Tips to stay on track and lose weight easily
The hardest part about changing your diet is sticking to it. Second to that is being prepared. We often get sidetracked from our diet when we don’t have meals and snacks prepared or readily available when we are busy or tired.
Busy schedules can make missing meals easy. You are less likely to go to the store and buy ingredients to then come home and cook when you’re hungry, the kids are asleep or you just can’t be bothered. We can easily lose track of time and having easy to make meals, or ready to eat foods gives you a higher chance of sticking to your plan than if you don’t.
Plan Your Week
Spend 15 minutes each week to plan your weekly shop. If you have time for social media you have time to plan. This shouldn’t take long, remember to take into consideration;
- How many times you want to go to the shops
- What ingredients you need to buy (shopping list)
- Extra curricular activities ( kids sports & activities)
- Social events where you wont need to cook
- Identify days where you work late ect.
See the video at the bottom of this article for tips on how to plan your meal prep easily.
Two For The Time Of One
If you’re a busy individual with a busy life, you probably don’t want to spend hours each day in the kitchen. Leftovers from dinner or lunch is an easy hack to save time and be prepared. Dinner the night before becomes lunch the next day, extra meals without having to cook again, brilliant.
Read our blog 10 recipes for easy leftovers and meal prep here.
Bulk Prepare
Bulk meal prep can lead to bulk food wastage. We sometimes get to Friday and our chicken is soggy and dry, or our potatoes aren’t looking so great. But it doesn’t need to be this way.
Foods that are easy to bulk prepare;
Carbohydrates: Oats, rice, mashed and steamed potato, fruit.
Protein: Mince meat e.g. spaghetti bolognese sauce, taco filling. Slow cook or Roasting shoulders, legs or brisket. Boiled Eggs, as many as you will consume in 3 days.
Fat: Easy to add, nut butters, coconut oil & always have an avocado on hand.
Vegetables: Best to prepare these within 1-2 days of eating, however if sealed cut up fresh options or roasted.
We recommend during your planning look at shortest fridge life meals and cook closer to the buy date, and longer fridge/ freezer life meals for further into the week.
E.g. Fish and chicken (if not in sealed packaging) cook and consume 1-2 days post shop, mince meat & chicken breast freeze and then thaw 1-2 days before cooking.
Long Life Products
Always have a reserve. These items will help keep you on track when life gets hairy. Canned goods such as tuna, salmon or beans, tomatoes, chickpeas, and other vegetables. Be wary of added sugar in these products, try for products without. Dried and vacuum sealed products such as animal jerky, nuts and seeds.
Fresh fruit will often last 1 week and is great to have on hand as a snack.
Keep It Interesting
Eating healthy doesn’t need to be boring. Losing weight doesn’t mean eating chicken breast and rice for every meal. Creating balanced meals that are packed full of flavour will keep you on track, and enjoying life.
Create flavoursome meals by adding herbs, spices and sauces to your recipes. Caution: look out for pre-mixed sauces and spice blends with added sugar, it’s easiest to make your own.
Get Back On The Horse
When life gets in the way, hit the reset button and get back on track. Going out and enjoying a nice dinner with friends isn’t the end of the world, in fact it’s recommended. Every time you start again it gets easier. Progress isn’t linear and to find a sustainable healthy balance creating lifelong tools instead of a quick fix will get you results in the long term.
Your homework task;Plan out your weekly shop – If you do this already, amazing, this is going to be a walk in the park, the only catch is you’re going to give it a go using our method. Substituting high carbohydrate and sugar loaded foods with ones less dense!
Your homework task;
Plan out your weekly shop – If you do this already this, amazing, this is going to be a walk in the park, the only catch is you’re going to give it a go using our method. Substituting high carbohydrate and sugar loaded foods with ones less dense!
If you would like a more specific strategy tailored to your nutritional needs, contact us by booking your FREE nutrition help call below and speak with one of our coaches.