Day Three: 3 Cardinal Rules to Help You Meal Plan and Win
Meal Planning Is Your Friend
One thing is for certain, if you've recently ventured into doing high-impact workouts, which I know some of you have, be prepared for your appetite to increase. Like, voraciously. That was one teensy little tidbit that no one bothered to tell me when I was hittin' it hard at the gym all the time. I had just given up meat and began drinking a lot of protein shakes and Ensure to make sure that I wouldn't slim down too much due to the lack of meat in my diet. Plus, they really helped me cope with those pesky bouts of hunger when I couldn't get to a solid meal fast enough after working out. I can honestly say I've never quite known hunger as brutal as that post workout-I-feel-like-I'm-about-to-faint variety. That's why planning my meals each week became crucial to both having the stamina necessary to work out 4-5 times weekly, while managing my dietary shift into becoming a pescatarian.
Here are 3 cardinal rules I had to learn the hard way:
1.) Always have a post-workout snack on hand. Scratch that. Always have snacks, period. Stash them in the car, in your purse, in your locker, wherever you can. Healthy snacks on deck. Always. When that hunger hits you like a sucker-punch to the gut, you'll be glad for the extra 30 minutes or so a nutritional snack will buy you.
2.) Don't get caught slipping and still have to go to the grocery store after working out. Especially, if you haven't had aforementioned snack, and definitely not with out a focused plan or a list. That's the surest way to buy up everything you don't need, and possibly make bad choices for a fast fix.
3.) The best case scenario is to PLAN YOUR MEALS in advance.
Hence, today's tip of the day is:
As long as I played by these simple rules things worked out pretty well and I was thicker than a Snicker bar, lol. Which was exactly the results I was looking for. Even if you're not trying to bulk up, planning your meals is still critical to helping you stay on track with your goals, whatever they are. In my case, the problem with hunger was that it led to vulnerability. Hunger left me susceptible to reaching for stuff I'd told myself I wouldn't eat, out of convenience {and extreme desperation, quite frankly}.
Freebie Here
Get your free meal planner download in your inbox or in the Wellness is the New Sassy Facebook group when you join the 7-Day Reset or Masterclass.
Meal planning can be as simple as you make it. I typically decide before going to the grocery store on 3-4 meals that have similar ingredients, get a grocery list together and jot down quick notes to remind myself which day I'll cook what. This overview also helps to remind me of key ingredients. I like to let my taste buds decide what I'm in the mood for during the week, and sometimes I may even ask my family for their input if I can't decide. I usually cook every other day (I DEFINITELY believe in repurposing leftovers). After the shopping, I put the plan on the fridge. My fam. loves knowing what to expect to eat from day to day. It really cuts out the guess work.
SO, that's pretty much it... for now anyway. Meal planning, although different from meal-prepping (which is next level bawse), is key. Trust me. Watch the daily wellness chat, get your free Life Map, today's Meal Planner {plus other goodies this week} when you join the Wellness is the New Sassy private Facebook group.
