Making an meal plan can be hard.  Hell, many people find just thinking about good nutrition as a hard task.  This is the main reason why so many people go towards the "next best thing".  Products like fat loss pills, fad diets and "lose weight without needing to change" products are everywhere.  People know they need to make changes, but they do not know how to focus it around their lives, so they need it done for them and easy.

The problem is, is that these "sexy" meal plans and products that promise to get crazy fast results are not sustainable.  Instead, people needing results can make their own meal plans that are focused around their own lifestyle by using Macro nutrients and myfitnesspal (click here to learn how to set up MYFITNESSPAL).

THE RULE OF 2'S IS LIFE

We keep breakfast pretty consistent for our meal plan.  You generally always have time for breakfast or you need something super fast and easy.  Either case, breakfast can become pretty consistent and it should stay that way as part of your plan.

We will then pick two of each macro nutrient (protein, carb and fat) plus two veggies for lunch and dinner.

For Example:

• 2 Proteins (bison, beef)
• 2 Carbs (sweet potatoes and rice)
• 2 Fats (avocado, olive oil)
• 2 Veggies (zucchini, broccoli)

Lunch Becomes:

• Bison, Sweet Potatoes, Avocado, Zucchini

Dinner Becomes:

• Beef, Rice, Olive Oil, Broccoli

TIME TO MEAL PLAN

Time to bust out your food tracking app of choice (My fitness pal, Fat Secret, LoseIt!...We prefer MFP).  We have got a game plan on WHAT we will be eating....But how much?  What about snacks? Post Workout?

Start by logging protein at every meal:

• 3 eggs - breakfast
• 4 oz. bison - lunch
• 4 oz. beef - dinner
• protein shake - post workout

Then Carbs:

• 1/2 cup of oats plus 50 g berries - breakfast
• 200 grams of sweet potato - lunch
• 1.5 cups of cooked rice - dinner

Then Fat:

• 2 slices of bacon - breakfast
• 100 g of avocado - lunch
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil - dinner

Then Veggies:

• 1 cup arugula and 100 g bell pepper - breakfast
• 100 g zucchini - lunch
• 100 g broccoli - dinner

You should now have a full day planned in your tracking app of choice...SWEET!!!  In MFP, scroll to the bottom of the food diary and click "Nutrition".  You should see current macro totals (make sure you select "nutrients" up at the top).  Keep adjusting entries until numbers match up with macro goals.

HOW TO ADJUST YOUR MEAL PLAN

Need More Protein?

• Adjust lunch and dinner portions to 6-8 oz
• Add extra egg whites to breakfast
• Add a second protein shake in the mix

Need More Carbs?

• Rice cakes post workout
• Increase portions on potatoes and rice at lunch and dinner
• Incorporate beans, lentils or 1-2 servings fruit
• Put in high quality pastas, tortillas or bread (if no issues with gluten)

Need More Fats?

• Olive oil and Coconut oil are 14 g = 1 tablespoon
• Avocado, grass fed butter, ghee
• Bacon, nuts, nut butter (use sparingly)
• Supplement with fish oil

Just remember, these are just examples.  The important thing is to look at your day and adjust your meal plan so that you can live your life while still getting results.  The difference between using myfitnesspal and counting macros and strict meal plans is control.  Strict meal plans and programs like Weight watchers and Jenny Craig give you something to follow, but they do not give you control.  When you are done with those programs, the direction is gone and many people do not know what to do.  Following the examples above will give you an idea to get the control that everyone needs to make sustainable nutrition a part of their life.

If you wish for some help to make your own unique nutrition plan.  CLICK HERE and we can jump on a phone call to come up with your nutritional blueprint

Committed to your success,

Derek Ledwidge

Meal prepping sucks!!  There is no debating that.

It is a huge first in the path to getting results, but it is also one of the most time consuming steps.  Meal Prepping is also one of the most common trip ups when it comes to changing one's lifestyle.

I hear this all the time and I myself even have weeks where I just don't want to do it.  Some of the most common complaints are:

1. Making a mess out of the kitchen and then having to take even longer to clean up.
2. Spending hours on Sunday (most common) just to meal prep food.
3. Making huge batches of the same food that you don't even want to look at anymore.
4. Making too much food and in the end, just throwing most of it away.

We agree that you need to have a plan and be able to prep your healthy food in order to have control of your life.  So what steps can you take to counter the above complaints?

1.  First, no one likes a kitchen that looks like a bomb went off.  Clean as you go.  Rinse things off, put dishes in the dishwasher, hand wash quickly before you start the next recipe or meal.  Even better would be to start cleaning while the next meal is currently cooking.

2.  To counter the hours spent meal prepping, simply make a time limit.  If you don't like meal prepping for hours, then don't.  Set the limit for 1-2 hours.  Do this 2-3 times a week and meal prepping won't be so time consuming and you won't feel like you are wasting an entire day.  I myself really struggle getting my veggies in.  I know this is an issue so I spend 2-3 nights prepping a head of cauliflower (or two) and some broccoli.  The prep does not take too long (about 30 min each), but I always have veggies at hand each day.

3.  To attack the meal prep burn out issue, you really just have to realize that meal prepping does not mean you have to eat chicken, broccoli and rice at every meal.  Mix things up, add different spices, and make smaller batches of each.  Try picking a different recipe each week (or every two weeks).  This way you can have your fast and easy recipes at your disposal but you can still have some more elaborate (and tasty) meals that you can treat yourself with.

4.  Create meals with specific problems to solve.  For example, if breakfast is your most challenging meal to eat healthy, plan and meal prep 5 breakfasts rather then prepping for all meals.  My biggest problem (outside of veggies) is always lunch.  My breakfast is a fast and easy super shake and I am home for dinner.  During the day, I am at our Strive Fitness and Performance facility and have nothing for food except take out.  In order to counter this, my only focus is on getting a great lunch planned and prep for the week.

[EXPERT TIP]

One of the first steps to success is to figure out if you want CONVENIENCE, ELABORATE RECIPES or A MIX.  I 100% hate meal prepping.  My vote is for Convenience.  I break up my meals into macro nutrients (protein, carbs and fats).  If you don't know what these are, feel free to drop us a line and we can have a consultation.  Basically, I break up each meal into these three component and (with my goals in mind) I make my meals.  I pick one from each category and prep.

Maybe you want to make legit recipes.  Go for it!!!  Just make sure you are making good ones.

Others may want to mix this up.  Maybe you go for convenience for when you are busy and make elaborate meals when you have a bunch of time or are with your family.

The point of this expert tip is that whichever you choose, it needs to fit your lifestyle.  No one really wants to be making 3 different meals for 3 different people, each time you cook (all the mothers out there are shaking their heads right now in agreement).

Committed to your success,

Derek Ledwidge