Slow Like the Tortoise: Citrus Ginger Zinger Smoothie and Day 1 Meal Plan

I meant to have a meal and fitness plan for this week start on Sunday. Oops! I didn't exactly get my act together to do that! And, everyone has their own schedules to deal with and maybe Sunday isn't the ideal day for you to start. Maybe Monday or Tuesday would be better. Whatever day you start is just fine, so long as you actually do it - START!

Each day this week, I will post a meal plan for the day as well as a lazy person's exercise routine. Make adjustments as you need to, but be sure to make a commitment to improving your health and well being and stick to it! Be sure that whatever you eat, whether it's on my plan or not, has vibrant colors from the entire spectrum of the RAINBOW! Throughout the day, be sure to drink plenty of water (plain, seltzer, or fruit infused) and limit caffeine or sugary drinks.

You don't have to be lazy to do the exercise routine, but I've found that if I break up the routine into very small chunks throughout the day rather than one exercise session I am much more likely to complete the entire routine. At the moment, I don't have the strength or endurance to get an entire routine done in one session. Instead, I find myself overly fatigued before I'm very far into the routine. I start to ache very early in the routine because my muscles and joints aren't used to exercising anymore. By breaking it up into tiny chunks, I get a lot more done!

Just a little warning, this post is super duper long! The rest of the week, posts should be shorter as every day will be based on this starting post. Your meal plan is in the upper portion of the post while the exercise routine is in the bottom portion.

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Your Day One Meal Plan

According to the recipe calculator and nutrition tracker on SparkPeople.com, this meal plan is almost exactly 1800 calories. I have to be honest with you - by the end of the day, this felt like a TON of food, but it was all super filling, super tasty, and everything I needed!

Your grocer list for today's meal plan (some ingredients will be used in future days):

Extra virgin olive oil
1 medium banana
1 navel orange
1 lemon or lemon juice
fresh ginger or Dorot frozen ginger cubes
ground flaxmeal
rice milk (or your favorite milk or milk alternative)
raw, unsalted almonds (I like Trader Joe's Handful of Almonds for portion control)
1 lb cucumbers (I prefer Persian)
1 lb tomatoes (I prefer Roma or grape)
1 red onion
2 yellow or white onions
3 to 4 carrots
1 garlic clove or minced, jarred garlic
1 package whole wheat pearl couscous
1 16oz can of vegetable broth (or buy a larger carton for use later in the week too)
1 dozen large eggs
2 bunch celery
fresh basil leaves or Dorot frozen basil cubes
Bay leaf
28oz can of tomatoes or 2 smaller cans of tomatoes with garlic and/or onion, celery, and bell pepper
salt and pepper
garlic powder
butter or your favorite butter-like alternative
your favorite bread
unsweetened, frozen raspberries
natural microwave popcorn
nutritional yeast with B-12

Breakfast - Start your day with a smoothie. Today we have Citrus Ginger Zinger

Ingredients:

1 medium banana, peeled
1/2 medium lemon, peeled and quartered or the equivalent amount of lemon juice (You can dig out the seeds, but it really isn't necessary if you have a decent blender. Remove as much peel and pith - the white layer under the skin and between the segments - as possible.)
1 navel orange, peeled and quartered (Again, no need to remove any seeds. Just remove all the peel and as much pith as possible.)
1/2 inch knob of ginger, peeled and grated or minced as finely as possible or 1 cube of Dorot frozen ginger
2 Tbsp ground flaxmeal
1 C rice milk (or your preferred milk or milk substitute)
3 to 4 ice cubes

Method:
Place everything in your blender and blend until smooth.

I can't stress enough the importance of removing the pith from your lemon and orange. Too much pith will result in a bitter flavor and weird chunks or fibers in the smoothie (ick!). Also, get your ginger as finely grated or minced as possible or use Dorot frozen cubes. The frozen cubes are fantastic but my local stores don't carry them. Powered ginger from your spice cupboard won't cut it.

Mid-morning snack - 1 bag of Trader Joe's Handful of Almonds or an actual moderate handful of raw, unsalted almonds
If you don't buy pre-portioned almonds, be careful that your handful isn't too big! Although almonds are incredibly nutrient dense and a great source of protein, they also are fairly high in calories. Make sure your almonds are unsalted and raw too so you don't end up eating a ton of salt or other junk for your snack!

Lunch - Israeli Salad and Pearl Couscous with Carrots and Onions
Make a big batch of both Israeli Salad and Pearl Couscous with Carrots and Onions and portion it out into four servings. This will be your lunch for the next four days. On the fourth day, make another big batch to get you through the rest of the week. You could just make a double batch, but I find by the fifth day, the texture of the salad starts to break down a little bit and the couscous goes a little mushy. I'd rather just make a second batch!

