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I get it. You’re busy, on-the-go, and the majority of the time healthy eating isn’t always at the forefront of your mind.
If there’s one strategy that anyone can begin implementing immediately to take one gigantic step forward in their nutritional approach—it’s by prepping meals.
“You mean, in order to see results in fitness, I have to be eating meals out of tupperware every single day?”
Now slow down, there. That’s not what I’m saying here at all.
I’m talking about making a strategic swap for that one untimely meal and subbing in a consistently nutritious option to help keep you in gear and dialed-in on your goals.
Many times that meal is a busy work-day lunch. But, it could also be a breakfast that gets overlooked in place of a few extra minutes of sleep. Or a dinner that falls to the wayside to the local take-out spot at the end of a long day.
Having a convenient meal prep in these cases can be one way for you to tweak your nutrition and it’s overarching impact on the specific goal you are trying to reach (either that be performing better, feeling more energized, or burning body-fat).
How do you do it? I’m going to show you exactly how with a “blueprint” I’ve created.
There are a few components that go into a good prep. The two most important of which I would argue are going to be the protein and vegetable source that you choose. Your carb selection? That’s simply what will effectively serve to fill in the remaining gap.
The foundation of your prep should be a quality, lean protein source. Why lean? Ideally, you want to minimize excess fats as they add up quickly if you’re not careful. Fats have around 9 calories per gram and are not as effective to maintain satiety (or feeling full).
Lean protein on the other hand, is the greatest at supporting how satisfied you feel with each meal and is lower in total calories. Not to mention, added protein will additionally help boost training recovery and support the growth of metabolically active muscle.
Your vegetable addition adds nutrient-density to your prep. What’s that mean? It means you are getting a large dose of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) for lower calories. And there are plenty of ways to making them tasty. But, that’s an article for the future.
Lastly are carbohydrates. As previously stated, these are often of lesser importance (especially if fat loss is the objective) but help to fill the remaining gap and can serve to support your performance in the gym. The suggestion that I’d give here is to select a complex carb. These promote slower digestion and again have higher nutrient density.
- Is this list of foods complete and comprehensive? Not in the least bit.
- Are these foods the end-all-be-all for your prepping? Hell-to-the-no.
- Use it as a reference only and as a guide to getting yourself started.
Ultimately, here’s what this all comes down to. There’s going to be some yin and yang to both sides of this. Either you choose to prep or not to prep. You need to take an honest look, weigh the options, and decide if you’re going to go all-in on prepping or try to approach nutrition with more of a “run-and-gun” approach (not always a bad thing).
Sometimes what will work for you depends on the situation. So, give an honest effort to both and experiment. Find what is sustainable and holds you to your nutritional targets.
Why communicate this all to you? Simple. My goal is to make fitness easy for you. Effortless, even. That way you can get to seeing incredible outcomes and reaching the goals you’ve established as a priority. I hope this guide has helped simplify this aspect.
If you have a question or in a bind when it comes to all of this—I respond to every email, every message, every comment. I’d love to hear from you. Thanks for taking time to read and make it through to the end of this article. And happy prepping!
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