Hey friends!

I’m pumped that two weeks of this “fitness journey reboot” have passed. These past two weeks have gone by quickly without too much of a struggle. I’ll admit that it went quite a bit different than I had planned but it was still a decent week!

This week, I started my last semester as an undergrad. I’m full of excitement for the future, and a bit of sadness for what I’m leaving behind. Although I’m not too thrilled about my class times, I was pleasantly surprised by how I already love every professor. I have a good feeling that this final semester is going to be the best yet.

With that being said, my schedule lacks consistency, which made it hard to establish any sort of routine. I had originally planned to get into a workout routine this week but I definitely needed to get a feel for my schedule before diving into something. I would have gotten burnt out instantly (I honestly needed a nap after my first day!) Ohio State is huge though, and my classes are spread out pretty far so I did a decent amount of walking (except when I was running late and had to catch a bus).

Even with this bump in the road, I would still consider this week to be successful.

**Each month, I plan to measure myself on the first day! So no measurements this week : )**

SUNDAY

A quick breakdown of what I ate on Sunday:

Breakfast:

• Project 7 Apple Harvest Clusters (the whole bag – woops!)

Lunch:

• Olive Garden
  • Italian Salad (about 1 ½ cups)
  • 2 Breadsticks (I tried to eat only one but I couldn’t resist)
  • Roasted Garlic Rosemary Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli

Snacks:

• Homemade hot cocoa with milk, cacao powder, cinnamon, pure maple syrup, coconut oil
• Outshine Raspberry Fruit Bar

On Sunday I ate a huge lunch after Church with the fam so I wasn’t super hungry for dinner. I clearly didn’t make the best choices but I still tried to be mindful. I chose a lean protein off of the “light menu” with tons of broccoli. I made sure to fill up on salad before inhaling the bread sticks and I tried my best to hydrate well.

Instead of dinner, I snacked instead and of course, I had to have hot chocolate (because the obsession is too real).

Here are my intake and output stats for Sunday, January 8th:

Calories: 1,746 kcal  | Carbohydrates: 187g  | Protein: 93g  | Fat: 72g  | Sugar: 80g

Calories Burned: 2,428 kcal  | Steps: 4,130  | Active Time: 3hr6min | Distance: 1.23 mi

MONDAY

A quick breakdown of what I ate on Monday:

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal
  • ¾ c. old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 banana
  • 2 tbsp. raisins
  • 2 tbsp. chopped walnuts
  • 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup

Lunch:

• Leftover Sweet Potato & Quinoa Chili
• A bottle of Health-Ade Pink Lady Apple Kombucha

Dinner:

• Homemade chili
• Saltine Crackers
• Shredded Cheese
• Cornbread

Dessert:

• Homemade Peanut Butter Pie

I started off the semester with a full belly and a full heart. While I wasn’t super excited to start having assignments and increased stress again, I was thrilled to be back to my favorite place ever – THE Ohio State University <3. I ate pretty well throughout the day but when it came to dinner, I did not control myself very well, which left my belly feeling not-so-great that night. I ended up having chili twice that day, once was leftovers of my “Sweet Potato & Quinoa Chili” and the other time was at Josh’s family’s Monday night family dinner. Having that many beans left me in a bit of pain (ya know… gas… ). I also indulged on some homemade peanut butter pie. It tasted great but I definitely did not have the room for it. Note to self: don’t over-stuff yourself!

Here are my intake and output stats for Monday, January 9th:

Calories: 2,211 kcal  | Carbohydrates: 294g  | Protein: 80g  | Fat: 53g  | Sugar: 79g

**My tracker either didn’t track anything on Monday or it didn’t sync properly 🙁 **

TUESDAY

A quick breakdown of what I ate on Tuesday:

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal
  • ¾ c. old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 banana
  • 1 tbsp. Wild Friend’s Pumpkin Spice PB
• Blended Coffee
  • Keurig Breakfast Blend
  • 1 tbsp. coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup
  • ½ tsp. Sun Potion ashwagandha
  • ½ tsp. Sun Potion mucuna pruriens

Lunch:

• Romaine Roll-Ups
  • 4 romaine lettuce leaves
  • 8 low-sodium ham slices
  • 4 natural, ultra-thin provolone slices
• Sauerkraut (all about that gut health!)

Dinner:

• ¾ c. whole wheat & ancient grain pasta
• Natural chicken apple sausage
• 1 c. broccoli
• 2 tsp. grated parm

Snacks:

• 2 c. Lesser Evil Buddha Bowl Himalayan Sweetness popcorn (SO GOOD!)
• 2 Unreal dark chocolate coconut PB cups

I felt SO much better on Tuesday night than I did on Monday night. It felt good to eat more greens. I feel like I ate a ton but I somehow fell about short on calories (I’ve been using MyFitnessPal to track!). Either way, I hope to one day get to a place where I don’t need to track. I hope I’ll start to feel how much is the “right amount” for my body, and be able to focus on eating clean, REAL ingredients (so far, so good on the ingredients!)

