Nutritarian Revamp Week 4 Meal Plan

 Hiya!  

We are back from our August vacations and I’ll be honest - I’m feeling a bit scatterbrained and disorganized. Does anyone else feel like your home is super messy and cluttered after spending time at an Airbnb? It always makes me realize how little we really need day-to-day… so I feel a big decluttering session coming soon. I actually started on that this week by reorganizing the kids closets and getting Ben set on clothes for the new school year. Now I need to deal with our closet and family spaces. 🤪

We had a little heat wave when we got home earlier this week (heat wave by PNW standards, at least), so we ate from the pantry/freezer for a few days and I didn't end up shopping for the week 4 menu until just a day or two ago. I've had the recipes for week 4 in the works since before our trip, but it was so exciting to shop for and start cooking to get ready for another week of 100% Nutritarian eating.

The recipes this week are inspired by our trips. First, we spent several days in Oahu for Kevin's brother's wedding, where I, yet again, scored big time in the SIL department! This was the kids' first flight ever and it went better than expected. Seeing travel day from a kid's perspective, there is so. much. waiting! Once in Hawaii we had a few beach days and a day at a big water park.  We also had a few wedding festivities to go to, including the wedding itself. On our first day there Kevin did a quick grocery shop and scored us some delicious fruit including some ice cream bananas, coconut, mango, and dragon fruit. In this week's meal plan, breakfasts and the dessert muffin have some of those tropical fruit flavors!

Off to Hawaii!  The kids were excited for their first flight.

The kids were so done with waiting by the end of the day.

Their first island nap was soooo needed.

Our fruit feast!  The ice cream bananas were amazing! 

We played so hard at the beach near our Airbnb.
The kids loved building sand castles and wading in the water.

We got to spend our last night watching the sunset with the newlyweds.

Kevin and I even got a date night in while the
in-laws monitor watched the kids one night.

After Hawaii, we were home for two days (pantry and freezer eating mostly), then off to my hometown for a friend's wedding and spending time with my parents. Most of the recipes this week come from my Nutri-mama. Her and my dad have been plant-based for over 10 years and she has cultivated several killer recipes over the years. This week we have a Ginger Dressing and Osaka Sauce - both inspired by a local small chain teriyaki style noodle restaurant in my hometown. 

Lala and my Nutri-mama at a water park in town. 
Ben and Grandpa were too busy in the lazy river to bother posing for a picture.

For our other sauce, I've included my mom's Creamy Pesto Sauce. My mom gardens every year -- she would tell you she has a brown thumb, but trust me, it is greener than mine! -- and a few years ago she had some fresh basil plants super produce!  She was up to her eyeballs in basil and froze a good amount of her harvest. So, her creamy pesto sauce became a regular in her recipe rotation.

The other recipe from my mom is written as a recipe, but she essentially told me "little bit of this, little bit of that" when I asked her for her recipe.  It is essentially her go-to formula that she uses to make a vegetable bean soup once a week or so.  It is a little different every time depending on the veggies she has on hand, but always warm and comforting and delicious.

For the Nutritarian Revamp Week 4 Meal Plan CLICK HERE.
For links to all of the Nutritarian Revamp Meal Plans CLICK HERE.

Mango Chia Pudding from this week's meal plan. I'm probably going to have to make a second batch for myself this week, it is that good!

Until next week, my friends. Eat your veggies, move your body, get some rest, and love yourself.

Health and Happiness,

Amy

Nutriarian Revamp! Week 3 Meal Plan

 Hello lovelies,

I am over three weeks into my Nutritarian Revamp and I feel like I have hit such a great rhythm!  I feel like a huge part of that is the planning and preparation I have been doing with my weekly meal plan menus.  

Today I am sharing my week 3 meal plan that includes some wonderful summer produce. Including zucchini, yellow squash, sweet cherries, and mango.  This week you guys also get to try my absolute favorite green smoothie.  I am forever a chocolate lover!  This smoothie features cocoa powder, cherries, and kale, but includes rolled oats and beans to add in fiber and keep you full for longer on your busy mornings.  I got you!

I have seriously loved cranking out these menu plans and I plan to continue, but for the first portion of August, my family and I have a few trips planned (one tropical, one to my hometown and I'm so excited!), so I will be taking a short break. I will be back with Week 4 on August 20th, but until then, in this week's menu I have included links to the first two weeks of meal plans if you would like to revisit them, and I have also included a few bonus recipes to add into your rotation that include my favorite crowd-pleaser hummus.

My food photography this week is a little underwhelming because I've been busy with a few job interviews and getting ready for our trips. But what you need to know is that these recipes are delicious! 

As for an update with how coming back to this way of eating has gone for me - it has been amazing!  I am feeling so satisfied with the bigger volumes of foods.  I don't know if it is because it is summer and fresh fruit is ripe and abundant or if my taste buds are adjusting back to enjoying natural plant foods, but I just can't get enough watermelon, mangoes, and cherries!  I bought 4 huge bags of cherries this week (on sale for only $0.98/lb, yeah!), and froze a good portion of them to have for the Chocolate Cherry Green Smoothie this week. 

