Foodie: Shopping, Meal Prepping, Routine, Gainz

Hey healthy living peeps! Let’s talk about our weekly shopping and meal prepping, shall we. In order to be successful with our weight loss or any body transformation goal, what we eat is how we will reach those goals! If there is one thing I learned through my journey, it is that you CANNOT out train a bad diet! And you also feel pretty crappy trying to workout: lethargic, bloated and sick from the foods you are eating. I have some tips for you to set yourself up for success!

1. PLAN MEALS. MAKE A LIST.

Take some time to sit down before you go to the grocery store and think about the meals you eat every day. What do you eat for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Snacks? The goal is to try to buy exactly what you need. It may take a trip or two to figure out the portion size you need for the entire week, but once you do, make note of it! It makes shopping a lot easier, quicker and cost efficient! Once you figure out what you’re eating that week, write it down. I even separate it by aisles or sections so I don’t find myself looking at all parts of the list and having to walk backwards because I passed something. Now for those people shopping at new stores, you won’t know the route you take right away, but you can still separate them by “type” of food! Make it easy as possible for yourself. No one has time to wander in a grocery store on a Sunday afternoon. EFFICIENCY!

2. PINTEREST

Just like writer’s block, we lack creativity when it comes to thinking of new meals. For me, I cannot eat the same dinner over and over again for weeks. I get bored and don’t enjoy my food. In order for you to stick with something, it is important to enjoy it. To get my creative juices flowing, I use Pinterest! Type exactly the genre of meal that you want in the search bar and so many things will pop up! Craving Mexican? For my vegans you’d type: Vegan Mexican lunch ideas and BOOM! Options on options. If Pinterest is new for you, You’re welcome!

3. FROZEN THINGS (VEGGIES, FRUITS)

How many times have you found yourself throwing away unopened vegetables because they have expired or gone bad?! THIS GIRL! My mind then thinks, “wow, with the amount of food I’m wasting I could be feeding so many people that are starving!” That made me want to figure out a way to waste very little or nothing! I find myself wasting vegetables more than anything. This comes with not having a plan or list and sometimes it’s gonna be like that because, life. SOLUTION: Frozen vegetables! I know, ground-breaking. Green Giant makes so many different options in different forms and they are all microwavable so it saves ya a ton of time in the kitchen as well! Same goes for fruit! If you are a smoothie drinker like myself, frozen is the way to go! Oh, and if you decide not to make it that week, no biggie, keep in the freezer! Won’t go bad and PROBLEM SOLVED!

4. MEAL PREP

For those of you who work full time jobs and are always on the go, meal prep will be huge for your success! When we are hungry and don’t have a meal or snack ready, that’s when we tend to reach for anything and most of the time its unhealthy. Let’s cook everything we need for that day so when the hunger kicks in, you grab and go! For myself, I know I have to have a breakfast, lunch and snacks ready for my work day. I dedicate Sunday or Saturday night to cook all my food for each meal and bag my snacks and protein shakes! I don’t get home too late so I do not have to prep my dinners. I make them each night. The only thing I make every 2 days are my smoothies because I don’t want that sitting in the fridge for 5 days. When it comes to smoothies, fresha is betta!

WHAT GIONNA EATS IN A DAY:

BREAKFAST (11AM): Green smoothie; leafy greens, fruits, plant-based protein, chia and flax seed, coconut water base

LUNCH (1:30/2): A very large salad: leafy green base topped with all different veggies, a grain and a serving of lean protein

SNACK (4/4:30): Plant-based protein shake mixed with water and almond milk (3:1) & a handful of raw nuts

DINNER (6/6:30): A lot of veggies and a serving of lean protein

My largest and heaviest meal is always lunch. I always keep my dinners light so I feel digested for my early morning workout! The times I eat and what I eat vary on the weekends. It also allows me to mix it up because ya girl gets tired of cooking and the same old routine. If your cheat meal is on the weekend, I recommend it be a day where you work out and are active so you are not sitting in that food all day. Days where you know you are going to be lazier then normal, eat light.

For you athletes or former athletes that still train like one (ME), you are putting your bodies through vigorous workouts and practices so you will need to intake more food. Something I am working on is intaking more protein. If you have a goal to build muscle, it is recommended that you eat .8-1 gram of protein per pound of your body weight! And keeping that consistent day in and day out! So depending on your lifestyle and goals, the amount will vary!

I hope these tips and ideas help make your life a little bit easier. It is important to enjoy what you’re eating so keep trying new things and switching it up! You are more likely to stick with something you are loving. Remember, this is NOT a short-term diet. It’s a long-term lifestyle change! It is all about trial and error and figuring out what works best for YOU! Eat good, Feel good!

Peace&Love