Meal Prep change of plans

 18 jun

having just scored about 50 Keto type protein bars at kroger today im going to change my meal prep strategy.

in general would work out at about 4pm or so and either eat once or twice before. eating mid morning has been working out the best.. then bringing a tupperware of food with me to gym, microwave there and eat in truck after while listening to some tunes / people watching in the parking lot. Despite a "full" meal in the truck at 6-7pm ish im still starving like marvin when i get home. even though i live 15min from gym. Thus eating within an hour of getting home again. 

the point of eating after workout is to replace the nutrients you depleted from the workout. hence you see the normies bring their entire jug of protein powder and make a big show of mixing it up and spilling some on the table in the break area and then spending an unusual amount of time just shaking the mixer bottle. (you know you can just put the powder in your mixer jug at the house and add water at the gym). the more serious lifters bring a tupperware with them or buy a "my fit meal" type product at the gym. point being in the first hour or so (the anabolic window) after a workout your body allegedly absorbs 2x the amount of nutrients vs a regular hour.. ok, maybe, my contention is that your stomach/body is still absorbing your last meal to some degree. ie food is in the system already , not requiring you to rush / slam down food right away.. maybe if youve been fasting for 24 hours the anabolic window is legit... regardless.. you do you. i eat after cause im hungry. i would argue that drinking something is more important.. poweraid (sugar free) or 32oz of water is more important...  anyway...

Super best case for me has been a protein drink but using vegetable juice instead of water. mixing it after.. i havent scored any discount vegetable juice at kroger in a while and i prefer not to use water only.. goal being i want something "small" to tied me over while at the gym till i can do a sit down meal at the house when i get home and showered up.. plus its over 100 here in texas now and gas is too expensive to sit in the truck and idle for 15minutes with AC running while eating and cooling down.

Brings me to the change of plans with all these protein / keto bars. under $1 a bar is acceptable. the ones i picked up are 5grams carb or less of net carbs.. yes they taste like ass because no sugar, but its just fuel for the body. have to feed the body that rocks the party a wise man once said. So i will eat a protein bar in the break area as i update my gym notes instead of eating in the truck. so when you see the change in the meal plan for the day, thats the reason.. probably saving money by not sitting in truck. yes i could eat a full  meal in the break area but eating like that in a non comfortable high traffic area has never been my thing when i can do the same thing at the house in 20 min while not wearing pants. yeah i said it.

will then eat that full meal a bit later. 

Low Carb Meals for 14 Jun

 14 Jun

woke up at 3am and had a protein drink. was able to score some Protein Keto drinks on discount at Kroger last week,  $4+ regular price .. crazy.. $1.29 is respectable.. there are a couple brands that look similar, make sure you get the one that says KETO.. i drink about 1/3rd and then add a scoop of protein powder and some sugar free fiber. so about 300calories and another 20grams or so of protein

Protein: 30g ish , Fat: 21g, Carbs: 5 (dont count fiber or sugar alcohol but add a few from fiber), Calories: 300ish

first real meal again near 11am. super easy as usual. a one quarter section of some Owens Breakfast sausage, scrambled up with 4 eggs and a fistful of spinach. probably not enough spinach for even 1 carb.

Protein: 39g , Fat: 46g , Carb: 0 , Calories: 585 , Cost: under $1

After workout meal same as yesterday. Ground Beef, 3 eggs, velveeta, handful spinach.

Protein: 47g , Fat: 62g , Carb: 3g, Calories 775

add same snack.. package of almonds and the total for the day:

Protein: 124g, Fat: 151g , Carb: 12c , Calories 1910

Low carb meals 13 Jun

 

13 Jun

Total macros for the day:

Protein: 104g , Fat: 121g , Carbs: 9g , Calories: 1650

first meal at brunch time. posted the Taco Meat prep in Tupperware previously. added one tupperware worth to 3 eggs scrambled up. salt, pepper, hot sauce

Protein: 49 

Fat: 37

Carb: 0

Calories: 600

After workout meal 

nearly the same thing, cut a 3lb 73% lean ground beef log into 8 servings. the whole 3lb log was $3.99 mark down. cook up one of those servings in the wok, some onions, added some taco seasoning powder. and as beef is just a little pink i add one serving of velveeta cheese brick ive had.. cut it up into small pieces so it melts. added 3 eggs. the velveeta is just a temporary addition until i exhaust my supply. just not something i cook with usually. if i have a bag of spinach leaves i will usually add a fistful as well. not today.

