (lift, cycle, swim, etc)
Thursday: .25 or .5 mile all out sprints 4-6 times with 2 minute rests
Friday: moderately hard pace for 2-2.5 miles
Saturday: long run for 3.5-5 miles
Sunday: rest

the way i've always done it is i wanna be able to run comfortably a bit over the goal distance by the end so my endurance is built up and building on speed work with sprints to increase my pace.

 

map my run's is good, yeah! Nike Plus Run Club has a great one too that i've used several times that i highly recommend.

 

You are all troopers. Running is the one thing I just can't do. Even in the treadmill ill set the incline super high and go at a brisk walk but I cannot run for more than like one minute. It feels like my heart is going to explode which is nagl

 

I do it specifically because I hate it

 

True, I don't really have a concrete goal. I know I can run a 5k distance but I've never entered a 5k, so it would be really cool to do that! Perhaps I'll start there, run one, improve my 5k time and then set a new goal.

Thanks for the help! Looks like I also need to start running almost every day :)