Sunday Prep

Your week

Pick meals. Shop does the math.

Tap what you want and set how many times. Breakfast is still the cottage scramble if you like it. It is just not assigned. Shop builds the grocery list from your picks, by store.

Aim stays 1,400–1,500 cal, 140g+ protein, 30g+ fiber. High volume veg. Oil is a teaspoon, not a pour.

The week

Each muscle twice. One home day.

When you hit 12 clean reps on all sets, add 5 lb. Warm up 5 min plus 2 light sets. Rest 90–120s on the first two lifts, about 60s on the rest. Last two reps should be hard. Leave 1–2 in the tank.

If you only have 30 minutes at the gym: first three lifts, 3 sets, leave. Wednesday is the Nourish Move Love home session, not extra cardio on top of lifting.

Monday

Upper A

• Bench press, dumbbell or bar

  3 × 8–12
• Chest-supported row or one-arm dumbbell row

  3 × 8–12
• Seated dumbbell shoulder press

  3 × 8–12
• Lat pulldown

  3 × 8–12
• Rear-delt fly or face pull

  2 × 12–15
• Optional: curl + tricep pushdown

  2 × 10–15 each

Tuesday

Lower A

• Goblet squat or barbell squat

  3 × 8–12
• Romanian deadlift

  3 × 8–12
• Walking lunge or Bulgarian split squat

  2 × 8–10 each leg
• Leg curl

  3 × 10–15
• Calf raise

  3 × 10–15
• Plank or dead bug

  2 × 30–45s / 2 × 8 each side

Wednesday

Home session. One, not three.

Gym days stay gym days. Wednesday is a follow-along from Nourish Move Love. Same week number as the meal plan. Medium dumbbells. Finish the reps (or the interval), then rest. Do not stack this on a lift day.

If the gym is closed, do this instead of skipping. Do not do it and Upper/Lower.

Week 1 · 35 min

HIIT EMOM

7 circuits, 2 moves each. Repeat each circuit 3 times. Every minute on the minute: hit the reps, rest until the next minute. Aim for 10+ seconds of rest. 15–20 lb dumbbells.

• Alternating reverse lunges

  10 · then goblet squat jacks ×10
• Kneeling curl + shoulder press

  8 · then down-dog push-up ×4
• Deadlift + clean squat

  5 · then jump lunges ×20
• Plank row

  10 · then kneeling overhead triceps ×10
• Lateral squats

  10 · then mountain climbers ×30
• Chest press

  10 · then glute bridge ×10
• Dumbbell burpee

  5 · then squat to overhead press ×10

Video + form on NML

Only have 10 minutes

Bodyweight HIIT

From the 30-minute HIIT page. Repeat this trio until time is up. Low-impact: step the burpees, march instead of mountain climbers, skip the bounds.

• Lateral bounds
• Push-up burpees
• Mountain climbers

NML 30-minute HIIT (10-min option)

Spicy extra · not a fifth workout

Marine 35

Only if you missed a home day and want something harder. 3 circuits, 45 on / 15 off, each move twice. 1-minute plank between circuits. Pull-up becomes a row if needed.

• Pull-ups · push-ups · farmer’s-carry march · then plank
• Squats · overhead press · deadlift + clean · then plank
• Burpees · front-rack carry · lateral shuffle

Video + form on NML

Saturday

Zone 2. Still easy.

25–30 min incline walk (3–6%) or bike. Conversational. Then 5–8 min core if you want: dead bug, bird dog, side plank. No 20-minute ab circuit.

Optional add-on, only if the week’s lifts happened and you feel good: 2 sets curls, 2 sets triceps, 2 sets lateral raises. Stop there. Not a second HIIT day.

Thursday

Upper B

• Incline dumbbell press

  3 × 8–12
• Cable row or machine row

  3 × 8–12
• Lat pulldown or assisted pull-up

  3 × 8–12
• Lateral raise

  3 × 12–15
• Face pull

  2 × 12–15
• Optional: hammer curl + overhead tricep

  2 × 10–12

Friday

Lower B

• Hip thrust or cable pull-through

  3 × 8–12
• Leg press or a different squat

  3 × 8–12
• Step-up or reverse lunge

  2 × 8–10 each leg
• Leg curl

  3 × 10–15
• Hip abduction

  2 × 12–15
• Calf raise

  2 × 12–15
• Side plank

  2 × 20–30s each side

Skip these

• Random extra HIIT classes on top of this, at 1,450 calories
• Swapping a lift day for a second home session
• Skipping lower body because of the scale
• Changing the whole program in week 2

Hacks

Cottage cheese, but cute

Buy 1% at WinCo in the big tubs. Two to three tubs a week is normal. A fork is enough. Blender optional.

Cottage scramble

Default breakfast. 2 eggs + 1 cup cottage, spinach, salsa. ~320 cal, 40 g protein. Sunday muffin tin: 4 eggs + 2 cups cottage + spinach, 350°F ~18 min. Grab two.

Pizza bowl

One dinner a week. 1 cup cottage, 4–5 oz leftover chicken or turkey, 1/2 cup salsa or crushed tomato, Italian seasoning, pile of spinach. Microwave until hot. ~400 cal, 50 g protein. Lazy lasagna.

Fork-mashed ranch

1/2 cup cottage, lemon, garlic powder, salt, hot sauce. Spoon over chicken or chili. ~80 cal.

Sweet bowl

When sweets hit. 1 cup cottage, cinnamon, 3/4 cup frozen berries (let them thaw so they go jammy). ~230 cal, 28 g protein. This replaces the planned snack.

Cold brick

1.5 cups cottage, cucumber, tomato, everything bagel. Campus breakfast. ~280 cal, 42 g protein.

No microwave

Campus bag

• Cottage tub
• Sliced chicken, even cold
• Cucumber
• Salsa cup
• Greek yogurt

Not pretty. Works. Costco rotisserie, pulled Sunday, is the backup protein.

Rules

Three stores. Protein is not from TJ.

Costco, every 2–4 weeks: chicken, turkey or beef, eggs, Greek yogurt, frozen broccoli, salsa, olive oil. Optional rotisserie.

WinCo, weekly: cabbage, produce, 1% cottage cheese (2–3 tubs), canned tomatoes, bulk spices, hot sauce.

Trader Joe’s, flavor only: salsa verde, chili onion crunch (1 tsp), everything-bagel seasoning, riced cauliflower if WinCo is out.

Skip most weeks: avocado, salmon, pre-cut fruit, rice bowls, juice, “healthy” bars, TJ frozen meals.

After the freezer is stocked

About $40–55 a week

The first Costco run looks bigger. That is inventory, not one week of food. If the fridge is tiny, freeze meat at home in 1-week bags.

Do not add

Rice, tortillas, chips “for the bowl,” sweet sauces, granola on the yogurt, peanut butter by the spoon, avocado every day, dining-hall “I’ll be good tomorrow.”

If a treat is happening, put it on Saturday after the gym. Keep protein at the other three meals. Do not negotiate with Tuesday.