Protein: 47g , Fat: 62g , Carb: 5g , Calories: 800ish

Evening Snack: one bag of roasted almonds

Protein: 8g , Fat: 22g , Carb: 4g net , Calories: 250

Doing some Prep work - Taco Meat

 

Taco Meat Prep

in order for your meals to come together quickly some prep work is needed. This "base" concoction i can use for breakfast, after work out or fill in for come macros. plus you cant go wrong with taco meat.

Can across another near giveaway at Kroger. honestly never tried the ground beef/pork combo before. my target/cut off for buying ground beef is between $1.50-$1.75 per pound.. more than that i will pass and wait till next time. so $4 for 32 ounces is about $1.60lb and in the size i was needing for the prep.

Cook the meat in a wok, add an onion, a can of diced chilies or jalapenos and 2 packs taco seasoning mix. there are carbs in the taco mix so consider those. i dont drain the meat at all. you need some liquid anyway when adding the taco mix.. when complete, tupperware into 8 servings for use later.

Each serving will be: Protein: 25g , Fat: 21g , Carb 6 (from the taco mix) , Calories 360.

i will usually either add chopped up hard boiled eggs to the tupperware and microwave or heat up the meat and add to scrambled eggs. Also could add chicken pieces, etc . lots of possibilities.

They also do make keto friendly tortillas so you could make tacos.

Cost per tupperware: will be generous for easy math and say $1.00 , the meat was about 30cents on the dollar so that saved you huge. divide into 8 servings remember. taco mix is .33 each, say .50 for onion, .99 for chilies . pretty cheap

Evening Meal and After Workout meal 12Jun

 12jun

Evening meal pretty simple and cheap and low carb.. few months back caught a crazy markdown on bags Tilapia at Kroger.. i dont recall tilapia ever being on sale.. the rule of thumb is about $1 per fillet so these bags were about half price.. got a dozen. Also these sausages are on markdown, they dont seem to sell well, i could get some nearly every time i shop but $1.99 is about 20cents on the dollar price. i have multiple tilapia recipes but for ease of cooking im using a fish fry breading Kroger has going for .99 cents. they must  have had 100 in the bin at least. I add some cajun spice to the mix. 

Rinse the fish and hand dip into the breading mix.. i just let the moisture from the rinse act as the wash for the breading. put in the wok, after flipping i add the sausage just to heat. they are precooked but just to get them warmed up

Add a tomato, some mustard, some tartar sauce. Final macros:

Protein: 48

Fat: 14

Carb: 5 - stats come out to 1 but im going to be generous and round up for the breading dusting and the ranch/tartar

Calories: 350ish

Cost of Meal: Fish-$1 , sausage 25cents, tomato .88lb, ... call it $2 bucks

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After workout meal

being sunday i generally dont eat until after my workout, preferring to have an empty of stomach as possible. usually working out at about 1pm . so figure first meal around 2-3pm. Not a earth shattering selection here but slightly different.

Today bacon and eggs after workout. couple days back scored some half price bacon and 30pack medium eggs going at $4.00 at Kroger. i cut the bacon package down the middle and cook in a wok. save the other half for another meal. so reading the label, half the pack is about 22g of fat including saturated fat. eating saturated fat LOWERS your bad cholesterol and is necessary for testosterone production.. i can provide plenty of vids/literature if you still cling to the outdated belief that fat is bad, the only "bad" fat is trans fat. 

so after removing the bacon to a plate, i do not drain the wok. those drippings are the fat that i want. just like old school grandma did it, i add 5 eggs to it and just scramble them up.. salt and pepper. good to go. tastes fine to me.. everyone is different, some wisk eggs first, some add milk, some add butter, even heard about the trend to add tablespoon soy sauce instead of using salt. i want all that saturated fat.

Final macros: (you have to use the term "macros" or else you will not be "cool")

Protein: 52g

Fat:42g

Carbs: 0

Calories: 570

Cost for meal: $2.20ish

keeps with the goal of about 500-600calories per meal. you can tinker with the sizing by adding/subtracting an egg for +/- 60 calories each. a different version is cut the bacon even smaller and just add the eggs right in with the bacon/fat. just did this version for picture taking.

