Are you food Prepping and planning your nutrition?
Food Prep and planning! We’re all busy people, but without being prepared we are drastically decreasing our chances of success, whether your goal is fat loss, performance based or simply a health goal.
If we don’t make time to prep our meals we are more than likely to reach for that fast food lunch or grab a quick supermarket shop snack.
Remember when creating your food prep to make your meals and plan around foods which you enjoy to a certain extent, of course we don’t want to be eating unhealthy foods for most meals if you want to be healthy!
But at the same time if you know you will fall off the wagon quickly if you completely ban a certain food from your nutrition then don’t ban it moderate it instead! Otherwise the plan is doomed to fail. Instead plan a way to incorporate them into your prep but at a healthy level!
Our food prep should have these foods built in rather than restricting ourselves of all our favourite foods, this way your sustainability is much higher and in turn your results will be much better in the long run! For example if you love carbs don’t do Keto! If you need breakfast to get moving in the morning and also enjoy having a meal at night with your family don’t do intermittent fasting! If you like pasta and a cheeky beer at the weekend with your mates don’t do paleo! They don’t fit your lifestyle! Instead make your nutrition suit you rather than marrying yourself to a diet style that really isn’t something you will be able to keep up!
Granted there will be quite a few elements of our nutrition that we will probably need to change to achieve our goal otherwise you will have already achieved it, but make them manageable changes that you can keep to and sustain a good ratio to look at so you create a healthy balance could be 80/20 or 90/10 depending on how fast you want to achieve your goal. For example 80 or 90% of the time your food is on point being made up my whole nutritious foods given your body the nutrients it requires and then 20 or 10% of the time you can enjoy yourself a little bit, so now you are creating a healthy balance so you can still live your life and enjoy social experiences whereas also been able to stay on track and achieve your goal!
In my eyes we shouldn't be looking for a diet, we should be looking to build a healthier lifestyle that suits us and which we can sustain, giving us the results we are looking for rather than a quick fix that’s unrealistic for you to keep to!
So where do we start, and what should a healthy, balanced meal look like? Keep in mind all of the components of a balanced meal while planning out your menu and shopping list. If you have calories and macros then plan your meals based around them and use a reliable set of scales to ensure it’s correct calories and macros!
So we need a good balance of our macronutrients, or macro’s for short, the split we go with will depend on you and your goal! Our macro’s consist of...
Carbohydrates which are our primary (but not our only) source of fuel for working muscles and our central nervous system.
Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood. It’s crucial for our growth and repair of bodily tissue!
Fats are important for providing your body with energy, boosting your immune system, controlling inflammation and help cell production while also making your body absorb certain nutrients it needs.
Now we know the basics of what our macro’s do we need a balance of these to ensure we give our body all of these benefits. The balance is again depending on you and your goal. If you would like help with this I can definitely help.
Once you have sorted your balance we now need to find meals that work for you, then start to create a plan that will fit the foods you enjoy and hit your calories and macros at the same time. To help you out get your FREE RECIPE PACK HERE!
Create a shopping list with all of the ingredients for the meals needed to hit your calories and macros for the week. Get yourself down to the local shop and get all the bits needed to nail your nutrition for the week!
Now look at your week and create yourself time to make the meals you need. Book a slot in your week and make it a priority if you want to achieve your goal your food prep time is just as important, if not more than your actual training sessions! In my coaching program I have a full meal prep guide to make this process as easy as possible for you, so you stay in control of your nutrition rather than leaving it to chance. Results don’t happen by accident they take planning, preparation and a massive part of that is your food prep.
Now you know some simple steps and the basics around food prep it’s up to you now to go make the time to achieve your goal, but as always if you would like any help with this drop me a message and I would love to help you!
