In the past weeks you've learned how to put your meals together and that should have become second nature by now. This week challenge can be a real challenge because it takes some preparation. and when I'm talking about preparation, I'm talking about food. This week you'll have to eat 5-7 small meals a day including the postworkout meal.
Nutrition is 70% of the result, but it is also where 70% of people fail. What are we trying to achieve through these weekly challenges, is not only a toned physique by losing some inches, but we are basically trying to turn actions into habits. Eating 5-7 meals a day means eating every 2-3 hours. This also means food prep. If you don't prepare your food in advance, which can be at night or in the morning, you'll start skipping meals or eating the first crap you find around. This is called failing. The whole food prep may sound complicated, but it is really not, especially if you eat the same things every day and know your portions.
Some people like prepping all their food in advance for the whole week. You can cook everything in batches and portion it out. Some also like to freeze the food, but i don't find it necessary. Chicken, veggies, grains,... can all last for a week if stored in an air-tight container and refrigerated. Personally i cook just the veggies and grains for some days in advance. These are all things that need very little time. I don't like to complicate in the kitchen. I steam the veggies in the microwave and then saute them with garlic, black pepper and salt. For the grains you just need to add water and wait.
Snacks are very easy to prepare as well. You can make pancakes in advance or multiply the recipe and bake them in the oven as you would do with a cake. Makes things easier. Nuts can/ should be preportioned out. Greek yogurt doesn't need any special preparation, but i like to add unsweetened cacao, stevia and almonds on top. Fruit is fast food.
You can preportion your food out for the week in Tupperware. I like to do it daily so i have more room in the fridge.
Your meal plan should look something like this:
within 1h of waking up: breakfast
2-3 h later: am snack
2-3 h later: lunch
2-3 h later: pm snack
2-3 h later: dinner
Preworkout meal comes 60-90 min before your workout and it can be any of the above meals.
Postworkout meal comes 10 minutes after your workout and it should be a liquid meal (shake) with whey and simple carbs (sugars). Liquid meals doesn't involve a lot of digestion and the nutrients can reach the muscles as fast as possible in order to prevent the muscle breakdown.
Your next meal should be about 45-60 minutes after the shake.
Questions? Post them below!
No comments:
Post a Comment