Final Meal and After Workout Meal - 11 Jun

 11 jun

after workout meal is at bottom. only 2 meals for today, my evening meal was pork chops. scored some 25cents on the dollar pork chops from Kroger. i rarely eat pork outside of bacon or breakfast sausage. ground beef is always cheaper per pound than pork.. these marked down chops are respectable pricing.

Dont understand why they do this... there are 2 pork chops in this package but label says 2.5 servings.. of course its to trick you since your eye goes to the calories or maybe the protein/fat.. they arent counting on you doing some A squared, plus B squared equals C squared type shit in your head.. regardless im eating both chops

i whisk up 3 eggs for the pork wash and dip in a "bread crumb" type mixture except i use mainly parmesan cheese.. this time was half crumbs/ half parmesan. so 2 chops , scramble up the egg wash, added a tomato. final macros:

Protein: 80c

Fat: 30c

Carbs: 5c

Calories: 650ish

added a few carbs/fat/calories for the tomato, some bread crumbs, and regular ranch dressing.

Cost for meal: chops $2.79, eggs about .40, tomato .88lb .. call it $3.75

note: the ballpark number of only eating about 30grams of protein per meal is a myth, i can send you a youtube link saying otherwise

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After workout meal

slept in hard today till noon and left for gym at 2pm. its common for gym members to eat right after their workout / drink protein shake, etc to get those nutrients in during that anabolic window that i think is bullshit.. regardless after a workout , everyone is starvin like marvin.. i make this before leaving and leave it in the truck, eat in the truck after workout while listening to some tunes. pretty easy

the catfood looking stuff on left is one packet of tuna mixed with packet of sweet/spicy salmon and some onions. i still have 15 or so of these packets im working thru from previous kroger runs or else this would be a standard can of tuna.

on the right is an avocado / roma tomato / onion / some cheese spread from kroger deli and 2 hard boiled eggs.

im targeting about 500-600 per meal. totals for this meal: 

Protein: 41

Fat: 42

Carb: 10

Calories 610ish

a few more carbs from the cheese dip. technically more carbs in the avocado and tomato but carbs from fiber are not counted but are added in the final calorie total. the sweet and spicy tuna packets im working thru have some sugar so in the future can deduct 8 carbs after i run out. without the flavored its nearly a net carb free. it looks like alot of food by volume but not really.

on side note, i keep some old travel size aspirin bottles in my bag filled with vitamins that i take with this meal. currently, a "one-a-day" type multi vitamin, Vitamin C (1000mg size) (take 2), and some B-12.

Cost: since i love getting deals at Kroger , i pounce when that mack daddy discount hits. Packet of tuna 69cents, salmon packet is over $1 per, i will not get these anymore, since i have to go to a non Kroger to get. Current medium eggs 30pack for $4.00. Avocado 88cents, roma tomato 88cents/lb - so the meal is just a few dollars for a few minutes of effort vs fast food or sit down restaurant likely at least $20 per person.

Google Docs recipe for printing: Tuna Mix with Avocado

Kroger Run 8 jun

 8jun

pretty good kroger run again today.. even saw a tweet today about how bad food inflation is today.

30pack eggs still at $4.00

pork chops 30cents on the dollar - into the freezer, each 2pack is one meal

steak fillets - 25cents on the dollar - into the freezer, 2 pack is 2 meals

bacon - 50cents on the dollar.. compare bacon prices PER POUND, there are so many on the shelf its misleading.. some packages are 12oz, some are 1.5 pounds, some 3pounds.. reference everything as to how much you would pay per pound like these packs

Pistacheos - $2 a bag.. got 10 bags. half price

Almond packs - usual $1 per... took entire discount bin of 62.

Bag peanuts while i watch latest Kenobi episode.

You can save a lot of money if you start being heads up, my Krogers are very liberal in marking down products ahead of "sell by" dates to try to move them... reminder.. those are sell by dates.. not "eat by"... i feel like ive eaten 10000 eggs in my lifetime and have never thrown away an egg because it was "bad".

Cheers