You can figure out how many and what kind of calories you need to
meet your sports and fitness goals but if you don't prepare you won’t be
successful. It's like anything else in life. Students who don't take notes,
read assignments and cram for tests are generally not as successful as students
who have prepared and studied all semester.
Achieving success in your nutrition goals is no different. You have
to plan to be successful and it all starts at the grocery store. You have to
buy lean sources of protein, healthy complex carbohydrates, fresh or frozen
fibrous vegetables and healthy snacks. If you don't have healthy choices at
home you’re going to reach for what's there. If you are married, live
with kids or roommates chances are there will be plenty of unhealthy choices in
your pantry or refrigerator. If you are only shopping for yourself don't
buy unhealthy choices like candy and chips to tempt you. Buy those on
your designated cheat day each week and try to buy what you intend to consume
that day.
Preparation is another important factor in a successful nutrition
program. Most people have busy lives. The last thing most people want to do
after a long day at work or taking care of responsibilities is to prepare a
healthy meal. Especially if you are already cooking for kids. Find some time
once a week you can prepare enough healthy protein choices for the whole week.
I try to grill enough fish, ground turkey, chicken, lean beef patties etc. for
a week every Sunday. I put half the meat in the fridge for the first half the
week and half in the freezer for the second part of the week. I usually prepare
my complex carbohydrates like baked potatoes, rice, sweet potatoes and fibrous
vegetables as I go or the night before. Don't just cook a bunch of chicken or a
bunch of turkey. Give yourself choices. If you know you have plenty of choices
already prepared at home you are less likely to stop somewhere and make a bad
decision or make a bad diet decision at home like eating corny dogs with the
kids. If your evenings are busy with kid's activities or your own busy schedule
take your food with you. This is where a lot of people's downfall comes.
Parents are out driving kids to practice, games or competitions and they get
hungry so they run through a fast food drive through.
On those occasions when your food runs out before you have time to
go shopping have a backup plan. Make a list of restaurants that will prepare
food the way you need it for your nutrition plan. Enter these restaurants’s
phone numbers in your phone so you can call them and it's ready for takeout
when you get there if you're on a tight schedule. This isn't the 80's when some
friends and I got up and left Denny's one time because they wouldn't make us
egg whites. Restaurants are used to being asked to prepare food healthy. Don't
hesitate to tell them exactly how you want it.
Preparation is imperative to a successful nutrition plan. I have
heard all kinds of excuses of why people couldn't follow a healthy nutrition
plan but it all boiled down to the person they look at in the mirror each day
and a lack of preparation. Your chances of a successful nutrition program will
be much better if you follow these three steps:
1. Make good choices at the grocery store
2. Prepare food for the
entire week
3. Have a backup plan.
Whatever your goals may be, if you implement these three easy steps
to your nutrition planning you will be amazed at the positive results you get.
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