Kelly the Culinarian: Setting up for success: My Sunday routine

Monday, July 9, 2012

Setting up for success: My Sunday routine

A few days ago, a coworker said that she doesn't know how I do it all: cook, work out, blog. The truth is, I don't. My house is a mess, the laundry is always half done and I haven't read a book in a long time. Now that I spend an increasing amount of time training, keeping organized at home is crucial. My house is in no way "company ready" and entertaining has gone the way of a popsicle on the sidewalk in July, but I do manage to feed and clothe myself.  Here's what the weekends look like so I can have a successful week:
Thursday/Friday: Laundry
Saturday: Long run/Grocery shopping
I wish I shopped with a list or a plan, but I don't. I'll usually write down what I really need or am missing, but I buy what looks good and then make meals around what I buy until it's gone.  All veggies get washed as soon as I get home.
Sunday: Cross train/meal prep



I eat 300 calories about every three hours, so this takes planning. On Sunday, I'll get everything ready for the week. I'll boil three dozen eggs (I eat about eight egg whites per day), portion out cottage cheese and prepare oatmeal packets for breakfast or cut up baked oatmeal and put it in baggies. This week, I'm eating 1/2 cup oats, 1 scoop unflavored protein powder, 1 Tablespoon chia seeds and 1 Tablespoon flaxseed. 

Whether I'm home or at work, I'll just add hot water and top with a few walnuts. Or, I'll throw it in an empty peanut butter jar and have overnight oats in a jar.

I also chop up celery and put it in a large baby food jar, which works perfectly for one stalk of celery. I steam and portion out veggies into bags. The only thing I don't prep in advance is my lunch salad, which is typically leftover salad from what I picked from my garden for the night before. I'll also throw a sweet potato in the microwave the night before and have half for dinner and half for lunch the next day.
I usually make a big meal on Sunday so we have a few of those leftovers to add to salads or for dinners later in the week. When we ate meat, it was something like crock pot southwestern chicken, but now that we're vegetarians, I make grilled balsamic-marinated vegetables or sweet potato black bean chili from the crock pot.
I have a giant lunch box that was probably designed for a family picnic, which I tote all of this to work with.
And in terms of blogging, tons of stuff can be written in advance and pre-programmed to publish, just like this blog post.  I also follow a training plan, which takes the guess work out of working out.  I know what the workouts will look like for the next 12 weeks, which helps me plan whether I need to get up early or can press snooze a few times.

3 comments:

Erin said...

You really are a planning queen! I'm pretty good but nowhere near as high speed as you on Sundays. You are inspiring me to get better at it, though!

Although, I do make a menu and a grocery list for dinners. Lunches are usually leftovers.

Kim said...

I love it when we take the time to wash and prep all the veggies and fruits on Sundays. It takes a bit of time but saves so much time... and you eat healthier throughout the week!

I used to have posts ready to publish for the whole week. Now I kind fly by the seat of my pants. LOL.

Unknown said...

Planning for the week is the best time saver! I occasionally do it too and am always grateful for the extra time on the weeknights.

-Irina
(www.chocolateatime.com)