I’m about 10 days out from my meet and marathon. I’m exhausted, finishing up training, and hungry all the time. I let that hunger get the better of me over the weekend – I was traveling to support our friends lifting in Ohio, handled another one of our own at a meet in Bridgeville, and by the time I got home Sunday, pretty much just fell asleep. In between, my diet consisted mostly of bites of pizza, fast food, donuts, and some of the best pancakes I’ve ever had.

That’s all well and good, but I do have a general weight goal for next week and eating “junk food” makes me feel pretty crappy, so I’m cleaning things up this week. That meant taking a little bit of time off on Monday to buy groceries and meal prep. Since none of it is really special, I figured I’d lay it all out here.

Supplies:

Butcher Box 

• salmon filet, steak filets, chicken thighs, pork shoulder (had on hand), bacon

Misfit Box (a cool CSA type service for produce that looks ugly but tastes good)

• eggplant, carrots, apples, potatoes, kabocha squash

Giant Eagle Run

• tomatoes, mushrooms, green beans, kale, eggs, fancy juice, sauerkraut

Stuff I always have on hand

• jasmine rice, butter, avocado and olive oils, salt, pepper, basic spices

What I made:

1. Pulled Pork Shoulder
   • I have no secret, I use the crockpot. Rub it down with salt, any spices you want (I’ve been having some issues with even the most basic spices, so I’m going salt only), add apple cider vinegar, some honey, liquid smoke. Cook for 12 hours, no less, pull immediately.

2. Roasted Green Beans and Kabocha Squash

1. • In a huge bowl, coat the green beans in olive oil, salt, pepper. Spread on a baking sheet.
   • In another bowl, add peeled and chopped kabocha squash, olive oil, salt, pepper (shocker). Would have been good with a touch of cinnamon. Lay out on backing sheet.
   • Stick both in the oven, preheated to 375 degrees. Green beans took about 20 minutes, squash took about 35.

3. Pan Roasted Veggies

1. • Chop the eggplant and mushrooms. Keep the cherry tomatoes nearby. Preheat a large pan, add some avocado oil. Add eggplant first, salt it, throw a lid on and let it sear. About 5 minutes later, add the mushrooms and tomatoes. More salt. Throw the lid back on and let the juices from the mushrooms and tomatoes leak out and make the eggplant delicious. I let it cook down for about 15 minutes and it was perfect.

That makes up my lunches. I do about 4oz of cooked pork and a big scoop of either green beans or the roasted eggplant and tomato. That made 8 meals that I’ll pair with jasmine rice.

For breakfasts, I almost always have either 2 scrambled eggs and rice (if within 3 hours of a training session) OR I spend a little extra time making a hash with honey gold potatoes, bacon, and kale, topped with two eggs. 

For an extra meal, I’ll go to the roasted kabocha with steak or salmon. I have apples and lots of almonds and walnuts for snacks. Ready to go.

By the end of this week I’ll hopefully feel back to my normal self and be pretty much ready to go for next weekend’s adventure.

Editors note

We will be running a meet the staff Monday for the next few weeks. Here at Union Fitness we have an awesome staff of trainers, massage, therapists, class instructors and many others that are here to help you improve. We are hoping to create an environment in which everyone is comfortable working with everyone else. For this first edition of meet the staff Monday we are going to have new CJ introduce himself. Having two CJ’s on staff can be confusing so feel free to use nicknames, new CJ is CJ old CJ is CG. 

Thanks 

Todd Hamer

Hello Everyone,

My name is CJ Campbell, and I am one of the new coaches here at Union Fitness. I am from Butler, PA and attended Slippery Rock University, where I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical and Health Education last May. Although I am fresh out of school, I have been working in the fitness industry for the past five years, whether it be personal training or strength and conditioning. Leading up to graduation (and shortly after), I have worked with Fox Chapel High School, Butler High School Varsity Hockey, and Slippery Rock University Ice Hockey. My deep background in sports has helped me develop my coaching and personal training skills, making it easier for me to transition away from being a competitive athlete.

I first heard about Union Fitness from current trainer Cayt Neff, who is one of my peers from Slippery Rock university. At first I was skeptical, but once I visited the gym and talked with the staff, I knew it would be a great place to utilize my skills, and learn from some great minds with experience in personal training, sports performance, and power lifting. My passion for this industry is constantly growing, and I believe Union Fitness is the best environment possible to meet new individuals, along with helping them accomplish whatever goals they set for themselves! 

I look forward to meeting some of you at the gym, and possibly having the chance to train or coach you in the near future! 

Have a Great Day,

CJ

I am currently 2 weeks out from returning to the platform after some time off. I must say, I’m more excited than I have been in a very long time. Not so much just for myself, but because Union Fitness has a large group of lifters that will be competing as well. As of now, I believe we have a total of 12 lifters registered and ready to go. I’ve been to quite a few powerlifting meets over the last 10 years, and besides the infamous Westside Barbell in Columbus Ohio, I’ve never seen this many lifters from one gym competing at the same meet. I think that says a lot about Union Fitness, as well as the community that comes with it. Yesterday I was speaking with Cayt and Diane about my recent move to Pittsburgh. I was explaining to them how although I’ve been involved in sports my whole life, it wasn’t until I moved here that I have finally felt like I belonged to something. From the very beginning, I knew that this was where I was meant to be. Although Powerlifting is an individualized sport, you must have a great group of people in your corner to be successful. My family has always been there for me, and I can’t thank them enough. But a large majority of that group of people consist of my training partners. Besides my Fiance, I spend more time with them than I do anyone else. They have become a second family to me. The thought of all of us training for the same goal, competing up on the same platform together is very special to me. For those reasons, this will be a very special experience.

