Monday, June 17, 2013

Swimsuit Season??!! Fuel Cycle Menu coming up!

Eek! Summer's here, and this Mama is very NOT ready for swimsuit season! To help get a little more prepared, I'm planning to do my third Trim Healthy Mama Fuel Cycle this week. The first time I tried one, I lost about 5 pounds. The second one, I only lost one pound during the Fuel Cycle week, but then I lost another 3 the following week. Since I generally only lose about .2 pounds a week (if that much), these were FANTASTIC losses for me!

You'd think, with losses like those, that I might do the Fuel Cycle more often, but for me, that's not a wise choice. It's a pretty restricted week, and it takes lots of planning and prep work to make it successful. And I am looking for a sustainable plan, not a get-trim-quick plan. So I only do a Fuel Cycle week every few months. And if you are new to Trim Healthy Mama, the Fuel Cycle is NOT recommended for beginners - it will give you a false impression that THM is restrictive, when, in reality, it's one of the least restrictive plans out there. Plus, so many people have luck just freestyling the plan that it may not even be necessary! I'll also note that many of the recipes in my menu plan can be found in the Trim Healthy Mama book available as a huge printed tome on Amazon or in print and ebook formats through trimhealthymama.com.

Wanting to make room for Fuel Cycle friendly meals, I cleaned out my freezer. But I found so many things I could use to make this week successful that not only will I be helping my weight-loss along, I'll also be using up a lot of my freezer stock while I'm at it! Kai si ming, salmon fillets, chana dahl, brown rice, spicy lentils, enchilada soup, lots of berries, and an endless supply of frozen veggies - here's just a sampling that were buried so deep I didn't realize I had them!

Now that I think about it, maybe the Fuel Cycle isn't really as restrictive as I was thinking! (Can you tell I'm a Trim Healthy Mama by the multiple bags of cauliflower in there?!) Without further ado, here's my plan:

Tuesday (Deep S)
B: Fuel Cycle Frittata, bulletproof coffee
L: Steak fajita salad
D: Kai Si Ming, broccoli cooked in butter
S: GGMS, skinny chocolate, cucumbers, nighty-night custard with coconut oil

Wednesday (Deep S)
B: Eggs fried with coconut oil, bacon, bulletproof coffee
L: Salad with tuna, oil and balsamic dressing
D: Salmon fillet fried in coconut oil, broccoli in butter
S: GGMS, skinny chocolate, basic whey smoothie, mini peppers

Thursday (Deep S)
B: Fuel Cycle Frittata, bulletproof coffee
L: Salad with grilled chicken, oil and balsamic dressing
D: Fish tacos (fried salmon in wonder wraps), cabbage
S: GGMS, skinny chocolate, vanilla pudding, cukes and/or mini peppers

Friday (Fuel Pull)
B: Overnight oats, fat-strippin frap made with coffee
L: 1/2 an Aldi flatbread w/ lean turkey and laughing cow cheese, pepper strips
D: Vegetable soup, wasa with laughing cow
S: GGMS, yogurt with berries, muffin in a bowl, light string cheese

Saturday (Fuel Pull)
B: Egg white scramble, fat-strippin frap made with coffee
L: Fotato soup, peppers with yogurt dip
D: Asian stir-fry with konjac noodles, grilled chicken, and lots of veggies
S: GGMS, yogurt with berries, tummy tucking ice cream, wasa with laughing cow

Sunday (E)
B: Steel-cut oats with almond milk and berries, coffee w/ FF half and half
L: Fish tacos (grilled fish in sprouted grain tortilla) with mango salsa
D: Enchilada soup, brussel sprouts
S: GGMS, yogurt w/ berries, Deutsche Kuche toast

Monday (E)
B: Deutsche Kuche bread with savory tomato shmear
L: Grilled chicken, brown rice, veggies
D: Lentil soup with greens added, cottage berry whip
S: GGMS, yogurt w/ berries, smoothie

I'm linking up to Trim Healthy Tuesdays over at Gwen's Nest and Stacy makes Cents - make sure to check out all the trim healthy treats to be had! I'm also linking up to Menu Plan Monday over at Organizing Junkie. Head on over and see all the great menu plans to inspire you!

[Please note that product links may be my affiliate links, giving me a small benefit if you click and buy. If you are uncomfortable with this, please feel free to go directly to the site mentioned for your purchase.]

6 comments:

  1. A THM friend questioned a couple of the recipes on here, and the sad truth is that I make a lot of them up as I go along :-) But here's a brief explanation of some of the specific items that she asked about:

    steak fajita salad = salad with steak and roasted bell peppers; you could use an meat on this salad, and the peppers are optional

    fish taco = grilled(FP/E)/fried(S) fish in a wonder wrap, with either lettuce or cabbage; you could sub any meat

    mango salsa = salsa made with chopped mango instead of tomato; I wanted a little fruit, but you could use any salsa

    enchilada soup = black bean soup with refried beans added to thicken, and taco/enchilada seasoning (this is SOOO yummy!); you could use any E meal that you like, or make the chana dahl soup

    fotato soup is in the book, but I think it's actually called "Loaded Fotato Soup"

    Aldi is a grocery store, and their store brand line has a flatbread that is FP if you just eat 1/2 (which is plenty big for a wrap). You could sub any FP wrap or low-carb tortilla for that (I haven't been able to find Joseph's products).

    Aldi also sells this bread (Deutsche Kuche) that is plan-approved and they talk about in the book. you could sub any plan-approved E bread for that (I haven't had luck finding the Ezekiel at a good price)

    Savory tomato schmear is, basically, yogurt cheese (strain greek yogurt overnight), with tomatoes and chilis added. you could easily sub laughing cow cheese for that.

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  2. I wish we had an Aldi. :-( Sad.
    This is a great Fuel Cycle menu! I have mine saved on my computer. :-) We've only done one - and we lost no weight on it but my husband's weight loss kicked into gear AFTER it was over. Good benefit. :-)
    Thanks for sharing at Trim Healthy Tuesday!

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    1. It's funny how weight loss kicks in *after* sometimes - that happened for me last time too.

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  3. Very well done! :) Like this a lot! I also really like your pre-menu explanation... very sound THM doctrine! lol :) Sharing this one with friends.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm having fun with this menu and not feeling at all deprived!

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  4. Now that it's past.. how many lbs did you lose on this cycle?

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