Israeli Salad

Ingredients:
1 lb cucumber, chopped (I prefer Persian cucumbers, but any kind will work.)
1 lb tomatoes, chopped (I prefer Roma or grape tomatoes, but any kind will work.)
1/3 C chopped red onion
3 to 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 to 4 Tbsp lemon juice
1 to 2 dashes of salt

Method:
Chop your cucumber, tomatoes, and onion into evenly sized pieces. Mix them together in a large bowl. Add 3 Tbsp olive oil and lemon juice and a couple of dashes of salt. Stir and taste. Add more olive oil, lemon, or salt if necessary.

Pearl Couscous with Carrots and Onion

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 C yellow or white onion, chopped
3/4 C carrots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 C whole wheat pearl couscous
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 C vegetable broth (or chicken broth or plain water)

Method:
In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add the carrots and onions and stir and cook until the onion becomes translucent. Add the garlic and stir for another minute or two - be careful not to let the garlic brown or burn. Add the couscous and salt and stir to coat with olive oil. Add your broth and bring to a boil. Stir then cover tightly and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Any extra liquid should be absorbed while cooling. Portion out into four equal servings and refrigerate for your next few lunches.

Afternoon snack - 1 hard boiled egg
A single hard boiled egg is just as nutrient dense as my little handful of almonds. Having a small package of protein mid-morning and again mid-afternoon is a fantastic way to keep your energy up throughout the day without feeling deprived.

Dinner - Tomato soup with garlic toast
While your lunches will be the same every day, your dinner will vary. Tonight, we are having a basic tomato basil soup with garlic toast. I like to find easier ways to do things and thus buy Dorot frozen basil cubes and canned tomatoes with different flavors. The canned tomatoes are a little high in sodium, but if you have been careful about your sodium intake the rest of the day, it shouldn't be an issue.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, washed and chopped
2 Dorot frozen basil cubes or 2 to 3 large leaves of fresh basil
1 Bay leaf
1 x 28 oz can of tomatoes or 2 smaller cans - I prefer to use 1 smaller can of tomatoes with fire roasted garlic and 1 smaller can of tomatoes with onion, celery, and green bell pepper.
salt and pepper to taste
2 slices of your favorite, crusty, whole grain bread
butter or butter-type spread of your choice
Garlic powder (make sure it is pure garlic with no additives)

Method:
Heat your olive oil in a soup pan over medium to medium-high heat. Saute your onion and celery until translucent. Be careful not to let them brown. Add your basil, bay, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove your soup from the heat and allow to cool. When cool, pour into a blender or use an immersion blender and blend until smooth. Return your soup to the pot and heat again, adding salt and pepper to taste.

For the garlic toast, butter your bread and sprinkle with garlic powder. Put under the broiler of your oven until lightly browned, or just heat in a 325F oven for a few minutes.

Evening snack - 1 large bowl of frozen, unsweetened raspberries and 1/2 bag of natural popcorn sprinkled with nutritional yeast
Eat your raspberries frozen and unsweetened. They are so delicious and refreshing that way! They are also available year round. When fresh raspberries are out of season, frozen ones are a great, affordable alternative. I buy at least six or seven bags per week! I eat them plain as a snack or use them in smoothies. On occasion, for a snack I will make a coconut yogurt and frozen raspberry parfait.

Make sure your popcorn is natural with only light salt. Too much salt, flavorings, and other additives only reduce the nutritional value of your popcorn. Natural popcorn is high in fiber and a great snack. Nutritional yeast is a fantastic substitute for Parmesan cheese, but make sure you buy a variety that is high in Vitamin B-12 for the ultimate nutritional value.

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Your Day One Lazy Exercise Plan

Today we will kick off your lazy exercise plan with upper body strength training exercises. Instead of doing everything in one go, you'll be breaking this up into five chunks throughout the day. Each exercise will be done 20 times with simply your body and a wall for equipment. If you are strong enough, add more repetitions to each round or use some weights. Since I'm totally out of shape compared to how I was just a few short years ago, I'm starting with 20 reps and no weights, but I am committed to improving over time!

Personally, I like to get my exercise done without prying eyes! These exercises can easily be done in your bathroom, and you already go to the bathroom several times per day, right? If you are work, you might be able to do these in a bathroom stall, although your coworkers may wonder why you are in there for so long! Heeheehee...

Make sure to keep breathing and hold your abdominal muscles tight. Also, work on practicing good posture throughout the moves - a straight, tall, long back with your shoulders back and down and chin up!

Five times per day do the following:

Standing wall pushups