The next two weeks of training will begin to taper down as we head into the meet. Last Saturday I hit my last deadlift of this meet prep. 750 pounds moved better than I could have imagined, and I’m confident that I’m knocking on the door of an 800 pound deadlift soon. Maybe not at this meet, but definitely in the near future. Tomorrow will be my heaviest squat of prep. The plan is to take 730 for a smooth single, and then possibly 750-760 depending on how that goes. I’m nervous, but excited and confident. After tomorrow, all of my lower body heavy training days will be finished. Next Wednesday will be my heaviest bench press of prep. The goal is to make 430 feel light and easy, and go into the meet with confidence and a head of steam. If you know me, you know that my bench press has always been a weakness of mine. With the help of people like Casey and Jabez, I’m making great progress and am very confident. After this session, all of my heavy training will be finished, and the last 10 days will consist of light workouts, massages, and mobility work, ensuring that I feel my best heading into meet day. For me, this is a very peaceful time. I enjoy sitting back and reflecting on the journey and road traveled up to this point. Reflecting on the pros, cons, and lessons learned has always put my mind at peace, and has kept me focused.

I’m now physically and mentally stronger than I’ve ever been. I have a lot of people to thank for that. It’s hard to put into words what this sport has done for me. I owe it more than I could ever repay. For that, I am forever grateful.

My diet has been remarkably boring recently, so when I sat down to write this I wasn’t sure what to put on the page. As I get closer to my big meet/marathon weekend, I’m doing everything I can to decrease inflammation, ease my digestion, and keep my weight stable. I’d been struggling to keep weight on earlier in the fall but have finally started maintaining a little closer to my ideal. Now I just need to keep it there.

I made a few changes to what I’m eating to get here. The first is consistency, or eating the same things most of the time. It’s easier for my gut to process familiar foods (but harder on my brain to not eat ice cream and donuts when they’re on offer). I LOVE cooking, but now isn’t really the time to be trying out new recipes. I’m doing a whoooole lot of white rice (thank the Costco gods, it’s so much cheaper than Giant Eagle), some sweet potatoes, and the occasional white potato. 

And on the protein side, I’m keeping those pretty similar, but made a point to switch to some fattier cuts of my normal meat options. So it’s been pork shoulder (I have a ton from Butcher Box), steak, and lots and lots of chicken thighs. All of these cuts are tastier than their fat-free counterparts, easier to cook (and not dry out), and are a great way to sneak in some extra calories when you need them! 

I’ve also done something very difficult for me – cut DOWN on vegetables, specifically raw veggies. And I LOVE raw veggies – if you’ve seen my other food logs you know I was eating a salad of raw kale with salmon multiple times each week (out of love and laziness). No more. I stick to veggies that are cooked and pretty easy for me to digest. That happens to be mushrooms, carrots, some asparagus, spinach, eggplant, and green beans for the most part. This one’s been tough, I really like to load my diet up with veggies, but they’re super filling and sometimes cause GI problems. I’m excited to bring them back up later in the year.

Finally, I have my super safe fallback meal. It’s what I eat before hard workouts, including long runs, and what I’ll eat the morning of both the meet and the marathon. And it’s literally just white rice, eggs, and a little salt and butter. That’s it, but it’s a ton of carbs, some protein, and just a bit of fat. My body loves it, I don’t feel too full to move after, and those carbs power me through the first hour of my runs (and then I pick up with Honey Stingers).

It’s all for a purpose, and I’m less than 5 weeks out at this point. I am REALLY looking forward to taking a mini-vacation (in my hometown) after the race and then chowing DOWN on Thanksgiving. 

I’m just over 6 weeks from my next powerlifting meet and my first full marathon, so training is ramping up quickly. I’ve noticed I’m not recovering from workouts very well and I’ve lost a little weight, so priority #1 right now is increasing my food intake. This is difficult for me for a variety of reasons, but it needs to be done. I’ve started tracking what I’m eating again in an effort to hold myself accountable and keep an eye on my protein intake in particular.

Here’s a full day of eating on a Tuesday. Tuesday is a 12 hour day at the gym, which includes two workouts – my main squat day and an interval run. This particular Tuesday wasn’t too hard, squatting in the 80% range and the intervals were short and quick (half mile repeats vs full mile repeats which I’ll do next week, yikes).

6:00am – Wake up, 24oz water with a little bit of pink Himalayan sea salt (helps rehydrate)
6:45am – Start guzzling black coffee
8:00am – Get to work
8:30am – Breakfast

• 2 whole eggs, 95g egg whites (like 3 egg whites)
• 200g cooked jasmine rice
• Kerrygold butter deliciousness
• lots of salt

11:30am – Pre-training snack

• 1oz raw almonds
• Larabar (basically carbs)
• More coffee

1:00pm – Squat Workout
2:30pm – Between workout snack

• Vegan protein shake
• More coffee
• Small bag of hard pretzels
• Lots of salt

3:00pm – Interval Run
4:00pm – Lunch!

• 6oz grilled chicken thighs
• 1 large sweet potato
• Roasted eggplant, zucchini, squash, tomatoes

8:00pm – Head home!
9:00pm – Dinner

• 4oz pulled pork
• Lots of roasted green beans
• 300g smashed potatoes
• Kerrygold butter
• Sauerkraut, for gut health and tastiness

9:30pm – Dessert

• Most of an apple (I gave some of it to BB)
• 1 pear
• 1oz walnuts

10:30pm – Sleep

All told, this was over 2700 calories, 300g carbs/155g protein/108g fat.