I have learned a few tricks about food and diet from my years as competing as a pro figure competitor, living in a rural area (a grocery store visit will never be less than an hour), having a nationally ranked power lifter as a husband, and feeding 3 small kids!!!! I know being healthy and eating right is HARD and can be a pain sometimes. Here are a few things I have found over the years that have helped me stay on track and keep it all together when it comes to my food.
1 – Plan your meals. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” I don’t know who first said this famous quote, but it is so true. In order to reach your goals you need to plan your meals out and know what you are going to eat and when. If you don’t then most likely you will eat whatever is in your fridge or looks good at the time. I don’t know about you but Snickers always look good to me. The thing is Snickers won’t get me “Stage Ready” for a Bikini competition, and it won’t get you where you want to go either. Unless you are carb back loading. In that case… plan your snickers after your lift. J
In my meal planning preparation I have created 8 weeks of meals for every season laid out in a spread sheet. Whatever season it is, I look at my spread sheet and rotate the 8 weeks for that season. In doing this I hope to not repeat my meals too often and make my meal planning as easy as possible. Then I look at what I have going on for the week and adjust as necessary. This not only saves me time on meal preparation, but it saves me a lot of money as well!!! When I go to the grocery store I know exactly what I need and how much of it I need.
1 – Plan your meals. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” I don’t know who first said this famous quote, but it is so true. In order to reach your goals you need to plan your meals out and know what you are going to eat and when. If you don’t then most likely you will eat whatever is in your fridge or looks good at the time. I don’t know about you but Snickers always look good to me. The thing is Snickers won’t get me “Stage Ready” for a Bikini competition, and it won’t get you where you want to go either. Unless you are carb back loading. In that case… plan your snickers after your lift. J
In my meal planning preparation I have created 8 weeks of meals for every season laid out in a spread sheet. Whatever season it is, I look at my spread sheet and rotate the 8 weeks for that season. In doing this I hope to not repeat my meals too often and make my meal planning as easy as possible. Then I look at what I have going on for the week and adjust as necessary. This not only saves me time on meal preparation, but it saves me a lot of money as well!!! When I go to the grocery store I know exactly what I need and how much of it I need.
2 – Eat according to your schedule. When you plan your meals look at what you are going to be doing around the day. If you are about to workout then you need food that is going to have more carbohydrates in them than if you are going to sit at a desk. If you are going to sit at a desk for a few hours have something that has less carbohydrate and higher protein. Always remember, carbohydrates give you energy to move (Like a kid on a sugar high) but will move through your system faster and you will be hungry really quick. Proteins feed your muscles and take longer to digest so you will be full longer.
This goes the same for your family. If your kids have a soccer game, then feed them some carbohydrates before the game so they can have the energy to play well. NO…. salads will not give them energy!!! Also… you do not need to eat what your kids or husbands eat all the time. If your kids have a game and you don’t… don’t eat the carbohydrates in the meal or make something else for you in order to reach your goals.
This goes the same for your family. If your kids have a soccer game, then feed them some carbohydrates before the game so they can have the energy to play well. NO…. salads will not give them energy!!! Also… you do not need to eat what your kids or husbands eat all the time. If your kids have a game and you don’t… don’t eat the carbohydrates in the meal or make something else for you in order to reach your goals.
3 – Eat the rainbow. Now, I don’t mean eat skittles for every meal. I mean when planning your meals make sure you have a few different colors of fruit/vegetables/etc. in each meal. Each color of vegetable, fruit, etc will bring a different nutrient to your body. So… Eat the rainbow. Variety is KEY!
4 – Buy a gallon jug of water. Most of us are dehydrated all of the time!!! One trick that I follow is always having water on hand. The easiest way I have found to do this is by buying a gallon jug of water and carrying it around. Then every day fill up the jug and make sure before you go to bed the jug is empty. (No, don’t flush the water down the toilet… actually drink it) Yes, you will have to go pee like CRAZY for the first 3 days. After 3 days your body will adjust and you will be back to visiting the potty on a regular basis. You might feel a little silly carrying a jug of water around everywhere… but would you rather feel a little silly and look awesome or not look the way you want to look?!?!?
I hope these tips/tricks help you. I know that they have helped me in reaching my goals and have helped me help my family reach their goals as well.
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