Week 17 - Meal Prep, Sydney & Survival Mode

Today is Sunday and I have not written a single thing for this blog yet.

So here we are.

Starting from the beginning.

Monday was my office day, but before I even went into the office, I got up early, did check-ins and then meal prepped.

Because apparently 6:30am meal prep is who I am now.

I hadn’t done my meal prep for the week yet, so I got it done before work. This time I made sweet potato mash, turkey mince with taco seasoning and veggies.

I actually used my rice cooker to cook the sweet potato, then put the veggies in the steam basket above, and cooked the turkey mince in no oil.

Very efficient.

Very adult.

Very unlike the version of me who left brown sugar syrup in a drawer for weeks.

I had put myself on maintenance calories this week, or control calories we also call it, so the amount of extra snacks I got was honestly very exciting.

Simple pleasures.

I also got myself some protein water in the peach iced tea flavour, and it was actually quite nice. I took that into the office with my food, and it felt nice having a little bit more room with my calories while knowing I was supporting my body for the week ahead.

Tuesday morning, I got up really early again to start check-ins, fuelled by V this week.

Not sponsored.

Just tired.

Honestly, this week felt very much like a “let’s just get through it” kind of week.

I did get some cute photos of Arlo at daycare though.

I also took some more progress pictures, because even though I’m moving into this little recovery phase now, I still want to keep documenting everything.

Tuesday evening after work, I had a nail appointment to remove my nails for my next medical procedure because I had gel nails on.

So off they came.

I got a manicure and clear polish, which felt very strange because I’m so used to having them done.

Very natural girl era.

Against my will.

Wednesday, the kids went off to school, and then I had a hair trim and braid appointment.

I always take my hairdresser lots of gifts because she looks after me so well. I also worked from the hairdresser, because of course I did.

Multitasking queen or deeply unable to sit still?

You decide.

Wednesday evening, I had my flight to Sydney.

The view was beautiful.

When I got to my Airbnb, I actually washed all the clothes I was wearing because there was a washing machine there, and I am so grossed out by airplanes and germs.

So naturally, I washed everything and hung all the clothes on the fan in the room to dry.

Completely normal behaviour.

Then I FaceTimed Jason and the kids before trying to settle in for the night.

Thursday morning, I had to check in for my medical procedure at 10:30am.

The hospital was actually so cute. It even had fish in the foyer.

I felt like I waited so long to go through. It’s such a waiting game. You sit there, you wait, you think too much, you try to stay calm, and then eventually it all starts happening.

But then when they put you to sleep, it feels like two seconds.

So weird.

I had to stay the night there, and I don’t think I got out of theatre until around 6 or 7pm.

After that, it was just survival mode.

I won’t go into too much detail about the procedure itself because I linked it in my last blog, but essentially it was a breast reduction with some other bits and pieces. It’s something I have been needing for a while, and as nervous as I was, I’m also really glad it’s done now.

The food in the hospital wasn’t too bad either.

It was actually quite easy to track and pretty healthy, so I just did the best I could.

And honestly, that’s all you can do in situations like that.

Friday, Jason drove to Sydney to pick me up and bring me home.

As we know, and as I’ve talked about before, I’m really prone to low blood pressure and fainting after procedures.

My blood pressure was low. It was under 90 at one point, but then it slowly got up to about 94 or 95, which is actually pretty good for me.

I made sure I got up really slowly, took my time and didn’t rush anything.

No fainting.

Very proud of myself.

Tiny post-surgery win, but I’ll take it.

We made it home on Friday, and since then it has literally been bed and rest.

That’s it.

That’s the update.

No exciting adventures. No Mount Taylor. No workouts. No chaos beyond the usual household noise happening around me while I lie there like a Victorian ghost.

Saturday morning I got a croissant and a coffee, which felt like a little recovery treat, and then the rest of the weekend was just about letting people look after me.

Which sounds lovely in theory, but if you are anything like me, actually resting and doing nothing is its own form of torture.

Lucky for me, I had meal prepped numerous times and frozen a lot of it, so I have meals ready to go, which makes this whole thing so much easier.

Past Casey really came through for post-surgery Casey.

Sunday was still very much a bed and rest day for me, but Rocky had his footy presentation.

I obviously couldn’t go, but Jason went and I got sent photos, which was so cute.

I hate missing those little things, but I’m also trying to remind myself that recovering properly is the job right now.

Sunday afternoon I was scrolling through my phone in a bit of a blues mood.

Nothing dramatic, just that weird recovery feeling where you’re grateful it’s done, but also sore, tired, stuck in bed and not quite yourself.

Then I found some really old photos of me from 2020.

And honestly, they were such a good reminder that I have come a really long way.

Even if I have short recovery periods in between.

Even if I have to pause training.

Even if this phase feels slower or less exciting.

The work I’ve done still counts.

The progress is still there.

Sometimes you need an old photo to remind you that one quiet recovery period does not undo years of effort.

So that’s it for this week.

Short and sweet.

I planned ahead, I meal prepped, I got through surgery, I made it home safely, I avoided fainting, I let my village help me, and now I’m resting.

Not glamorous.

Not exciting.

But necessary.

Now for check-in.

Week: 17

Phase: CONTROL / maintenance calories for recovery

Nutrition adherence: 5/7

Weekly average steps: 6,047

Training: 2/4

Average body weight change: unknown… I did try and weigh but the swelling scared me.

The things I’m most proud of this week are:

• Meal prepping early and setting myself up before surgery

• Moving into maintenance calories without panicking

• Getting through the procedure

• Managing my blood pressure carefully and not fainting

• Letting my village help me

• Having meals ready so recovery feels less stressful

• Actually resting, even though resting is not my favourite activity

• Reminding myself that a recovery phase does not erase my progress

  
  

The areas I need to improve next week are:

• Keep prioritising recovery

• Don’t rush movement before my body is ready

• Keep protein high to support healing

• Start walks!

• Stay on top of fluids and blood pressure

• Accept help instead of trying to do everything myself

• Remember this is a recovery phase, not a setback

  
  

So that was Week 17.

Not the most exciting week to write about.

But probably one of the most important ones for my body.

This is the part where I don’t push harder.

I recover properly.

And honestly, that might be the hardest habit of all.