Nutrition is the key to a healthy lifestyle. No matter how hard you work in the gym, you cannot outwork a poor nutrition plan.
In the last year, I’ve helped clients drop anywhere from 10-40 pounds in a matter of weeks by supplying them with calorie plans, as well as targets for their macronutrients, water intake, hours of sleep, and step count.
But, no matter what information or plans I provide, the biggest factor in sticking to a nutrition plan is TIME.
Do you have/are you making the time to eat healthy, nutrient dense meals?
If not, prepping a week of healthy, convenient meals may be the answer.
Here are a few tips to embrace and mistakes to avoid while meal prepping as part of a weight loss regimen.
MEASURE YOUR FOOD
I cannot stress this enough because this is the step I see people leave out of their meal prep routine. Weight loss is math. To accurately track calories and make sure you’re in a proper deficit, you need to know exactly how much food you are consuming per day.
Before you pack your meals into their containers, weigh the food on a food scale! That way, you know exactly how many ounces of protein you are eating, as well as how many carbs/fats.
Full disclosure, when measuring carbs like rice and vegetables, I typically use a measuring cup and the serving sizes provided on the nutrition label to get the calorie count.
Measure your food and, if it helps, put the total calorie count on the container or into your log to make sure you’re staying within your caloric limit!
FLAVOR AND VARIETY
How many nutrition Youtube tutorials have you watched where a juiced up gym bro or fake natural celebrity is claiming that all they ate was ‘Chicken, Broccoli, and Brown Rice’?
Not only is this a blatant lie, but it’s also a great way to get you to fall off your nutrition plan AND become micronutrient deficient.
If you are eating the same thing for every meal, or 2 out of 3, you’re going to get sick of it really quickly. The goal should be eating healthy meals that you look forward to enjoying!
I like to switch the protein I eat every meal. If I have chicken for lunch, I’ll do ground turkey for dinner. Salmon, white fish, shrimp, even ground beef can all be healthy alternatives in moderation.
You also want to vary the vegetables. I love filling my grocery cart with steamer bags of veg of 3-4 different varieties. Keep the meals healthy AND interesting and you’re more likely to stick to the plan.
Also, low calorie sauces (hot sauce, soy sauce, etc.) can add a lot of flavor and very few calories to your food. Use them wisely!
DON’T GO HUNGRY
Let’s use 2000 calories as an example of a calorie limit. In the interest of simplicity, we’ll divide those calories into 4 meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 4th meal/snacks throughout the day).
If you’re meal prepping, you want to make sure that every container of food maxes out at the 500 calorie total. Why? Because you don’t want to be hungry after a meal!
The goal is to eat food that we enjoy and that leaves us feeling satiated. Feeling hunger pangs after a meal is the easiest way to dip into the office snack bar and break your nutrition plan.
Don’t sell yourself short. Max out these meals! Eat enough food to feel satiated by healthy, nutrient dense food and you will avoid the need to fill up on processed sugars or salty snacks.
If you are having a hard time with snacks, I like to enjoy low calorie treats that I can eat a lot of like rice cakes or vegetable and apple straws. Raw vegetables and fruit are also a great idea. Skinnytaste.com also has great recipes for homemade low calorie cookies. Try the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip!
I always reserve a portion of my calories for snacks/a dessert at the end of the night to avoid cravings and feel satisfied at the end of the day.
For more fitness tips/nutrition advice, or to learn exactly how to meal prep for weight loss, Book A Free Consultation Today!
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