Sunday is Planning and Prep Day (well it is for me)

One of the key themes I see when talking to people about their difficulties in achieving their goals comes back to one thing – failure to plan and prepare.

We lead busy lives.  We rush from one thing to another.  It exhausts us.  And then we make poor choices.  Ones that we know aren’t the best but we are too tired and time deprived to make better ones. Right?

Wrong. 

We have the time but we haven’t planned its use out carefully enough.

We would have the energy if we had eaten more nutritiously and exercised more regularly.

Can you see that it’s a vicious circle?

Here’s how you break it.

Invest in some time each week – about a half an hour for planning and 1 – 2 hours for prep. I usually do it on a Sunday, but when is up to you – as long as you know – that’s your planning time. 

Sit down for the first half hour and plan out your exercise schedule for the week.  Write it down in a time table.  What work/family/travel commitments do you have that week?  How will you slot your exercise around this to achieve it on a minimum of 5 days/week, preferably 6?  Which day works best as a rest day?

Now look at meal times.  When will you be rushed for time?  When will it be hard to grab nutritious snacks.  What are you going to eat  this week?

Then make sure you have the right food in the house and do some “forward” cooking.

Eg cook up chicken breasts and throw them in individual bags in the freezer  so they are easy to grab in the morning to add to a salad, or heat up at night with vegies for a quick meal. 

Pre – cut a whole heap of vegetables for snacks, salads and for cooking.  Arrange them decoratively in your fridge to enjoy the colour and make them appetising and attractive when you open the door.

Get rid of poor choices that have crept in that you don’t want to be eating.

Prepare meals for the freezer for those nights when you are going to be rushing in and out.

Make sure you have food on hand that makes good healthy snacks.  If appropriate – put them in snap lock bags ready to go  - so you can just grab on the run.

Here are some snack ideas:

Air popped popcorn (not the butter microwave varieties – start with real popcorn)

Rice cakes with:

• 1.       Peanut butter and banana or apple (keep the peanut butter to 1 tbsp per snack)
• 2.       Avocado and tomato
• 3.       Cottage cheese (or cream cheese but cottage is better) and strawberries and cinnamon
• 4.       1 sliced apple with 1 tbsp peanut butter spread thinly on the slices
• 5.       Thinly spread pate

Small tub yoghurt

Carrot and celery sticks with low fat dip (eg hommus)

100gm tin or tuna

1 half chicken fillet

10 almonds and an apple

Any other ideas – share them in the comments section below.

Now you are on your way to a great week. 

Here’s an interesting thought.  If really pushed for time – it would be better to sacrifice an hours exercise, and give it over to planning and preparation.  In an hour – you might burn 500 calories, fail to plan your week and make poor food choices – and it may cost you thousands of calories.

Get the best bang for your buck.  Invest in planning.

By the way - this photo is from the Clean Eating App called CE Recipes, and its based on the Clean Eating Magazine - check it out - heaps of ideas for healthy meals