You may have heard the adage that “weight loss is 20% exercise and 80% nutrition”, or that “Abs are made in the kitchen”. While I’m not in any way discrediting all the hard work that goes into working out, it’s true. You can’t out exercise a bad diet.
However, eating well is a challenge for many of us, myself included. It may be that you are a beast at the gym, but your kitchen (or drive through) habits are contradicting all your hard work. Here’s the best piece of advice I’ve heard to help turn the tide of poor eating habits.
Ready?
Plan and Prep!
1: Plan your meals for the week, before you go to the grocery store. Pull up those recipes you’ve been pinning on Pinterest and write out a meal plan for the week. If you only plan dinners, you can account for lunch with leftovers and have a set of staple breakfasts that are grab and go (We’ll cover that in another post).
If you know that you’re going to eat out for date night every Friday, leave that night off your list, but account for every night when your plan.
Even better, choose one recipe a week that will freeze well and DOUBLE it. Put half in the freezer with the date and reheating instructions on it to save you from calling for take-out when your meeting runs late.
2. Prep your food on a slow/easy night for you.
I like to prepare all my meals on Sundays, OR I’ll prep all the snack-y items like fruits and such when I get home from the grocery store. I chop all the veggies, slice/marinate/grill the chicken, wash the fruit, and assemble the dry and wet ingredients (separately) for dishes that I know are complicated or require more effort than I have on an average Thursday night. When the foods are already prepped, it makes cooking dinner much easier, and makes you much less likely to stop at your local greasy burger joint out of desperation.
These two tips will make healthy cooking a much more likely scenario in your kitchen, and lead to much healthier foods going into your body.
Below is a downloadable pdf for you to use when planning your meals and your grocery needs for the week. Feel free to use it and share it as it suits you. Being organized and prepared is the key to success in healthy eating. When you’re stressed and running low on time, that’s when the junk food wins. Don’t give it the chance.
Peace, Love, and Burpees,
Katy
Crazy Fit Mama 