An epic hunt for healthy food every time you’re hungry? Who’s got the time? Instead, try these 3 key strategies for having healthy food available when you need it. They’ll help make meal planning a no-brainer.
- Want to see our visual guide? Check out the infographic here…
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If you’re looking for ways to make healthy eating come easier, we’ll soon be opening up our Precision Nutrition Coaching program to men and women around the world.
Tested with over 100,000 clients to date — and proven in several peer-reviewed research studies — it’s guaranteed to help you transform your body, and your life.
Here’s a quick glimpse of what the program can do.
Meet some of the people whose bodies, and lives, have been changed by Precision Nutrition Coaching.
During this 12-month transformation program, we’ll match you with a Precision Nutrition coach who will guide you through important, permanent improvements in your eating habits, lifestyle choices, body, and health.
The results?
You’ll lose the weight (and body fat) you haven’t been able to shed for years. You’ll build physical strength and mental resiliency. And you’ll end up feeling more capable, more confident, and more free than you have in a long time.
Throughout the process, you’ll learn strategies for eating and moving well no matter how busy and chaotic your life is. You’ll finally have a plan — and the support you need — to eat well every day, change your body, and improve your health.
Which brings us back to today’s article…
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One of the many important lessons we teach our clients: Keep it simple. Think less. Make fewer decisions. Let your environment do much of the work for you.
If healthy food is around you and convenient, you’re more likely to eat it. If you have a trusted system for making healthy food available, you don’t have to decide to eat well… you just show up and do it.
Enter the “food ritual”.
No, this ritual doesn’t include lamb’s blood or any special Kool Aid.
It just means you set aside a bit of time to prepare some healthy food in advance so that it’s ready, available, and convenient when you need it.
How you choose to ritualize healthy meal prep is up to you. Here are some strategies that have worked well for the men and women who have had the most success in Precision Nutrition Coaching.
[Note: We also created a cool visual guide to accompany this article. Check it out here…]
Option 1: The Sunday Ritual
You don’t have to do this on Sunday, of course. You can choose any day you like.
It’s just that Sunday is often a time when people are more free, more relaxed, and more able to devote time to this type of task. And it’s a time when we’re usually thinking ahead to the upcoming week.
Whatever day you choose, set aside 2-3 hours once a week to do the following.
- Look ahead to your upcoming schedule and see what’s happening. What nutrition challenges or opportunities might pop up? Where might you need some special preparation in advance? What are the quiet and busy times? Etc.
- Come up with a general menu for at least the next few days. It doesn’t have to be anything in-depth. Just get a basic sense of the food you might need to have on hand for the week ahead.
- Build your shopping list from your menu. This will help you be as effective and efficient as possible when you hit the grocery store, and you’ll be less tempted to buy random (and non-goal-supporting) things.
- Hit the grocery store. Stock up on what you need for the week. Consider grabbing a few extra “just in case” emergency items as well, such as canned beans, frozen vegetables, or other easily-stored healthy options that you can use in a pinch.
- Once you’re back home, start prepping and cooking. Whip up a batch of lean protein — for example, by grilling or roasting several chicken breasts/thighs at once. Try some one-pot meals that can be easily cooked in a slow cooker, then divided into containers to be frozen or refrigerated, such as soups, stews, curries, chili, etc. Wash and chop veggies.
Some Precision Nutrition Coaching clients choose to prepare most of their meals for the week on Sundays.
Others prefer to figure out which meals will be easy to cook “in the moment” and save them for later, and only pre-prep meals for super busy times (such as lunches at work or dinner after a late meeting).
Do what works best for you, and your schedule.
If possible, give yourself a little extra buffer zone. You never know what unexpected challenge might strike at 6pm on Wednesday, and when it does, you’ll be glad you socked away an extra meal in the freezer.
Option 2: The Daily Ritual
You can combine the Sunday Ritual with the Daily Ritual — for example, by preparing the labor-intensive staples such as lean protein on Sunday, and then adding some quick-prep items (such as fruit and veggies) every day.
It often takes about as much time to prepare a few items as it does to prepare one.
