Week 2 Bonuses/Tips/Recipes

Welcome to your second week of the challenge!

Every week, we'll send out bonuses, tips for success, and recipes to keep your meals "lean and green"! 

Quick Start Guide

Rules and Scoring

Print or review Rules / Weekly Scoring Sheet
GTS Total Health Challenge Rules (Details / Examples)
Print or review Week 2 Bonus Opportunities (see details below)
Don't forget to submit last week's scores! Submit your score here

Preparation and Shopping

Print or review the Nutrition Prep Guide & Shopping List Examples
GTS Total Health Challenge Prep Guide (Details / Examples)

Measurements

Weigh yourself 3x this week, first thing in morning (Suggested MWF).
Record highs and lows (myFitnessPal or a journal)
Encouraged: waist/thigh measurement and mirror selfie.

Plan

Spend time mapping out your week ahead of time...
What score would like to achieve?
Identify the days you might go off plan.
Plan out your training days. 
What kind of habits and rituals are you going to build into this week to achieve those numbers?

Socialize/Questions/Motivate

If you're not part of our GTS Facebook Team Training Page, please request access.  
Check out and share helpful tips, recipes, meal ideas, a few bonus opportunities and keep each other accountable. 

Training and nutrition text message : (424) 265-0487

Week 2 Bonus Opportunities

Printable PDF - Week 2 Scoring Bonus Guide and Scoring Sheet

Bonus Opportunity Details

Nutrition (1 point each / 3 points max)

Share to our GTS Facebook Team Training Page at least 1 of your “lean and green” meals, recipe or meal prep ideas!*
* If you don't use or have access to Facebook, email your post to etraining@gametimestrength.com and we'll share it for you!
(1 point)

At least 3 days drinking only water, coffee, or tea with your meals.
(1 point)

At least 2 day of logging your food in a food journal or in MyFitnessPal.
(1 point)

At least 3 days of preparing all your meals home.
(1 point)

NEW: At least 2 days of using your flexible calories on fruit, vegetables, and/or whole-grains.

Training (1 point each / 2 points max)

Share to our GTS Facebook Team Training Page at least 1 picture or video of your training, get creative! *
* If you don't use or have access to Facebook, email your post to etraining@gametimestrength.com and we'll share it for you!
(1 point)

At least 2 days of intentional walking/hiking/biking/running outside for at least 20 minutes.
(1 point)

At least 3 of your training days are resistance training days.
(1 point)

Outside of your normal program, you complete at least 2 additional "mini body weight training sessions" that consists of... 
100 total walking/reverse lunges (50 per leg).
(1 point).

OR

NEW: 50 total push-ups/chair dips.
(1 point).

Sleep/Recovery (1 point each / 3 points max)

Share to our GTS Facebook Team Training Page at least 1 ritual, habit or routine you are working on for the week to improve your sleep, mindset, or de-stress!*
* If you don't use or have access to Facebook, email your post to etraining@gametimestrength.com and we'll share it for you!
( 1 point)

At least 2 days, first thing in the morning, spend 5-10 minutes writing something down you’re grateful for.
(1 point)

At least 2 days spend at least 10+ focused minutes attempting to meditate.
Think intentional silence, laying on the floor or in a chair, attempting to focus strictly on your breathing.
Helpful to practice counting the seconds of your inhale, hold, and exhale.  
Alternatively, use a meditation app like Calm to guide you.
(1 point)

At least 2 day spend at least 10+ focused minutes on a mobility/flexibility routine.
Work on mobilizing or getting some blood flow to an area you're currently tight or stiff in.
(1 point)

At least 2 days intentionally connect with a friend or family member that you don’t see everyday. 
Call, email, spend a little time re-connecting.
 (1 point)

NEW: At least 2 days of 20+ minutes of reading (not on a screen). Whether it's a book, newspaper, or magazine, take 20 minutes to learn something new, connect with the world in a different way, or connect with a different world entirely. 
 (1 point)

Success Tips

Success Tip 1: Meal Prep!

We've all been there.

