Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

Ok, ok-- I sorta stole the heading from one of my trainer's favorite lectures.  Only I cleaned it up a little bit. (There was another "P" descriptor. Uhem.)

I had this under control, once upon a time.  Kinda like my life.  But all my proverbial ducks are anything but in a nice neat row.  It's been a crazy week, and I'm wiped out. My house was a mess until today when I gave it at least a cursory straightening.  There were mountains of spandex waiting to be washed from a week of training me and other people.  And I'll be really honest: I've been fudging meals a bit.  It's not that I'm eating badly, because after two years, it's sort of on auto-pilot. But I'm not nailing it either.  I'm too tired to come home and think about what I should be eating for dinner. I'm eating out at lunch more than I should.  And breakfast is something I'm grabbing as I run out the door.   Truth:  I feel pretty blah, and I'm at least partly responsible.  I may not be going over my calories, but I'm probably not getting all the nutrients I need either.

I'm having to dig back into my brain and remind myself what I once knew to be vitally important to weight-loss success: a meal plan.  Remember how when you were in school and every week the school let you know what would be served each day?  Yeah, that's a meal plan.  Only I'm not so much talking about a sheet full of greasy pizza and "Salisbury Steak" (aka "mystery meat", IMHO).  A meal plan is simply taking the time to think through each meal that you will eat in the course of a week.  If you're really serious about being healthy, it's figuring out the meals you will eat AND their nutrional content, to make sure you stay within your calorie goal and meet your ideal Carbohydrate, Fat, and Protein goals.  (If you'd like a basic idea of how many calories you need for your goal, this site is fairly helpful.) When I do my meal plans, I create an excel spreadsheet, and then get my nutritional information from either myfitnesspal.com or calorieking.com  This seems daunting at first, but after a few weeks, you'll discover that you're eating basically the same foods over and over with only a small rotation.  People are creatures of habit!

Something that has been really helpful to me is doing either a one-a-week or two-a-week cooking session.  I've typically done this on Sunday and I've shopped, chopped, and done the basic work like grilling chicken breasts or other meats.  Come Monday morning when I'm ready for my steak and mushrooms and onions, I'll just throw the steak in the microwave for a few and then quickly sauté some the already chopped veggies. Crazy easy on a day when anything else rarely is!

Refrigerator decor: meal plan and fitness inspirations

If you're just starting out and are overwhelmed, E-mealz.com might be a good starting place for you.  It's a paid service, but the cost is nominal. They have lots of plans to choose from, and even some that are store specific.  The idea is that they (whomever "they" is) find out what is going to be on sale that week and create recipes for those items.  They give you the recipes and even a shopping list. I think on some of the plans that are related to specific health goals they even list the nutrition info-- but it's been a while for me! Definitely worth checking out!

If you're feeling frazzled and haven't done any planning or preparation, you're likely to head straight for McDonalds.  And let's be real.  That burger and fries and soda is gonna head straight to your behind or belly.   Do your health a HUGE favor and take the time to do a little work! Your waist will thank you!

P.S. If you are crafty, I love this idea that I saw on Pinterest.  On each of your cards, I'd go ahead and write the recipe along with all the nutrition information. You can plug in your exact recipe to the myfitnesspal site and it will calculate all of it for you.  That way you'll have it ready each time.  A little work on the front end saves some bulge on your back end! Check out the idea here.

Measuring Up

When I started working with a trainer a few years ago, he made the bold statement that I probably didn't know what I was actually eating.  I quickly informed him that he was wrong.

He said, "Do you measure it out? Everything that goes in your mouth-- do you weigh it or put it in a measuring cup or spoon?"  Then gave me that look that said 1) I was busted and 2) that there was no point in me actually answering that question. 

Uh.  Seriously?  Who does that? Who has time for that nonsense?

From ISSA's Specialist in Fitness Nutrition

It took me a long time to realize that he was right, and that taking the time to measure was really important to achieving my weight loss goals.  I was thinking about that conversation (ok, ok, conversations) when I came across this study that shows what people perceive they consume versus what they actually eat.  People underestimate the amount of  grains and fats they actually eat, and overestimate the amount of vegetables and protein they consume.  Basically, our human tendenacy is to take what we believe to be healthy, and give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. 

If you are struggling to lose weight, figure out how many calories you need.  (Ask me! Happy to help) and then take the time to look at what a serving size actually is.  Hint: unless it's measured, nobody eats the recommended serving size of 1/2 cup of ice cream. Or 3/4 cup of cereal. Or 2 T of Peanut Butter.   Invest in a food scale and some measuring spoons/cups.  Use them consistently and see what a difference in makes!

I'll be talking about meal plans later, but I've found that it is also really helpful to track your food.  As I learned at weight watchers a long, long time ago:  You bite it, you write it.  A paper journal is really helpful, but if you are "techy" apps can be a great tool.  I personally love myfitnesspal, and ask my clients to use it.  It's great to be able to keep a food diary that figures the calories as well as things like protein, fats, carbohydrates and even potassium and sodium.  Diaries can be made shareable, which adds for a level of accountability.  Recruit a friend to support you in this and invite them to see what you eat.  Of course, as my trainer reminded me, it's only as accurate as the information you add to it.

Take the time.  Don't lie to yourself.  (I had to learn that my hips always knew the truth, no matter what I recorded!) Measure, measure, measure!