We’ve said it before but it’s one that’s worth repeating, especially as life starts to pick up from February onward. Keep your training and nutrition simple.
It’s somewhat easier to do everything ‘perfectly’ or as you’d want it to be in January. Everyone is skint and on a diet. Dry January is an easy out, and everyone’s looking for a way to stay in the house. And then, we get bored! Because it’s not sustainable, but in January it feels kind of necessary.
So let’s revise the perfect plan for the real one.
Even if you can do the most elaborate meal prep - three-course dining daily - that doesn’t mean you’re going to want to for more than two weeks. Then it becomes an unsustainable, laborious habit.
Nobody wants the Sunday scary's on Saturday when they think about needing to prep!
Sometimes even the simple task of boiling rice and grilling chicken breasts must be replaced by microwave rice and pre-cooked chicken fillets for some weeks. But the good thing is that you can have this strategy up your sleeve to make life easy.
I know you want to do it perfectly, I really can relate to this. But often the perfect way to do it is so simple it feels like cheating. It could also vary from week to week.
For some, having a work-from-home/office split week can also add challenges. So having a plan for home and office days is needed. This could be that you live the perfect hermit life on home days. Then on office days, you do a little bit of meal planning or proactive tracking to make sure the food choices and sneaky office beers stay in line, without throwing you into a week of terrible sleep and a ropey mood.
One week I may know that I’m out of the house every morning and evening. As a result:
I pack a pot of oats that just need me to add water and a protein shake for breakfast.
At lunch, I nip to the local supermarket for a roll, pre-made salad and some pre-cooked chicken.
Perhaps I add in a skyr pouch, a sleeve of nuts and a pot of fruit as an afternoon snack.
Then finish the day with an M&S bean salad and hot smoked salmon. Or a microwave meal if I really need to.
Granted, me being the cheap skate I am, that’s highly unlikely to be what my day looks like. But, I know I have those options quickly if I really can’t do prepping work.
Meanwhile, on other days or weeks, I could be grabbing chilli and fajita mix out of the freezer because I had time a few weeks ago to load up the reserves. For this, I’d recommend getting some reusable freezer bags and adding a note of what on earth it is before you put it in!
In the ideal week (for me, not necessarily for everyone else), I’ll spend an hour or two preparing all my meals on Sunday and having my fridge fully stocked. Why do I do this? Ultimately, I like to know I’m in control no matter what happens, I’d rather prioritise down time lying on the sofa in the week rather than cooking, and it reduces the chance of decision fatigue.
Decision fatigue?
When you have so many options available that it’s impossible to make a decision. This is why I stick with a few ideas for each meal that move around every few weeks or recently have gone for a Gousto box to help ease my decision-making process.
I’ll also pre-plan my days in MyFitness Pal so that I only have to grab the things from the fridge in the morning and know that they’ll help me have the right fuel for the day to feel energised and able no matter what comes up!
The principles for me, regardless of how much time I have are:
Consider the protein source first
Add in veggies - either hidden in a sauce or very obviously dumped on top (hello my friend baby corn)
Steer away from heavily processed foods wherever possible
Sweets, cakes, biscuits, hot dogs
Keep alcohol low, especially in the week
Get some gentle movement in each day (even a walk around the block)
Journal for 2-3 minutes before bed
Sleep
What are your manageable principles?
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