Sunday Prep

Your week

Pick meals. Shop does the math.

Tap what you want and set how many times. Cottage scramble is an easy breakfast if you like it. Shop builds the grocery list from your picks, by store.

Brown the meat. Roast veg until it gets color. Bloom spices in the pan. Lemon, lime, or vinegar at the end. Yogurt is a sauce, not a garnish.

Some meals can be a wrap. Warm 1 CarbSmart tortilla, add the protein, 1 to 1.5 cups vegetables, and the sauce. Use less cabbage than the bowl so it actually closes. Soup, curry, and lasagna stay bowls.

Aim for 1,400–1,500 cal, 140g+ protein, 30g+ fiber. High volume veg. Oil is a teaspoon, not a pour. Cheese is optional, not required. A wrap adds about 70 calories.

The week

Weights. Treadmill. That’s it.

Five lift days. Wednesday rest. Easy treadmill if you want it, after a lift or on a rest day. No HIIT. No extra classes. Leave 1–2 reps in the tank.

Warm up 5 min easy treadmill or the first lift light. Rest about 2 min on the big lifts, 60–90s on the smaller ones.

If you only have 30 minutes: first three lifts, 3 sets, leave.

Progress

Hit 12s, then add a little.

Example: 10/9/8, then 10/10/9, then 11/10/10, then 12/12/12. When every set is a clean 12 with 1–2 in the tank, add a little weight and start the range over.

Holding the same weights while the scale trends down is a win. The program is not failing if the load does not jump every week.

Monday

Shoulders + triceps

• Seated dumbbell shoulder press

  3 × 8–12
• Lateral raise

  3 × 12–15
• Rear-delt fly or face pull

  2 × 12–15
• Overhead tricep extension

  3 × 10–12
• Tricep pushdown or dip

  3 × 10–12

Tuesday

Glutes + quads

• Goblet squat or barbell squat

  3 × 8–12
• Leg press or walking lunge

  3 × 8–10
• Hip thrust

  3 × 8–12
• Bulgarian split squat or step-up

  2 × 8–10 each leg
• Leg extension, if you have it

  2 × 12–15
• Calf raise

  2 × 12–15

Wednesday

Rest.

Off from lifting. Easy treadmill 20–30 min if you want to move. Conversational. Not sprints. Sleep, walk campus, eat.

Thursday

Back + biceps

• Chest-supported row or cable row

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

  3 × 8–12
• One-arm dumbbell row

  3 × 8–12
• Face pull

  2 × 12–15
• Barbell or dumbbell curl

  3 × 10–15
• Hammer curl

  2 × 10–12

Friday

Glutes + hamstrings

• Romanian deadlift

  3 × 8–12
• Hip thrust or cable pull-through

  3 × 8–12
• Leg curl

  3 × 10–15
• Reverse lunge or step-up

  2 × 8–10 each leg
• Hip abduction

  2 × 12–15
• Calf raise

  2 × 12–15

Saturday

Full upper

• Bench press, dumbbell or bar

  3 × 8–12
• Chest-supported row or cable row

  3 × 8–12
• Seated dumbbell shoulder press

  3 × 8–12
• Lat pulldown

  3 × 8–12
• Optional: curl + tricep pushdown

  2 × 10–12 each

Treadmill

Easy. Conversational.

20–30 min incline walk. You can talk. After a lift, or on Wednesday. Not sprints. Not a second workout you have to earn.

If the gym is closed, do the treadmill at home or skip. Do not replace a lift with random jumping around.

If recovery is slipping

Drop extras first.

Keep protein, the five lifts, and sleep. Drop optional treadmill, then skip the last accessory. Do not add extra work to “make up” a rest day.

Skip these

• HIIT classes, sprints, or jumping workouts
• Adding treadmill because the scale ticked up for a day
• Skipping glute days because of the scale
• Turning Wednesday into a sixth lift

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. Wrap it in a CarbSmart tortilla if you need something you can carry. 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, crushed tomato (not salsa), garlic, Italian, red pepper flakes. Microwave until hot. ~400 cal, 50 g protein. Or fold it into a CarbSmart tortilla and toast it. Optional Parmesan. 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, tiny pinch of salt, 3/4 cup frozen berries (let them thaw so they go jammy). Optional vanilla. ~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
• A drained salmon can
• 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, canned pink salmon, frozen shrimp.

WinCo, weekly: cabbage, produce, 1% cottage cheese (2–3 tubs), canned tomatoes, lemons, bulk spices, hot sauce, soy, bouillon. CarbSmart tortillas (Mission Carb Balance, soft taco) if you want wraps. Flavor kit: garlic, onion powder, chili, cumin, smoked paprika, Italian, pepper, vinegar.

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, fresh salmon, pre-cut fruit, rice bowls, juice, “healthy” bars, TJ frozen meals. Canned salmon is fine if you tap that bowl.

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, regular flour 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.” CarbSmart wraps are the exception, and only on the meals that say bowl or wrap.

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