One week into the Summer Tone Up! I’m so glad so many of you found the first blog helpful so I’m absolutely going to keep it up. The trick here is to learn to make the small changes and adaptations so you stick with your goals over time. I hope you bravely tried some new recipes (I did! And even messed one up… Forgot the protein powder in the Cherry Chia Pudding!) and were totally surprised by how awesome getting back to the basics can be.

This is also a great time to check in on how were your portion sizes? Do you need to increase your proteins or healthy fats and any of your meals? How were your energy levels throughout the day? Start to tune in and know adding on or scaling back is part of the journey! You should feel vibrant and strong.

Heading into the menu for week 2:

M1/Breakfasts

I love the all of egg muffin recipes but I already know I want to make the Blondie Muffins and will not take the time to make more than one tray in a weekend so I’m prioritizing those!

The Necta-Green Toast is a pass for me. I just don’t eat toast at home very often and I’m trying to limit it during the challenge anyway. I actually don’t even own a toaster (or a microwave!) You read that right — and I still cook a ton and make this plan work!

So I will be opting for oatmeal, smoothies or egg scrambles with veggies as my M1s! Easy to rotate through.

M2/Morning Snack

Blondie Muffins: one of the best muffin recipes! ‘Nuff said.

Otherwise once again I always have yogurt and other seasonal fruit around.

M3/Lunches

Mezze Grain Bowl: Another recipe I am so excited to try! I love artichoke hearts, feta, arugula, olives… This bowl speaks to me. Can’t wait to try the sauce.

K&Kale Salad: this is a TIU classic!!!! A hack that my friend Chelsea taught me is not only do you want to massage the dressing into the kale (yes, this is critical — the acidity in the lemon helps break down the bitterness of the kale and it absorbs the dressing! Kale is hearty so it will just soak in more flavor over a couple of days), but you also should massage 1/2 an avocado into the kale. It is incredible! Such a fresh delicious salad.

I did just make this while on the 7DSD so I am probably going to opt for a little variety. Something I like to try and do is recreate some of my favorite restaurant salads. The two that come to mind are Pablo y Pablo Pablo Chopped Salad or Evergreens Salads in Seattle has sooooo many good options. I’m craving the Super Bowl which was my go to pick up lunch at the office.

Besides those two, I’ll have leftovers for any remaining days.

M4/Afternoon snack

Matcha Protein Bites: I’m honestly too lazy to take the time to roll things into nice balls and I only have a blender and not a food processor. But if you crave something sweet in the afternoons, this is a great choice!

I’ll break down my Protein Dough again this week as another option which is basically a deconstructed ball!

I did snag a couple of M4 approved dips last week at the grocery store and my friend Ives let me know she just shared a recipe for one of them. This almond-based sauce is INSANE. Also Ives is all of the fitness goals.

The other is the Siete Foods Sprouted Bean Dip. All of their dips are actually fine for M4. TIU has some great dips in some of the original plans as well to mix it up!

Otherwise guac is always a staple and so are a handful or nuts or a spoonful of nut butter honestly. Sometimes that’s all I really need to power through the afternoon.

M5/Dinner Ideas

Lean Protein + Veggies: My go-to proteins are salmon, lots of different white fish, tofu, tempeh, veggie burgers, chickpeas, chicken breast and chicken thighs. I do occasionally have some red meat. Most of the food I buy is organic, local and sustainably raised/caught. 

I have my favorite veggies (and you probably do too!) so I mix these up week to week and depending on seasonal availability.

Right now asparagus is really beautiful in addition to fresh green beans. I love these as well as carrots, bell peppers, brussels sprouts, celery (usually as a cooking base), and broccoli.

Summer Avo Tacos: I didn’t end up making tacos during the week for week one but I am craving them so probably going to pick up a rotisserie chicken this weekend and making this recipe on this coming Saturday night.

Spiced Chickpea + Creamy Veggies: This recipe looks like a fresh take on the buddha bowl and I LOVE spicy chickpeas! I could eat them like popcorn. Definitely will be trying this recipe. Also just for the record, I eat full fat greek yogurt because it’s so much more rich and filling to me and I don’t feel like I need to sweeten it! 

This week is a lot heavier in the mix and match types of meals so I am likely going to supplement some of my own recipes as well. In week 1 I felt like I could have used one more batch meal besides my Sunday Stew (ended up being the classic lean turkey chili!) Learning from that small tip as I plan for the next week!

Another nutrition resource I love is Autumn Elle Nutrition and I have many of her plans! Eyeing some recipes in her Thriving Cookbook and since I think we are making a beef based dish for our stew this week, I think her split pea soup looks perfect as another dish for us this week.

I ended up adding in Oh She Glows easy chana masala as a meal for us this week and mixed it up with the Faux-lafel tray bake. I ate mine over the leftovers and Martin did that plus some basmati rice.

That’s my menu for the week which means my meal prep is going to look something like this:

• Blondie Muffins
• Mezze Grain Bowl Prep and Assembly
• Chopped Veggies for snacks
• Sunday Stew (that Oxtail Stew recipe from my last post)

I got a few questions around time spent prepping and I think my friend Sabrina summarized this super well. If you prep every single dinner and lunch each week from the plan, it would take you way too long! Take an honest look at your week ahead and have a few things prepped and ready to go to set you up for the week, but also identify days of the week when you have a little extra time to maybe set up an additional lunch or make a bigger dinner that will have some lunches.

Batch cooking is going to save you so much time if you are finding that every evening you are dreading getting in the kitchen. I do think it’s important to improve your relationship with cooking — we’ve been marketed that it’s a chore and takes up too much time but honestly getting closer and more intimate to what is going to nourish you will help repair this very disjointed relationship that many of us feel with food.

Each week my prep pretty much looks like a salad, some snacks that are ready to go, breakfasts if I’m heading into the office (usually overnight oats in that case), and a big batch of stew/curry/soup to kick off the week. Outside of the dinner we’re preparing on Sunday night, my total prep is maybe an hour.

That’s it for now! If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to drop me a message at bre@fourcorners.life or on Instagram! Here’s to week 2 being as successful as the first! You have got this!