“If you don’t plan, you plan to fail.” I’m sure you’ve heard that saying somewhere before. Well, if you don’t plan your meals, you are basically sabotaging your fat loss plan and most likely you will not be able to lose fat.
Where do you start when planning your meals? First of all, you need to know how many calories you need per day. You need to know your basal metabolic rate (the number of calories you would burn just lying in bed all day) and then add your activity rate, which will give you an idea of how many calories you will need. Google Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator.
Now comes a more complicated part. You need to find out what ratio of nutrients you will need to maximize fat loss. Unfortunately, there is no set answer. We are all different, with different body types and different reactions to different proportions of food. But to give you an idea: 40/30/30, 50/30/20. 40% carbohydrates / 30% proteins / 30% fats are thus broken down. To lose fat, you would never go over 60% carbs or under 20% fat. You can play with the proportions to find which one works best.
The next thing to do is find out what foods you can eat that will help promote the changes you are looking for. Avoid foods with saturated and trans fats, processed foods, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial ingredients, are just a few. Remember that the fewer ingredients you have, the better.
Next, you need to prepare the meals. As you know, I propose 5 or more meals a day. 5 being the minimum. If you have to cook your food before every meal, you will not be successful. It has to be done in advance. You are a busy person and I know you don’t want to waste your time cooking 5 times a day.
The best way to do this is to set a specific time on a specific day and cook the food you will need for the next 3-7 days. My day is always Sunday, as that is when I am least busy. I cook the food that I will need for the next 7 days. But the design is as follows: one side of the counter is my 2 steamers, 1 cooking my brown rice; the other my hard boiled eggs and steamed vegetables. Across the counter is my George Foreman grilling steak of the week. My whole wheat pasta is being prepared on the stove. In the middle of the counter is my cutting board for my non-steamed veggies (onions, peppers, carrots, etc.), and then for making my peanut butter sandwiches. Everything takes between 75 and 90 minutes. Everything goes in its own separate container and can then be combined in different combinations to make numerous different meals.
Lastly, you want to plan what to eat, how much, when, and where. Bringing things to work, you have to prepare them so that it is easy and you do not give in to what your co-workers are eating. You will not have time to eat a full meal, you should plan backups such as a meal replacement shake, foods that are quick and easy to take in sachets such as mixed nuts, nuts or seeds, fruits, Prograde Cravers, yogurt , string cheese, etc … You practically have to know when you’re going to eat. Weather that is a complete meal, supplement, or snack. Set a timer. Most cell phones have an alarm, timer or stopwatch, or all 3. Use it!