EATING LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT
The best way to make the most of your time in the gym is by building healthy habits outside of the gym. A daily or weekly plan is one of the best habits you can establish to look and feel your best. Plan your workouts, what you will cook, and what you will eat. When you dedicate some time to plan out your week or the next few days, building those healthy habits comes seamlessly.
Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail
Your plan should begin before you leave for the grocery store. Figure out what you might want to make, how much time you will have each day to prepare certain foods, and which grocery store you are going to go to, and then you will be ready for the grocery store. Once you get to the grocery store, shopping for real whole foods is in your best interest. That means when you are in the grocery store, you are making a big circle and typically grabbing over 80% of your food from outside of the aisles. The produce, protein, seafood, and bakery sections are the foods that will set you up to have the most energy throughout the day and week. Shopping the edges of the grocery store will also supply you with the most nutrients, translating into more “gains.”
Meal Prep…Just Do It
Once you are back from the grocery store, it’s game time. Try to carve out a few hours 2-3 times a week to make sure you can cook for real. People I talk to and myself always find it best to cook like your family’s life depends on it, meaning whenever you cook, you should treat it as if you are cooking for 3 or 4. I doubt this will add a significant amount of time to your cooking, and whatever extra time it takes, it will save your hours throughout the rest of the week. This will ensure you have food prepared for the next few days, making it much easier to bring lunch to work or squeeze in a quick dinner, allowing you to do the things you want after work or simply just get to bed earlier. When you cook like your life depends on it, it makes it a lot easier to eat like your life depends on it.
Having a plan when it comes to your eating and cooking habits can be a real game changer. In my opinion, if you can find a solid routine, then everything else will be fine and fall into place. Of course, monitoring your alcohol intake is another aspect that will contribute to living a healthy lifestyle, but I do think if you are taking the time to shop, cook, and consume real, whole foods, it will leave you with a lot less time to consume alcohol and along with that you will probably not feel as inclined to consume those few beers or glasses of wine after you just cooked a fulfilling healthful meal.
The best time to start eating and cooking like your life depends on it is Right Now because your does, in fact, depend on your diet.