Issue #338: Healthy Meals 5 Days a Week
Good morning. It’s Saturday, May 4th.
Stat of the Day
The number of top-flight English championships for Manchester United - the Yankees of English football. Man City (9) and Arsenal (13) are trying to add to their trophy case this year. Max is in Manchester today cheering on City with his wife and son. (Source)
Revisit
This week we explored how to take control of your Health & Longevity journey.
Issue #336 - the value of stem cells in health and longevity and how you can protect your stem cells through lifestyle choices
Issue #337 - stem cell therapy, its applications for certain medical conditions and injuries, and alternative treatments like PRP
Click HERE to check out the entire Thrive25 archive.
Inspire
How to Meal Plan
Max here. It’s been a while. We’ve been getting more feedback that when it comes to eating tips that the real issue is still - how to make it stick?
You know the story - Sunday night you’re feeling great, ready for a big week. You’ve got your alarm set for an AM workout, you’ve got a walk scheduled, and you’ve got dinner ready for Monday night. This is the week you’re going to stick to the health plan. Let’s go!
Then life happens - and by the time Thursday night rolls around you realize you’ve got to figure out another healthy dinner and then actually cook it.
How can this be easier??
Meal planning - it’s either something you never think about, you tried once or twice, or it’s something you do religiously. Kinda sounds like meditation.
Like meditation - we know meal planning delivers a big ROI, even if we can’t see it right away:
You eat with intention, aligned with your nutrition goals instead of making last-minute decisions
It reduces stress because you don’t have those “dinner decisions” hanging over your head all day while you work
You also actually save money and reduce the amount of food you throw away because you buy for meals instead of filling up the cart with anything and everything
Studies show it saves time - cooking (when planned out) can be just as efficient as take-out or eating out - plus, it brings busy families together
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy:
Some days you just want Chipotle instead of grilling that salmon and broccoli at home
Life is unpredictable - how is it already 8pm and we’re just getting home from running the kids all over town??
How to Win
📅 Put it on your calendar - dedicate a specific time to meal planning. For us it’s Sat morning when we’re planning our trip to Whole Foods
📝 Have a plan - we put together all five dinners when we’re making our grocery list
🥦 Find recipes you actually want to eat - need some inspiration, we got you covered HERE. And be sure to check your cupboards, especially spices, so you don’t overbuy
💡 Don’t Just Plan, Prep - schedule the time you’re going to prep ingredients or bulk cook the food so you aren’t needing to spend an hour every night of the week
Cheat - Ryan outsources all this to Green Chef and gets the 3-4 dinners delivered on Monday morning. You pick the meals and it’s easy prep/cook in under 30 minutes
Need more inspiration - check out our plan last week:
Max’s Meal Plan Last Week
Go ahead, try this out…
We had a long weekend planned, so we only planned for 4 meals (Sun-Wed) instead of our normal 5.
Sunday: Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken + Cilantro Rice
We used a grill pan on our stovetop without skewers
The rice was outstanding and we are way into chicken thighs
Monday: Green Curry Salmon
We typically have salmon on Mondays, this was a little more ambitious than our normal baked salmon, rice and green beans
The recipe was great and I cooked a new vegetable, bok choy - super simple and really tasty
Next time, we’d do this on Sunday with more time
Tuesday: Burst Tomato Pasta + Sautéed Shrimp and a Caesar Salad
We’ve had salmon with burst tomato sauce before and it was killer. This recipe is pretty good - definitely elevated by the shrimp we added to get some protein
Wednesday: Gingle Lime Turkey + Coconut Rice*
This was a new recipe for us - go with turkey not pork
It tasted like a dessert - even when we removed the granulated sugar in the rice and used less brown sugar with the turkey
* I’m not sponsored by Gimme Some Oven, no matter what it looks like! It’s just been a great source for solid recipes that are healthier, or we can turn healthy, and taste great
Grocery List (Placeholder)
In case you want to put this meal plan in play, here’s the list.
Want more meal planning ideas, let us know
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Laugh
May the 4th
In a tribute to my first trip to Disney with my kiddos next week - it’s Star Wars Day.
I was a big fan growing up and have the original movies basically memorized - but this guy makes you feel like you’re actually watching the real thing.
Brain Games
Logic Equations
Since you’re an expert now, we’re stepping it up to eight variables - A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H - with eight possible values - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8. None of the variables can share the same number. Based on the following equations, what do the variables equal:
C + G + H = 17
C + G = 14
A + E + G = 13
C + F = 11
C + D + E = 9
Yes, we’re talking eight variables with only five equations. But study them for a minute before you start and this one can be relatively quick. Get this right and we’ll avoid math for a couple weeks!
Credit: Brainzilla
**For answer, scroll to the bottom of the post
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** Brain Games Answer **
Answer: Yellow are the values for the variables. A=4, B=7, etc.
Why?…
First, plug equation (2) into (1). H = 3
Back to equation (2), C + G = 14. To be possible, C or G must be either 6 or 8
Equation (4) is C + F = 11. If C can be 6 or 8, then F can only be 3 or 5. But H = 3, so F = 5. And if F = 5, then C = 6. And if C = 6, then G = 8. Ok, we’re halfway there!
Since C = 6, equation (5) C + D + E = 9 translates to D + E = 3. D or E must be either 1 or 2
Last, G = 8, so equation (3) is now A + E = 5. E = {1,2} so A = {3,4}. But H = 3, so A = 4. If A = 4, then E = 1. If E = 1, then D = 2, and all we have left is B = 7
See, not too bad. How’d you do?
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