Hi Friend!
I was talking with a client today who was sharing her experience with a new member in regards to our nutrition plan. She said, she liked how she had to make a list of all her favorite foods for each category of the "5 foods to eat at most every meal" and a list of her favorite splurges. She also said that it was and has been really helpful to make weekly meal plans. Another things she commented on to the new member was that she loved how she feels consistent with her energy all day long and no ups & downs. Separately from this conversation, she told me that she's hungry a lot and that's ironic because she shouldn't be on our meal plan, so I'd first check to make she she has the right portions for each meal, and if yes, then I'd have a different comment. I do know however that she's making great progress in her training (she's getting stronger), so she could both be losing body fat and building muscle, while getting the scale to go down and that's best case for many people. |
| | Food Portions - Female First things first. Check to make sure you're eating enough at each meal. |
| | Food Portions - Male And for the fellas. |
| | Favorite Foods List Once you know:
- what the 5 foods are to have at most meals and why.
- what the big 4 starches are
- how many meals to eat per day based on your goals, body type and carbohydrate tolerance
- how much to eat at each meal based on your goals
- how many splurge meals per week to take
You make your favorite foods list.
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| | | The favorite foods list makes it simple because you think once, and then refer to the list for ideas later. You can update the list at any time, removing items you know longer enjoy and add new ones, as you discover them. |
| | Meal Plan & Grocery Shopping List The next step after making a list of your favorite foods, is to make your meal plan based around your training schedule, personal goals and using your favorite foods list. Don't worry about recipes right now. You can always add seasonings, spices, vinegars, etc... after. |
| | | If you're on the weight loss plan, it's simple. Breakfast, lunch & dinner w/ no snacks.
If you're on the weight maintenance plan, then it's breakfast, lunch & dinner and maybe a snack.
If you train at 6:30pm, you may or may not be having a snack between lunch and dinner, depending on what time your breakfast and lunch are. If you eat lunch at noon, then you have half your dinner or a snack at 4pm, or a shake right before training. If you eat lunch at 2pm, then you might be able to perform well without a meal.
If you're on the performance training plan, you'll divide your awake hours by 3 and that's the number of meals per day you'll plan for as your baseline. You may do more, but it's unlikely you'll have less.
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| Meal Plan Tips - Most people eat the same things over and over again. The difference is only in what they eat.
- Keep it simple.
- Decide on a breakfast you like, that's easy for you. Make that your Monday breakfast.
- Consider eating that breakfast most everyday, substituting out 1 or 2 items for variety.
- Consider eating that breakfast on M / W / F or M / T / W and eating an alternative on the other days.
- Cook in bulk.
- If you like oatmeal, try to cook and make 3 meals out of it.
- If you like chicken, fish, beef, pork, etc..., try to grill and cook in bulk, so you have many meals of protein at your disposal.
- If you like and make sweet potatoes, brown rice or quinoa, cook in bulk.
- If you're going to make salads, wash, dry & prep 2-3 heads and store in container. Also, peel and chop, cucumbers, tomatoes and any other vegetables, so you can assemble multiple batches of meals.
- Get some great storage containers, preferably glass, because you're going to be eating out of them a lot.
- Consider meal prepping on: Sunday morning, afternoon, night, Monday night, Wednesday night and cook from scratch on Friday and Saturday.
- When meal prepping, do whatever is best for you, your schedule and your family. My tips are suggestions and guidelines for how some people (my family) do it, so you can draw inspiration and ideas from.
- Consider eating the same lunch for M / T & W and the same dinners for Su, M & T.
- Also consider eating the same meal for W-dinner, Th-lunch, Th-dinner and F-lunch, while repurposing it as needed (be creative).
- When you meal plan, first think of yourself and then review each meal and make sure there is at least one thing everyone who's eating with you likes. If not, add an item for each person that compliments that meal, so there's something for everyone at the table.
- Best case: you get a chef to do this all for you.
- Next best option: meal plan on 1 day, shop on the next and prep on the day after that.
- When you shop, consider prepared foods for that day and schedule splurge meals for that day, to make it a day you look forward to and an easy day.
- Remember to burn & earn!
- When you prep, make that your day 1. Get a workout in, so you can focus yourself and start the process of doing good for you!
- Now that you have your meal plan, make your grocery shopping list in the left hand column with all the ingredients from your menu, that you don't already have at home.
- Put it away until shopping day.
Shop, then Prep, then Eat, then do it again Once you have your plan. Shop the next day.
The prep the day after that.
Then eat.
Make mental or physical notes about what you learn, like and dislike about your plan. What went well. What was difficult and then when you make your next meal plan at the end of the week, use this information to guide the next meal plan.
Then do it all again.
This is what change makers do. Tom Brady's got people that do it for him, but he sure gives them the list of what he likes and doesn't like, and I bet he eats a lot of the same meals over and over again, because it works for him and it lets him keep it simple without thinking too much. When he wants some variety and still wants to keep it simple (or his groceries are low), he can substitute in a different option for his 5 things.
We teach a nutrition workshop ever phase. Our next 3 nutrition workshops are: 1:30-2:45p, Sat, Jan 27 @ Mackenzie Center 1:30-2:45p, Sat, Feb 17 @ Mackenzie Center 1:30-2:45p, Sat, Mar 17 @ Mackenzie Center
If you need help with you nutrition and/or training, reply and let me know.
Love to eat and eat to live,
Coach Mike
p.s. that's the end of our nutrition focused series. I thought it would be timely to help you re-focus for the new year. I'd love to know what you liked, disliked and could be better. Hit reply and let me know. |
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