Does this sound familiar when referencing to your nutrition? "I don't have time", "I don't know what to eat" , "I'm on the go 24/7", "I need quick easy meals". Well, I don't know about you but with my clients and all of them having a busy life, I hear this quite frequently. I'm here to give you all a few solutions. First things first though, you won't progress the way you want until you learn to change your mindset and hold yourself accountable. You need to be able to make your nutrition a priority and create the appropriate time needed to have a plan for your meals. We've all heard it before " If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". I get it, I know, we all have busy lives and creating meals is bullshit at times and sucks, but its what we need to do to create the results we want even if it means sacrificing some of your free time on the weekends. With that being said, I'm going to give a list of some of the techniques I've used over the years to make my relationship with nutrition simple.
Quick Breakfast Ideas:
This is my go too and has been for about 5 Years now
Protein Shake:
-1 Scoop chocolate protein
-1 banana
-1 tablespoon peanut butter
-1 tablespoon flax seed
-1 cup almond milk ( carrageenan free)
-1/4 cup quick oats
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1 Ice cube
This takes approximately 1 minute and 37 seconds from walking into the kitchen to blending the shake to make it (I've timed it, so don't try and tell me you don't have 1:37 to spare)
Another easy go too of mine
Egg whites,turkey sausage and whole grain avocado toast:
-1-2 Cups of egg whites ( you can buy them already separated in a carton)
-2-4 Johnsonville turkey sausage links (these are pre-cooked, you just need to heat them up)
- Add whatever veggies you desire
-1 Slice of whole grain toast
-1/2 avocado
This takes all of 10 Minutes to make and you can make this in bulk if you want by adjusting the amounts
For those of you that don't like chocolate shakes, we got another flavor in store for you
Berry Smoothie:
-1 Scoop Vanilla protein
-1 banana
-1 cup frozen berries OR mixed fruit
-1 tablespoon flax seed
-1 cup almond milk ( carrageenan free)
-1/4 cup quick oats
-1 Ice cube
This one also takes 1:37 seconds to make
Oatmeal with protein powder:
-1 Cup oats
-1 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
-1 Tablespoon of cinnamon
-1 Chopped banana
You get the idea, this won't take long to make either
Quick Lunch/Dinner Meal Prep
A lot of you worry too much about variety and "getting bored". Well Let me ask you this, do you like being plateaued experimenting with variety? Your answer no, no you do not like that. Why do we need to waste time making a separate dinner and lunch? Is it fun too cook more meals? Hell no it's not. This shit is hard enough already so cut yourself some slack and prep your lunches to be the same as your dinner. If you have to have variety you can change up your carb and protein source but for the sake of simplicity lets prep our lunch and dinner protein source to be the same.
Option 1:
This is a good one because its so easy to do! It literally takes about 20-30 minutes
Steak/brussel sprouts/sweet potatoes
- 2-4 Steaks cooked however you want on a cast iron skillet (10-12 min)
-3 packages of precut brussel sprouts or broccoli (you can get these at Safeway 3 for $12)
-2 Sweet Potatoes chopped into slices
With the brussel sprouts and potatoes, you just lay them on the cooking pan and drizzle some olive oil on them then I like to use Grill Mates garden vegetable seasoning for some flavor (also at Safeway). Throw those bad boys in the oven at 400 degrees for 13-16 minutes. While your cooking the steaks those will be cooking. By the time the veggies and potatoes are done cooking your steaks will be done and BOOM! You have 3-4 days worth of lunch and dinner depending on how much you eat. You can increase the amounts obviously to make it last longer if you want or if you eat more.
This one is good if you need to do things around the house while you meal prep!
Option 2:
-2-4 pounds of chicken breast Or chicken thighs (less dry)
-1 BIG THING of salsa verde (the green stuff)
-2 Packages of precut asparagus (Safeway)
-Uncle Ben's pre packaged jasmine rice
Cut the chicken breasts or thighs in half the long way. Throw those in the crock pot and pour that entire bottle of the salsa verde on top of the chicken and let that slow cook for 6 hours. While your doing that put the asparagus on the cooking sheet with olive oil and a little bit of salt and pepper or garlic salt. Bake the asparagus for 12-15 min. With the rice it takes 90 seconds to heat up. After you have all the chicken and asparagus done, your good to go. You just need to bring your rice with you and heat that up and you'll have chicken veggies and rice that doesn't taste like shit.
This was an old favorite of mine for a while
Option 3:
-1 Packet of Large Corn Tortillas
-1-2 packs of thin sliced chicken breast (they are literally cut in slices)
-2 Tomatoes
-1 Bag Of Spinach
-1 container of precut onions
-1 container of premade guacamole
-1-2 Green Peppers
Season the chicken as you'd like and cook it with the peppers. Throw everything in the wrap and make a bunch of these in advance. I know, I didn't put any sauce because, well most of them have unnecessary shit in them and the wrap isn't dry because of the guacamole and tomatoes. If you don't want to premake the wrap out of fear of the wrap getting soggy, you can package each ingredient individually and put them in the wrap when your ready to eat it.
Food for on the go
-Hard Boiled Eggs
-Beef Jerky ( if you have too, be careful of the ones with sugar on the ingredient list)
-Protein bars (be careful of the ingredients, a lot of them contain unnecessary sugar)
-Fruits
-Premade sandwich with whole grain or ezekiel bread
-Protein shake with water
-Can of tuna with hot sauce ( not the best but gets the job done)
-Mixed Nuts (unsalted)
-Unsalted Almonds
-Greek Yogurt
-Hummus and Veggies Packs
-Trail Mix
-Dried fruit, without sugar added into it
-Larabars
So I've listed quite a few breakfast ideas as well as lunch and dinner ideas that don't take up too much time, but this is what works for me. You need to experiment and see what works for you. The best place to start, is picking whole foods when you grocery shop. You can also take these meal ideas and substitute things as you like for example you can sub the potatoes or rice for beans or whole grain noodles. Create consistency and don't make excuses! There are plenty of ways to get your meals in, you just need to create the time and make it a priority. If you'd like more ideas on what to prep or need more help you can message me on IG @Blinn_Fitness or email me at Brandon@blinnfitstudio.com