For example, it’s nearly as fast to chop 3 carrots as it is to chop 1, or to scramble 6 eggs instead of 2. During the Daily Ritual, you can prep a few extra items to have on hand for later in the day, or the following day.
Try a Morning Ritual where you use some of our time-saving strategies to whip up a healthy breakfast or lunch:
- Oatmeal: Shake up your dry oatmeal and any other items (e.g. ground flaxseeds, cinnamon, protein powder, other grains, etc.) in a large container. In the morning, scoop out the dry mix, pour in some water, and pop it in the microwave. Top with fruit, add more protein if you like (e.g. cottage cheese, Greek yogurt) and enjoy a hearty breakfast.
- Egg “batter”: Whiz up some eggs in a blender (with some veggies if you like); keep the mixture in a jar in the fridge for up to a few days. Pour and cook as needed.
 Blend… |
 …store… |
- No-sog salad: Take a large jar and pour salad dressing into the bottom. Then add veggies, top with greens, and make sure the jar stays refrigerated and upright throughout the day. When you’re ready to eat it, shake it up and pour it into a bowl (or heck, eat it right out of the jar!).
Or try a Dinner Ritual where you simply make extra portions and save the rest for tomorrow.
Again, it doesn’t take much more time to prepare a few extra things, so cook in bulk where possible.
Option 3: Healthy meals made for you
Many grocery stores — from your average Safeway or Loblaws to more upscale Whole Foods-type places — now offer a wide range of grab-and-go meals. Think salad bars, pre-washed and cut vegetables, and individually-portioned lean protein. There are also many specialty food store chains that offer healthy food takeout and delivery.
Some Precision Nutrition Coaching clients even sign up for a healthy meal delivery service, if only for one or two meals a week. If you don’t enjoy cooking, or are extremely busy, you may find that having a break from the time and hassle of meal prep is worth the money. It might just mean the difference between a delicious, nourishing, physique-friendly lunchtime salad and another regrettable fast-food run.
Google “healthy meal delivery” in your area and see what pops up.
The bottom line: Do what works best for you — your life and your goals.
You can mix and match all of these food ritual options, in any way that works for you. Anticipate, plan, strategize. This is the way of (what we call) the “PN warrior”. Have fun!
Want help becoming the healthiest, fittest, strongest version of you?
Most people know that regular movement, eating well, sleep, and stress management are important for looking and feeling better. Yet they need help applying that knowledge in the context of their busy, sometimes stressful lives.
Over the past 18 years, we’ve used the Precision Nutrition Coaching method to help over 100,000 clients lose fat, get stronger, and improve their physical and mental health… for the long-term… no matter what challenges they’re dealing with.
It’s also why we work with health, fitness, and wellness professionals (through our Level 1 and Level 2 Certification programs) to teach them how to coach their own clients through the same challenges.
Interested in Precision Nutrition Coaching? Join the presale list now. You'll get a free gift today, save up to 54%, and have the chance to secure a spot 24 hours early.
We’ll be opening up spots in our next Precision Nutrition Coaching on Tuesday, July 16th, 2024.
If you're interested in coaching and want to find out more, join the presale list below. Being on the list gives you three special advantages.
- You’ll pay less than everyone else. Join the presale list and you’ll save up to 54% off the general public price.
- You’re more likely to get a spot. To give clients the personal care and attention they deserve, we only open up the program twice a year. By joining the presale list you’ll get the opportunity to register 24 hours before everyone else, increasing your chances of getting in.
- You’ll get a free gift—plus an inside look at the program. When you join the presale list today, we’ll send you a free 35-page ebook: Your Best Nutrition Starts Here—a complete guide to building a health plan for your body, goals, and lifestyle (no calorie-counting or restrictive dieting required). Plus, you'll get our new Enrollment Packet, giving you an inside look at the PN Coaching program, complete with stories from past clients who’ve overcome huge obstacles and achieved the transformation of their dreams, and more.
If you’re ready to change your body, and your life, with help from the world’s best coaches, this is your chance.
[Note: If your health and fitness are already sorted out, but you’re interested in helping others, check out our Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification program].
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