“He who fails to plan is planning to fail.” –
Didn’t realize it was you who said that, pretty cool!
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At this point we’ve got your workouts rolling along, and you’re probably getting into a solid groove of things.
Now it’s time to apply a massive game changer- one that many people overlook.
Planning your nutrition.
Why is this important?
Let’s look at two big reasons…
It’s your “budget”
We can hopefully all agree that there’s a big difference between budgeting your finances, and haphazardly spending every month and seeing where you end up.
Nutrition should be no different.
Much like your budget, you should plan your meals for the week.
Pick a day, write it down- even block off your “cheat” meals, much like your leisure money with the budget.
If the planning is your budget, then balancing the checkbook is your journal.
Balancing your checkbook without a budget is risky business.
So is food journaling without a plan, merely hoping you see progress.
.
It allows you to address your biggest obstacles
We all struggle with something.
Our nutrition is no different.
What are your biggest obstacles?
Eating out often? That’s okay! Plan ahead by looking at the menu ahead of time and lock yourself into a healthier choice before you even arrive.
Find yourself often hungry with nothing healthy to snack on? Plan to keep healthy snack options handy for these circumstances.
Simply planning a strategy to address your biggest obstacles will pay dividends over time.
Consistency with the plan is key
The thing with nutrition is that you likely won’t notice the results.
It’s easy to get discouraged and change the course.
Daily choices add up, but the changes are so minuscule from day-to-day, that they can be easy to disregard.
“Picture a huge, heavy flywheel—a massive metal disk mounted horizontally on an axle, about thirty feet in diameter, two feet thick, and weighing about 5,000 pounds. Now imagine that your task is to get the flywheel rotating on the axle as fast and for as long as possible.
Pushing with great effort, you get the flywheel to inch forward, moving almost imperceptibly at first. You keep pushing and, after two or three hours of persistent effort, you get the flywheel to complete one entire turn.
You keep pushing, and the flywheel begins to move a bit faster, and with continued great effort, you move it through a second rotation. You keep pushing in a consistent direction. Three turns … four … five … six … the flywheel builds up speed … seven … eight … you keep pushing … nine … ten … it builds momentum … eleven … twelve … moving faster with each turn … twenty … thirty … fifty … a hundred.
Then at some point—breakthrough! The momentum of the thing kicks in your favor, hurling the flywheel forward, turn after turn … whoosh! … its own heavy weight working for you. You’re pushing no harder than the first rotation, but the flywheel goes faster and faster. Each turn of the flywheel builds upon work done earlier, compounding your investment of effort. A thousand times faster, then ten thousand, then a hundred thousand. The huge heavy disk flies forward with almost unstoppable momentum.
Now suppose someone came along and asked, “What was the one big push that caused this thing to go so fast?”
You wouldn’t be able to answer; it’s a nonsensical question. Was it the first push? The second? The fifth? The hundredth? No! It was all of them added together in an overall accumulation of effort applied in a consistent direction.
Some pushes may have been bigger than others, but any single heave—no matter how large—reflects a small fraction of the entire cumulative effect upon the flywheel.”
— Excerpt From Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t, by Jim Collins, HarperBusiness, N.Y. (2001)
Plan your meals.
Follow the plan as best you can.
If you need to adjust course at any time, just remember the principles!
What to plan?
You don’t need to plan everything at once…
Start with those big obstacles you hopefully already thought about.
Stuck at work all day?
Plan some healthy snacks and your lunch.
In a big rush to get out the door in the morning and skip breakfast often?
Plan to make a super shake that you can blend and take with you.
Slowly build up to having all of your meals planned with a few “off plan” meals in there.
BUT, just because they are off plan, does not mean that you don’t plan WHEN you are doing them.
Remember the actions that led towards spinning the flywheel.
Once it’s turning well, you can back off the effort applied every now and then. It’s easier to keep moving than to get moving.
Plan to make smart food choices 80-90% of the time.
Looking for drastic results?
Shoot for 90%.
Looking for consistent improvement you can maintain for the long haul?
Shoot for 80%.
Over time you will be able to build a plan that truly works for you, not just some diet that you think you should follow.
How to plan?
Let’s refer back to last week’s lesson and look at the portion sizes.
- Protein: 1 palm for the ladies, 2 palms for the guys
- Fats: 1 thumb for the ladies, 2 thumbs for the guys
- Vegetables: AT LEAST 1 first for the ladies, AT LEAST 2 fists for the guys
- Carbohydrates: 1 cupped handful for the ladies, 2 cupped handfuls for the guys
How many meals will you eat a day?
We recommend starting with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
But remember, if this is a big change, start with planning ONE of those meals, not all.
Once you have those down, plan for snacks.
And snacks don’t mean shitty food.
So maybe we should still call these meals?
Shop
Okay so hopefully you’ve got some idea of WHAT you’ll be eating based on your plan.
Now it’s time to shop for that plan.
Outside of the obvious proteins, fats, veggies, and carbs, plan to make your food tasty as well!
Think spices, seasonings, sauces, etc…
Here are a few ideas for each category to get you started:
Protein
- Seafood
- Poultry
- Beef
- Pork
- Wild Game
- Protein Powder
- Cottage Cheese
- Greek Yogurt
Fats
- Fish Oils
- Olive Oil
- Coconut Oil
- Nuts
- Natural Peanut Butter
- Olives
- Avocados
- Chia Seeds
Veggies
- Spring Mix
- Spinach
- Kale
- Chard
- Peppers
- Onions
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Cauliflower
- Squash
- Tomatoes
- Carrots
Carbohydrates
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Blackberries
- Raspberries
- Apples
- Bananas
- Wild Rice
- Quinoa
- Bean Pastas
- Tubers (sweet potatoes, yams)
- Sprouted Grain Breads (frozen isle- Ezekiel Bread)
Spices and Sauces
- Tomato Sauce
- Salsa
- Hot Sauce
- Pesto
- Broths
- Greek Yogurt (a GREAT replacement for sour cream)
- Veggie Seasoning
- Pepper
- Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
- Cumin
- Red Pepper
- Oregano
- Basil
- Cilantro
- Garlic
A few additional shopping tactics
Don’t be afraid to shop for frozen foods, especially fruits and veggies.
- Frozen fruits are GREAT for smoothies and remove the need for ice!
- Frozen veggies are great additions to omelets (heat them up before pouring the whipped eggs over them), as well as smoothies for the same reason as the fruit.
While we recommend sticking to water for your drinks 80-90% of the time, you best believe we love our coffee… Here’s a few other drinks to consider.
- Coconut or Almond Milk for your smoothies
- Flavored Sparkling Water for your sweet tooth without the calories and garbage ingredients.
- Tea. Real Tea. Stay away from all the sweetened stuff full of additives.
Break up your shopping days- pre-plan this too!
- Try shopping on Sunday and Wednesday. Change the days as you see fit.
- It’s important to have the items on hand that you’ll need to follow your plan.
- Keep a running list of what you need/will need soon!
Final Note
This might seem like a lot- but it will become simple with practice! We will be building on all of this information across the entire program, so don’t feel pressured to be perfect now.
Start with your biggest obstacle.
