Weekly meal prep

The last while my anxiety levels have been through the roof. Everything seems to be out of control: I just can't seem to stay on top of the house work, there are toys lying EVERYWHERE, my kids seem to be moany and nagging all the time...the list goes on and on. And the fact that winter has set in doesn't help that bluesy feeling. The control freak / neat freak in me is FREAKING OUT which leads to emotional eating. So, in an attempt to gain control over the entire situation, I have decided to do a bit of meal planning and weekly meal prepping. I have done it in the past and it works brilliantly!

Sunday would probably be the best day of the week to do this, but for us Sundays are usually quite busy with family gatherings, church etc. My plan is to do all our meal prep on a Saturday. 

Being the Pinterest addict that I am, I headed over and searched for a bit of inspiration. Initially I only intended to prep our main meals but one seems to able to prep ALL your meals in advance. Below is a pin from www.peanutbutterandfitness.blogspot.com where she has prepped even her breakfasts in advance! How organised is that!?! 

The benefits of doing a weekly meal prep are:

Helps keep you within your budget.

You eat more fresh, whole foods and less processed rubbish. 

Minimizes food wastage.

Ensures correct portion control.

Limits temptation to head to the drive through on busy/lazy days.

Some foods that are easy to prepare in advance:

Snacking veggies / fruit

Hummus 

Salad greens

Lean proteins like chicken, fish (I would eat the fish meals first though, just to be on the safe side) and turkey

Grains such as brown rice, quinoa etc

Roasted veg

Hard boiled eggs

Overnight oats 

You'll need to invest in some good Tupperware (YAY! A trip to Plastics for Africa!) and set aside a day to do all the prep work and cooking. 

Make a menu plan of what you would like to eat each day - breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Have a look at which of these meals can be made in advance and either frozen or stored in the fridge. Write your grocery list and then put on your most comfy pair of shoes and hit the shops. Remember not to shop on an empty stomach to avoid being tempted to buy things that are not on your shopping list! 

Now, once the shopping is done, the chopping, baking, grilling and boiling can start. Portion your meals into each bowl. I have found it handy to label what is in each bowl and the date it was made. 

It takes almost the whole day from start to finish but the effort is totally worthwhile.

I recently read a quote that said: if you have good food in the fridge, you will eat good food.

 

So, on that note, I'm off to do some meal prepping and ensure I have only good food in my fridge. I'll post pics and more details of what I made on my next blog post.

Until next time, 

XX-L

Winter motivation

It's been a while since you've heard from me. At the beginning I was pumped up and ready to tackle the long road ahead.

After leading a sedentary lifestyle up to that point I saw quick results once I started exercising and eating right. As summer came to an end, the motivation to get up in the cold, dark and now wet mornings to exercise started to wane. The fact that I also didn't HAVE to get up because there was no one waiting at the beach for me to go walking also affected the motivation. It became easy to just kill the 4:30am alarm, roll over and go back to sleep. The chillier weather has also made it so much harder to eat correctly and drink enough water. I naturally gravitate towards the comfort foods when I'm cold. Who wants to drink water when you can have a nice cup of coffee and a rusk, right?

When I started, I promised myself I would not make excuses. I would own my mistakes and that only I could change my destructive lifestyle for the good. So I have decided to nip the winter wallow in the bud....NOW, before I am back where I started! 

I asked a few of my friends how they stay motivated to train in winter. 

My good friend, Lisa (who is an avid Adventure Bootcamper and fellow parkrun-addict) suggested putting out my gym clothes the night before or even sleeping in my gym clothes so that I can just get up and go in the mornings and keep warm. I have implemented this tip the last few days...and it works! So, thanks Lisa.

I also asked my trainer, Suzy. And this is what she had to say:

TRAINING DURING WINTER

                                                        

Biggest thing about training during winter is that it is emotionally A LOT harder than physically… Your main motivation should be the reasons WHY you NEED to train during the winter and colder months…

You’ve already put so much time and effort into training the last couple of months and to give it all up now because it is darker, colder and harder to get out of bed….the question is – IS IT WORTH IT??? The answer is without a doubt – NO WAYS!!!!

If you think about it:

• It is cooler so you can train twice as hard before you feel like you are over heating
• Your body uses more energy when you feel cold so you can burn more calories
• If you train during winter you will be fitter when summer start so you can achieve so much more in the summer to maintain your healthier, leaner body!!!

Unfortunately we automatically eat more during the winter to feel warmer, drink less water and more coffee/tea so we will have to do that little bit extra to keep the extra calories to turn into fat.

Comfort food looks a lot more appealing than a salad so we have to make sure we think HEALTHY and make the correct choices.

So in order to stay motivated during winter you have to focus on your end results – WHY did you start training in the first place????

Was it to loose weight, get fitter, feeling healthier, do more with your children, shape and tone or even all of them????

Now, ask yourself are you going to get closer or further from your goal by slacking during the winter???  Are you willing to start all over again in the spring??

 Surely you are not going to give up now….all the hard work, getting up early in the morning, watching your food intake the last few months, getting better and better at each walk/run you doing, getting stronger and healthier, being able to do more with your kids without feeling out of breath immediately, feeling better about yourself, fitting into a smaller pair of pants, old clothes feeling looser on your body!!!!  Was that all for nothing??? Definitely NOT, I am sure this is more than enough motivation to keep you going instead of starting ALL OVER AGAIN?!?!?!?!?

So the biggest motivation during winter should be – WHY DID YOU START?????

I am very grateful to have Suzy on my team this winter...motivating me and holding me accountable by waiting for me at 5am twice a week (in the cold, dark and wet weather).

 

As the old saying goes: "Summer bodies are made in winter". 

My winter training strategy:

• Never skip a day
• Drink enough water, no matter how cold it is!
• Research and implement healthy, hearty winter food
• Join the gym so that I can join my walking buddies again (have tried to avoid this one, but I think the time has come to cave on the resistance)
• Stay accountable by updating my blog more often
• "Invest" in winter training clothes/gear....I LOVE all the gadgets, the apps...all the things that give you feedback, stats etc.

 

Until next time,

XX-L