I often get asked how I am able to maintain a healthy lifestyle with my insanely busy schedule. Between working, university and training I spend very few hours at home. But here is the catch. I don’t eat processed foods, nor do I eat fast food or even in restaurants very often, so how am I able to eat so clean? It is all in preparation! That’s right one of my biggest keys to success is food preparation. Now, time and time again I get every excuse in the book. I’m too busy. I can’t cook. I don’t know how to. Stop the excuses now. You and I both know that excuses will not get on your way to a healthier happier you. I promise you, the groundwork that you do in the kitchen will not only make your life a lot easier, but it will also give you more time to do the things you love!
Here is a few tips on how to make all your food worries go away!
Create a Game Plan
The first time always takes the longest. Sit down and create a meal plan for your week. This isn’t a diet. It is merely creating an idea of what will be going into your mouth for the up and coming week. Think of things like chicken breast, lean ground beef, brown rice, vegetables, oatmeal, and almonds (I could go on forever!). Portion sizes like 1/2 cup for your carbs, fist size for proteins and 1/4 cup for nuts. Each meal doesn’t need to be the same. You can add some salsa to the chicken, put it on rice with veggies one day, while the next make a chicken salad with avocados and kidney beans. Or be like me and eat similar meals day in and out. Yes I am boring. Now that you have an idea of your meals create a grocery list including approximate sizes for your first part of the week- vegetables for the whole week. Before taking a trip to the grocery store, make sure you have Tupperware. I prefer Gladware, it costs about 7 dollars for a bunch of 4-6 containers. After a month of abuse I dispose!
The Sunday/Wednesday Ritual
Depending on your schedule pick two days a week to do all your kitchen groundwork. I like Sundays and Wednesdays, mainly because it works for my schedule. I haul all the groceries into my kitchen and start chopping! Don’t worry this won’t take you all day. Schedule an hour or so for the main prep. Cut the veggies, put some away for snacks, some for salads and then steam some! For protein, I season it post cooking to mix it up! Catch my drift? I even go so far as to putting together all my supplements… baggie my vitamins, and put my protein powder in my cups. Try to completely eliminate any food thinking for your week ahead.
My Fridge. Yum.
A few extra Tips!
Invest in a good countertop grill. I love my George Foreman. It makes anyone a good protein cook! My next best investment is a 1.5L Sigg water bottle. Why 1.5? You don’t have to refill as often, plus by having three of those a day, your daily water intake is in! So now that your food is cooked and Tupperware ready, you’re going to want to buy a good ‘lunch kit’. I have a mini-cooler bag for all my food that I leave in my car throughout the day and bring what I need to into work, school, and the gym.
My Famous Giant Blue Sigg! Can be found at Capers on West4 and Vine in Vancouver
Any questions! Feel free to ask away.
