3 Step Guide To Food
As a fitness professional, the main question I always get is about nutrition. What should I eat, what time should I eat it, and so on? After hearing this question, I’ve come up with a solution that makes sense: stop focusing on what you’re eating and how much of what you need to eat; focus on time!
STEP 1
The 1st step is understanding your “GO” (green light) and “STOP” (red light) times in your day and week. For the busy professionals, stay- at-home moms, or anyone that’s always on the go, meal preparation and deciding what to eat can be complicated and frankly exhausting. Keep it SIMPLE!! When is your busiest time? When can you sit down and have a meal?
STEP 2
The 2nd step is to figure out how long are these “GO” (busy time) and “STOP” (down time) windows? An example of “GO” window is, your 9am work arrival. Your mornings are always super hectic. You never know what’s going to happen and you can’t predict the morning. This is a prime example where getting a small meal, even when prepared in advance, is not doable until lunch at 12:30pm. Right there you have a good 3-hour window of “GO” time. This is where you can plan certain healthy snacks and supplements to bring you towards your fitness goals. “STOP” window is when you actually have time to enjoy a full meal. This could be a predetermined lunch timeor a dinner meeting with a friend. The key is that this time has already been planned as a time to feed your body. “STOP” time is when you can plan to eat a healthy meal.
STEP 3
The last step is to figure out what to eat during these times. Planning your meals in advance will help you stay on track. Your “GO” meals can be anything that align with your fitness goals. One of my favorite “GO” meals is a simple meal replacement or protein shake. Another“GO’ meal can be peanut butter and apples. A “STOP” meal is a full breakfast, lunch or dinner that has been packaged and planned during meal prep earlier that week.
These three steps are the key to achieving your fitness goal. Once you have a good grasp of these three steps, you can plan and manipulate what foods your body needs to achieve your fitness goal.
