Prep
In the spirit of preparing for the new year, let us review into a few more details how we can nutritionally prepare and how to prepare to get physical throughout the day! In the “New Year New WE” saga, there were a few subcategories that offered advice on preparing for the day but there is room for further help!
Nutritionally: Our nutrition is important for our daily function. This topic can look different for everyone as some of us only have ourselves to feed but many of us have many mouths to feed. Budgets can also look different for everyone. Notice I did not mention diet here. Why? Diet is a temporary term. It means once we get to a specific goal, we view ourselves as “finished”. I have seen time and time again people who jump on the latest trend of dieting to get to their specific pants size goal or gravitational pull goal just to get right back to where they were or maybe even worse off before they started. What we are focusing on is a lifestyle change. There is no end goal here. The goal is to simply become better and better at our nutrition with each day. That is why this is also not a “New Year's revolution” goal. We are in this for the long run.
Budgeting: This is not the elephant in the room but a mere reality. Each of us has a different monetary amount we can dictate after our basic bills are paid to food. Even though food is a necessity, staying within a budget is necessary.
Eliminate the bullshit when grocery shopping. This is the easiest first step. Completely ignore the chip aisle, the bakery section, dessert aisle, alcohol (I know, how dare I), and most mid-section aisles. Why? These are the least nutritional foods in the store. Eliminating these items will not only help with healthier choices, but also save on the end receipt.
Go back to the basics like proteins, eggs, dairy, vegetables and fruits (frozen or fresh), beans, rice, and seasonings.
Prepare a list ahead of time with a few recipes to try this week and add the needed ingredients to the list. Come into the store prepared or the store will convince us to buy the prepared foods.
Apps: There are a few great wellness apps out there that will help track food and water consumed in a day. The best ones will track macros and not just calories, fats, and protein. Find one that will also add in sodium and sugar intake. These two points are essential in reducing inflammation and tracking retained water from salts.
Use a site like, a macro calculator to find out the min and max macros needed for your specific body, based on the current activity level, and future goals. Some fitness apps will have this as well. Stick to it.
Meals: Meal prep! Go grocery shopping, clean the kitchen, turn up the music or a good podcast, and get to cooking!
Glass containers are essential read Part 1 an Part 2 of “Crinkle” for why.
After figuring out the necessary daily macros, split up the meals and snacks. This may look different depending on the various lifestyles we all live. Here are a few ideas for meals and “Snacky Snacks” for snack ideas.
Use ChatGPT! Simply put in a prompt like “give me 3 meals per day with 3 snacks based on my target goal of **insert macros**”. Easy. or “what meal can I make with **insert items or even take a picture of what is in the fridge**”.
Remember, meals should be focused around the protein. Eating the most at the beginning of the day and slowing down portion sizes throughout the day is helpful for sleep and maintaining weight.
Meal prep services: There are a few great companies that specialize in everything meal prep. This can get expensive but if the alternative is eating at restaurants all the time instead, there may be a cost savings. Be sure the ingredients are pure and there are not a high amount of preservatives or salts.
Allocating time: It takes time to cook. It takes even more time to repair years of damage by improperly feeding ourselves or worse, trying to cure a disease from poor diets. Find recipes that work within the time we have. Even if it is just an hour, oatmeal makes itself overnight, the oven cooks multiple meats at a time, and frozen vegetables are a great time saver. Spices can add a smile to any meal.
Snack and meal goals: Depending on our goals and what works for our bodies, this may vary. If intermittent fasting, we may be eating more at one time and “grazing” less. Figure out your specific goals, know the target macros, and plan meals and snacks around them.
Storage ideas: Have portable coolers on the ready. Keep a hard one in the car if you are in the car a lot or even for groceries. A soft one is perfect to bring to school, work, or to other activities.
Save glass jars! I reuse my sauce jars for overnight oats, canning, homemade medicines, as water bottles, for salads, and really any other use I can think of! Be sure to keep an eye out for any rusting lids, throw them away immediately but the jar can still be used as a pretty vase, tea candle holder, or a painting project.
Storage safety: This one is important. Know the healthy ways to defrost and how long food is good for. Meal prepping meats on a Sunday and waiting until Friday to finish the prepared food can cause illness.
Tailoring for specific goals: Our meals may look different each day depending on our specific goals. On high cardio days, we need more carbs the day before and before our running or swimming event. Protein is still essential to help recover those hard used muscles. On a rest day we may not need as many calories but a great time to replenish our vitamins.
Use somebody: As a personal trainer I would often ask my clients, “what did you eat today”? This was a simple ad straight forward check on their goals. They new their goals, I knew their goals, so a simple check in to see how they matched with their actions was a clear determining factor on how we were lining up.
Reach out to a friend and ask them to do the same. Or maybe at the end of the day you share a screenshot of your macro completion with a friend.
Physically: Getting our bodies moving each day is beneficial for our physical health and our mental health. Life can get busy though, right?!
Different times to workout: Like I mentioned in “Time to Work Out“ , showing up is more important than when we show up. Put together a schedule that will work for your busy life.
Car preparation tips: Keep a bag in the car with an extra pair of gym clothes, shoes, socks, and a good snack. Now there is no excuse to workout. I do this still just in case there is a particularly nice day that I just have to get a quick run in.
Setting up the day, the day before: If the plan is to workout in the morning, have the entire gym outfit laid out with the snack, water, and headphones on top so everything is in one place. Place this pile in the bathroom to eliminate even more steps back in forth. Not a morning person? Sleep in the workout clothes!
Use somebody: Accountability can be hard but we do not have to struggle alone. Plan a workout with a friend at the same time each week. Now somebody is depending on you to show up.
Maybe asking someone to check in with your daily or weekly on physical goals can help. When I was a personal trainer I had scheduled messages that went out weekly (our multiple times a week) asking how their workout went. This was not meant to call them out but to simply reiterate to them that someone cared for their health and for their goals.
The goal is to set ourselves up for success by eliminating as many obstacles (and later excuses) as we possibly can. Our physical and nutritional goals will help us stay on track when we plan ahead.
Thank you for reading!
Check out my new Podcast as well :)
"Destiny is Mine"
*Reminder* I am not a doctor. This is not medical advice. Always consult your pediatrician, doctor, or nutritionist for individual specific goals as well as doing your own research.