The Importance and Planning and Prepping your Meals by Traci Redding

Traci Redding

Preparation is one of the most important aspects of living a healthy lifestyle and absolutely critical when it comes to dieting down for a competition. Dieting can be extremely difficult and time consuming, especially for those of us who work full time and have families. The key to success is without a doubt planning and preparing your meals.
With out preparation you risk making a mistake and cheating!

For example, if you wake up in the morning and rush out the door you will probably leave the house without eating and then you will get to work and before you even realize what time it is, it is noon and you have not had anything to eat and you have nothing with you so of course you go out to lunch and more than likely consume a 800-1000 calorie lunch. That is just the beginning of your mistakes, then when you get back to the office someone brought some cake and you just could not resist it so you went ahead and had a piece, a very large piece at that. It is now 4:00 in the afternoon and you have only had 1 glass of water and 2 cokes, because as you were rushing out the door you also forgot your water bottle. After finally catching up on work you head home and by the time you leave you are too tired so you just stop at a drive thru and get fast food or you decide to skip dinner all together.

Now, I know that was a drastic description, but the reality is that it is not far from what most of society does on a daily basis. And people wonder why they are overweight, lethargic, sick all the time and depressed!! Take a look at how you are living your life and what you are putting in to your body. In this article I will give some tips for planning and preparing your meals so that the above scenario does not occur to you.

The truth is that everyone is busy, or at least they have convinced themselves that they are. Well, in this crazy busy life that you have created you must stop and take some time to prepare your meals in advance for at least 4-7 days. Pick the day or days that you will doing the cooking and do not waiver from this, your life needs structure while dieting and making a lifestyle change. I would suggest that you write out an actual diet for yourself or seek advice and have someone tailor a diet for your individual goals. Once your diet is written down on paper then you make a list of the groceries you will need. For instance, if you re eating 3 servings of 4 oz of meat write out what the meats are and the total amount, such as one 4 ounce chicken breast daily would be 20 ounces over a 5 day period so you would need to make sure that you got 30 ounces of chicken because it cooks down, so just get 2 pounds of chicken and cook it all at the same time and then weigh it out and place it into individual bags. Same would go for Salmon, Steak, Tuna, Turkey or whatever meat it is that you are cooking.

Then for the veggies decide what veggies you are eating and how much you would need. For example, broccoli, asparagus, spinach and salad are easy vegetables to prepare. So for the veggies you would simply wash and cut veggies and place them in a Ziploc plastic bag and place in refrigerator, then when ready to eat, take the veggies and open bag and place a little amount of water in the bag and halfway seal the bag, then place in microwave for 2 ½ -3 ½ minutes depending on how firm or soft you prefer, and instantly you have beautifully steamed veggies.

Below is a summary of the tips for preparing your meals
1. Write up your diet in detail
2. Write up a grocery list with specific amounts needed
3. Prepare, measure and package meals
4. Place meals in an organized manner in the refrigerator

So in conclusion it is vital to follow the above steps in order to be successful at dieting and living a healthy lifestyle. It is also very important to gather your meals and supplements the night before so that in the morning when you are rushed out the door all you have to do is grab your food, grab your water bottle and throw it in the cooler and head out the door!

Traci Redding

Anyone and I mean anyone can follow a healthy eating plan and will positively see results and changes in their life. Your life is the only thing that you have direct influence on and how you live your life will 100% reflect in your body, mind and spirit. So take care of yourself and approach this lifestyle change as though you are preparing and planning a big business proposal for a fabulous raise at work! The reality is you will get an amazing raise, that raise will be in your soul because you have stepped up and taken control of your life and now you are living in a manner that will be most productive!

Remember the key to success is planning and preparation, and of course determination and will power.

Great changes may not happen right away, but with effort even the difficult may become easy.
- Bill Blackman
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
- Darrell Royal, in James A. Michener, Sports in America, 1976.

Back to Issues