6am wake up.
Baby cries.
You have an appointment at 7am.
Your rushing like crazy to get out the door. Shower, skip it. Change baby, feed baby, grab diaper bag and whatever else you need and your out the door.
What did you forget?
Your food. Now what. Maybe you figured you would stop while out. So, stop at a drive through? No. Coffee shop? Sure they might have a better option. Sound like a typical scenario?
You will never get where you want to be if you keep yourself stuck in scenarios like this. Meal planning. It sounds overwhelming and scary but if you plan accordingly you can be prepared for these type of situations. The biggest excuse I hear is I don’t have time, but just like everything else you have to make time. It truly doesn’t take that long to do a quick prep for the whole family. It just consists of buying in bulk. I’ll give you an example of what my family does.
I buy about 5lbs of each protein. Ground beef, ground turkey, and chicken. We also buy salmon and shrimp at times when costs allow. The fastest and easiest way to prep this to grill. Make pattys. That way your portions are already sized as well. If your just doing a basic plan and not too concerned about weighing your food and what not just have one patty or chicken breast for a meal. Men have two. I use a scale though for all meals. I also bake at this time little white potatoes that come in a 4 lb bag and after those are done I switch the oven to broil and roast broccoli. To have more variety I’ll also do brussel sprouts or zucchini. When asparagus is on sale I go for that as well. Rice I prep while oven is on and make about two servings which when cooked is about 8 cups, depending on which rice you buy. Now if you want this to last just portion small meals into bags and throw in the freezer and take out what’s needed day to day. Otherwise you can leave the food in big containers in the fridge and just take out what you need each meal and it will last about 5 days in the fridge. For little extras you can buy avocado or fruit or whatever other little side dish like pickles (my daughter loves pickles!) or lettuce and have that with your meal. This way food is cooked for the week, your not scrambling for meals and you have no excuse not to eat clean. For condiments (be careful here since this is a lot of empty calories) read labels. We like hot sauce in our house. My husband likes soy sauce and mustard as well. Walden farms is a no calorie alternative. The issue with people eating clean is consistency. You can get creative with foods and things when you choose but what’s nice is all main food is cooked. If you choose to make pasta one night then add some of the ground beef to your sauce and ta da meal is done. I don’t always have time to cook a full dinner or lunch so it’s nice to grab and go. As for the munchies or snack attack, popcorn is a great alternative for when you just need that treat while relaxing watching your favorite show. Everything in moderation. Eating clean doesn’t have to be miserable. I’ll give you an example of my family’s day below.
Breakfast for all of us is eggs, slice of grained bread (my husband has two slices and baby has Cheerios or pancake or puffs or oatmeal.)
Snack. I have a small meal here. Chicken with some veggies and either rice or some potatoes. Baby has some cheese, fruit, and more egg if she didn’t eat much for breakfast
Lunch. For myself is again chicken with veggie or salad and baby had chicken and rice and a veggie. Craig eats the same just more. Chicken, rice, veggie.
Snack. Baby has a all natural nutrigrain bar or fruit and puffs.
Dinner. I have a ground beef patty here with rice and veggie of choice. Baby will have a quesadilla I use ground beef and cheese or something else creative for her. Pickles are her favorite with dinner. Craig eats again same as I do unless he wants something else. This is where I make him the same as baby just more. I’ll do burritos (meat already cooked), fajitas just add more stir fry veggies, pasta or whatever he is in the mood for.
Snack. For me since I’m on a plan I have my ground turkey with veggies. This is where Craig will have popcorn in down time and I have a tea to help with cravings. Baby is sleeping by this point.
The point is, the main bulk of food/protein is cooked. I don’t have to stress what am I going to make. Some days I don’t feel like cooking so it’s nice to have meals ready on hand.
Remember there is NO EXCUSE when you want a result bad enough.
XOXO
-Wendy Lee Govoni Capurso
