5 Beyond Simple Ways to Get Nutrition on Track

5 Simple Steps to Nutrition and Meal Prep

Commitment is a big word to most people, it may either reflect work life, home life or even love life. Whenever most of us make a commitment, we do everything in our power to follow through with it everyday. It becomes a practice, a habit.

As we look at what this means in regards to our fitness and well-being, lets talk about is as a question of meal prep and nutrition dedication.

We had an awesome seminar with Dr. Mike Nelson a few years back. If you made it out you know that nutrition topics can be as crazy as politics or religion. Everyone has their tried and true method or knowledge.

No need to dive into the science of nutrition of why it's important, instead I am just going to go over 5 easy steps I have found to make healthy eating and meal prepping easier for me...

• 1) You don't need to be a chef or a millionaire, healthy eating can be as easy as 3-4 ingredients and limited time in the kitchen.
• 2) Habits create consistency, the saying "practice makes perfect" applies to everything we do.
• 3) Do not use justifications to cheat, "I worked out HARD today" won't make that cheat meal impact you any less.
• 4) Find what you like and stick with it.
• 5) Be accountable, have a journal, blog, partner in health to keep you on the straight and narrow.

1) Most people get discouraged with meal prep and healthy eating due to the fact that they don't know how to cook something or because it "takes too long, and costs too much".

Keep it simple, unless you are completely dedicated to "all natural free range", you don't have to break the bank. I personally shop at Sams Club and for over a weeks worth of food(and I eat a lot) I spend under 100 dollars. Experiment, find things that you like that are easy.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

2) Habits revolve around everything we do as human beings. Our personalities, our lifestyles, and especially our eating habits. I was a terrible at what time I ate and it was all over the place and my weight and energy suffered for it. Eat each meal at the same time each day.

When I started to set alarms in my phone or write it down my energy shot up and my body completely change. Once you get that to a point of habit your body will tell it's time to eat. This will also help the mental game!

____________________________________________________________________________________________

3) This has been my biggest downfall, saying I had 3 sessions of training today and I deserve this pizza (because pizza is awesome!). The next day my training would take a dive. Just like the habits of eating at the same times, keep that cheat meal for the same day.  And when you cheat, don't go crazy. Indulge but don't over do it.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

4) Men typically have less taste buds than woman and we can eat the same thing day in and day out. So for you gents, this seems to come a lot easier. Pick what you like and stick with it, again habits will be formed and it will become second nature.

Ladies, I understand that eating chicken and rice everyday is as boring as a cowboy on a lame pony. But, you too can keep it simple. Take those main ingredients and mix and match and change it around, but stay consistent as well. Experiment with different seasonings and marinades.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

5) Unless you are the terminator, it is easy to cheat behind closed doors. Find that someone that will say "hey man, drop the cheese curds". Someone who as invested as you are in remaining healthy. Or put yourself out there on the inter web in a blog so people can see that you are staying committed. We have coaches and people more than willing and excited to help you stay strong at the gym.

Now I'm sure most of you want recipes and articles and what not to help. So I will end this article with some great links and material to help you all out!

• http://nomnompaleo.com/recipeindex
• http://mobile.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows/budget_clean_eating_recipes
• http://www.eatsandexercisebyamber.com/home/meal-prep-for-beginners
• http://crossfitimpulse.com/the-zone-diet-explained-edited/

I hope these tips were helpful and excited to share more in the future.