It's lunchtime. You've got 30 minutes to find something to eat and you don't have anything prepared. Or you just got home from work and you don't feel like cooking.

What usually comes next?

You buy food from outside that's nowhere close to what you planned to eat or you clear out whatever's lying around in your fridge. And you probably don't feel too great about those choices afterwards.

The point of meal prep is to make eating for your goals easy and sustainable.

Let's start with easy!

Easy meals are:

1) Quick to prepare (a lot at once)
2) Quick to eat/reheat

Proteins are usually the trickiest to prepare in bulk, but also save you the most time and give you the most flexibility. 

Here are some ideas to get you going:

Make a week's worth of chicken or steak on the grill/BBQ
Bake fish fillets and freeze individual portions to reheat throughout the week
Prepare tuna/chicken/salmon salads in tupperware to have for lunch
Pack salads in mason jars to keep them fresh and crisp!
Make a veggie stir fry and divide into containers to serve anytime

You can experiment with sauces, brines, seasoning, and preparation to keep things fresh and interesting -- but keep it easy.
Prepared protein can go on top of salads, next to a plate full of veggies, in a lettuce wrap, or by itself! 

Taking a couple hours out of your weekend to make as much food in advance as possible will save you time, stress, and deviation from your nutritional goals.

Now let's talk sustainable:

Can I actually stick to prepping these meals each week? 
Do I enjoy what I'm eating enough to stick to my nutrition guidelines week-to-week?
Do I feel like I have some control over what I get to eat?

You should be able to answer yes to all of these questions. The best meal plan and the best meal prepping strategy is the one you can stick to. 

Finding the right balance of ease and sustainability will take tinkering over time.
The good news is that it's in your hands. You get to be creative. You get to experiment with what works for you.

Ideally, we'd have gourmet, instagram-worthy meals 25 times a week. Most of us, though, get the most mileage out of preparing nutritious food that doesn't make us break a sweat. We do that enough in the gym!

Success Tip 2: literally schedule in your training

Most of us aren't career athletes.
Most of us aren't fitness professionals.
We don't get paid to get shredded, take pictures of our food, or win competitions.
We do have families, friends, jobs, school, and other hobbies.

So how do we balance all of these commitments and our training and our nutrition?
The truth is, we make time for what's important to us. And self-care should be important to us!

Here's the deal: each one of us gets 168 hours in a week.

For many of us, almost a 1/4 of those hours are fixed into our work schedules. And for some, more. Double, even.

For the other 90-150 hours in the week, we have to decide between training, preparing our food, spending time with our families, getting enough sleep, and.....everything else (Netflix, going to concerts, checking Facebook for the 10,000th time).

Think about what really matters to you. Think about what is going to bring you the most happiness, healthiness, and meaning.
More than likely, your priorities will jump out at you. So...

 Put them them your schedule
Build everything else around them

It's amazing how much time we leak doing things that don't enrich our lives, at the expense of things that do. 
Can you still watch Netflix? Of course. Can you zone out at your phone from time-to-time? Sure. But be honest with yourself if the little things are taking away from the big picture.

Here are some actionable items to keep you consistent each week:

Pick one or two days each week to do your grocery shopping and meal prepping.
Develop a pre-bed routine and go to bed at the same time each day.
Schedule time for training, eating, spending time with family, and relaxing.

Remember: no one is going to take better care of you than you. 

Recipe of the Week

Single Pot Chicken, Pork, Steak, and Veggies

Single pot recipes are a great way to save time in the kitchen and keep your meals interesting.
Here we've got three kinds of lean protein and a variety of vegetables! 
You can easily swap protein and vegetable sources, and experiment with new flavorings, sauces, and seasonings.

Lean

Protein(s) of choice
Pictured: Steak, pork tenderloin, chicken

Green

Vegetables of choice
Pictured: Carrots, broccoli, spinach, green geans

Flavoring/Seasoning

Soup, stock, and/or water
Assorted seasonings
Pictured: Water and soup base. Salt and fennel seed.

Tips on preparation

Use pre-cooked protein to save time
Add protein, raw vegetables, and liquid base to the pot, cover, and steam!

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