Here are my intake and output stats for Tuesday, January 10th:

Calories: 1,591 kcal  | Carbohydrates: 181g  | Protein: 95g  | Fat: 72g  | Sugar: 64g

Calories Burned: 2,734 kcal  | Steps: 11,082  | Active Time: 5hr21min | Distance: 3.81 mi

WEDNESDAY

A quick breakdown of what I ate on Wednesday:

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal
  • ¾ c. old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 banana
  • 1 tbsp. Wild Friend’s Pumpkin Spice PB
• Blended Coffee
  • Keurig Breakfast Blend
  • 1 tbsp. coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup
  • ½ tsp. Sun Potion ashwagandha
  • ½ tsp. Sun Potion mucuna pruriens

Lunch:

• ¾ c. whole wheat & ancient grain pasta
• Natural chicken apple sausage
• 1 c. broccoli
• 2 tsp. grated parm

Dinner:

• “Taco Salad”
  • Romaine lettuce
  • ½ c. taco meat
• 2 pc. bacon
• 1 hashbrown

Snacks:

• Lesser Evil Buddha Bowl Himalayan Sweetness popcorn (my current obsession)

I ate pretty well throughout the day but could have done better around dinner time. I hadn’t prepared anything and didn’t get home until 8:30PM. I started munching on everything in sight (including leftover bacon and hashbrowns from what was left of the fam’s dinner). I’m definitely not proud of the little binge but I’ve honestly had moments far worse. If anything, that moment taught me to either prepare my meal ahead of time, or to enter the kitchen with caution (or I’ll end up inhaling everything I see).

Here are my intake and output stats for Wednesday, January 11th:

Calories: 1,546 kcal  | Carbohydrates: 196g  | Protein: 73g  | Fat: 56g  | Sugar: 55g

Calories Burned: 2,601 kcal  | Steps: 8,878  | Active Time: 3hr2min | Distance: 3.18 mi

THURSDAY

A quick breakdown of what I ate on Thursday:

Breakfast:

• Smoothie Bowl:
  • 1 Sambazon acai superfruit pack
  • 2 c. frozen mixed berries
  • ½ c. pineapple tidbits in 100% Juice
  • 1 tbsp. coconut oil
  • ½ tsp. Sun Potion ashwagandha
  • ½ tsp. Sun Potion mucuna pruriens
  • ⅓ c. Purely Elizabeth blueberry hemp ancient grain granola cereal (topping)
  • 1 Chia Co. chia shot (topping)

Lunch:

• Romaine lettuce
• 4 oz. grilled chicken w. turmeric, salt and pepper
• 2 c. brown rice
• A bit of Bragg’s liquid aminos

Dinner:

• 1 ½ servings of Mom’s homemade tuna noodle casserole (too good to only have one serving!)

Snacks:

• Venti Unsweetened Iced Green Tea from Starbucks
• Outshine Raspberry Fruit Bar
• Lesser Evil Buddha Bowl Himalayan Sweetness popcorn
• 2 Justin’s Dark Chocolate PB cups

I definitely snacked a ton on Thursday. I chose fairly decent snacks (the ingredients were all decent and I knew what they were), but I could have picked fresh fruits or veggies instead. I don’t feel bad about the snacks I chose though. I think Thursday was a pretty good day and I stayed on track pretty well. (Sidenote: I’m so obsessed with Lesser Evil Buddha Bowl Himalayan Sweetness popcorn that I bought 2 more bags on Thursday. They’re 2 for $5 at Kroger right now so go stock up! You’ll thank me later <3)

Here are my intake and output stats for Thursday, January 12th:

Calories: 1,954 kcal  | Carbohydrates: 270g  | Protein: 72g  | Fat: 68g  | Sugar: 99g

** I didn’t wear my Polar watch today because I forgot it on the charger 🙁 **

FRIDAY [TODAY]

A quick breakdown of what I ate today:

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal
  • ¾ c. old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 tbsp. cacao powder
  • 1 tbsp. Wild Friend’s Pumpkin Spice PB
• Blended Coffee
  • Keurig Breakfast Blend
  • 1 tbsp. coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup
  • ½ tsp. Sun Potion ashwagandha
  • ½ tsp. Sun Potion mucuna pruriens

Lunch:

• Natural chicken apple sausage
• 1 ½  c. broccoli
• 1 large apple

Dinner:

• Left over tuna noodle casserole

Snacks:

• Lesser Evil Buddha Bowl Himalayan Sweetness popcorn (duh!)
• 2 tbsp. Wild Friends Sugar Cookie PB

Today was pretty good. I ate fairly well and made time to prepare some meals for this weekend and early next week. This week flew by SO fast. I definitely need to get on Pinterest to come up with some more creative meals. I really like the meals I’ve been eating but don’t want to get tired of them and resort to junk! Let me know what your favorite healthy recipes are! 

Here are my intake and output stats for Friday, January 13th:

Calories: 1,576 kcal  | Carbohydrates: 189g  | Protein: 56g  | Fat: 71g  | Sugar: 64g

Calories Burned: 2,230 kcal  | Steps: 8,130  | Active Time: 2hr54min | Distance: 2.95 mi

• • • • •

I consider Saturdays my “rest day”. Although I don’t document Saturday, I still make an effort to consume real foods. I don’t make it my “cheat day”, primarily because I don’t believe in “cheat days”. In the past, I’ve tried to stick with the cheat day/cheat meal system and I end up depriving my body of the foods it wants, which always results in a binge. I think you should do your best to consume foods that make you feel good, both physically and mentally. Everything in moderation. <3

Thanks for sticking around ’til the end of “Fitness Journey Friday: Week 2”. Hopefully next week is the week where I can establish a workout routine.

See ya next week!

Naturally,

Ari