My hubby is still (still.... ugh) not very plant-based, but he has been participating in a simple version of a salad most days. I have had to make some non-nutritarian foods for guests in the last few weeks including some white flour breads and sugary cookies. At first I was nervous that I would have some big cravings hit, but that really didn't happen. Because I had my dessert muffins made ahead of time and plenty of fresh fruit, I didn't even want any of the cookies. And my digestion has been going so nicely, I wasn't even tempted to have any of the breads that might disrupt that.

I have reached the point where I really don't put a lot of value into what the scale says or how it moves. My health and wellbeing is my main focus - things like energy, sleep quality, stamina, and mental health are what I am after.  BUT if you wanted to know my progress I have lost over 7 lbs in these first few weeks. 

Now, if you are here for the link to Week 3 of my meal plans, here you go:

Nutritarian Revamp Week 3 Meal Plan (download link)

See you again in a few weeks!

Nutritarian Revamp! Week 2 Meal Plan

Here we are!  I'm two weeks into my Nutritarian Revamp!  

If you have been following along on Instagram, I posted reels of my day-to-day for the first 5 days.  This was so fun, but so tiring! This week, I showed off some of my meals through stories as well as my grocery haul.  Since getting back into the Nutritarian way of eating, I really forgot how much fresh produce we go through, especially on days when Kevin is also having a large salad. So, at the end of the week, we were ready for a produce restock.

I'm finding that going into my second week back, I am starting to really crave and enjoy my salads as the favorite part of my meal.  It might be because the weather has been so warm, but salads are just hitting the spot right now.  I've also been enjoying ALL of the summer fresh fruit. Mangos, cherries, watermelon... yum!

My inflammation has gone down a lot since starting!  I can tell that I'm sleeping better and my moods are more level throughout the day.  I am starting to feel more in-tuned with my hunger and satiation levels, so I'm starting to not want as much during my evening meal so that I am not still feeling full by bedtime. Each day last week felt like the longest day as I was uncomfortable and getting back into the habits I wanted to have, but this week just flew by.  I hardly had to do any thinking about what I was going to eat.  I didn't stress about meal times, even though a few lunches were delayed from kid activities.  It was kind of nice to be on autopilot and know that what I needed and wanted to eat was already in the fridge and mostly prepped.

Just like last week, I found that I had so much success sticking with Nutritarian eating because I planned ahead and had my recipes and grocery list ready to go.  I decided for now to keep offering up the free meal plans for download, so if you want you can join in too. :)  Here is a link to the blog post about Week 1 if you want to start from the beginning.  

I will have Week 3 out next Sunday (July 30th), and then I will be taking a short break for a family trip to Hawaii and then to my hometown for the first part of August.  Expect Week 4 on August 20th!  In the meantime, I will be posting on Instagram all about my travel to Hawaii and (hopefully) all of the fresh tropical fruit I get to eat!

I hope this week is wonderful for you however you spend it, and that you find peace in how you are eating and the joy you find in life outside of food.

Nutritarian Revamp Week 2 Meal Plan (download link)

Health and Happiness,

Amy

Nutritarian Revamp! Week 1 Meal Plan

*****Scroll down for the Week 1 Nutritarian Revamp Meal Plan!***** 

So, I don't know about you, but I am tired of the phrase "fell off the wagon", or "fell off plan" or "off my diet".  Let's do a quick re-branding of that for our success and our mental health.  I'm calling this a "Nutritarian Revamp"!  Call it what you will, but for me, I know that I haven't been feeling great and I needed to reset and revamp some of my Nutritarian habits that have fallen away over these last few years.

This has been a long time coming, but I realized that I need to make some serious moves to rebuild habits that will serve me for a long and healthy life, and the habits I have had lately are no longer sustainable.  It's taken me some time, a bit of therapy, and lots of self-love and understanding to come to the realization that I'm ready to dive back into a Nutritarian lifestyle, but with the motivation to take care of my body and my health by building long-term sustainable habits, rather than a place of self-loathing which often meant periods of over restriction and bingeing -- but that is a story for another day.

Some of the meals I've had this week, with a killer Berry Walnut Dressing for my salads!

A week ago, last weekend, we had spent all day at BBQ birthday party at a friend's house.  While the party was so fun to see friends and enjoy the Seattle sunshine, I felt awful from the beer and BBQ foods.  I woke up the next morning so inflamed, bloated, dehydrated, and just plain unwell. That day I had a birthday party to take Ben to, then we had a Costco trip planned for a few groceries and I knew "It is time."  Time to get some fruits and veggies in this body.  Time to clear out this inflammation that has been plaguing me on and off for years.  Time to stop sleeping fitfully and waking up with back pain.  Time to stop waiting until after XYZ time to be ready.  Time for a revamp.

I created this meal plan for myself for the first week or so, and I thought I'd share it in a little guide with a shopping list, recipes, and other info that helps me.  If you're in the same boat as me and working on getting back to better habits, or if you are a veteran looking for some new recipes, or if you just want to dabble and take a few tips from me. Consider this my gift to you for following along, but if you would like to there is sponsorship information in the PDF download.  :)

Nutritarian Revamp Week 1 Meal Plan (Download link)

Make sure to follow along daily as I post on Instagram.

If you aren't interested in the meal plan, I still got you with this new graphic I made for the basic Nutritarian daily goals that I am working towards.  There is a PDF and JPG version for downloading.  Feel free to print or use it as you'd like.  

Health and Happiness,

Amy