1. Prepare your meals for the day in advance.
You are more likely to cheat on your diet, snack or choose bad foods out of ‘convenience’ if you don’t have meals prepared ahead of time. As the saying goes “fail to prepare, prepare to fail”. If you are unable to cook each day then prepare a batch to last you for a few days, freeze or refrigerate, then grab & go!
2. Diet hacks/craving curbs
If you’re like me and get sugar cravings, opt for something sweet that is low calorie. That way you can curb cravings with minimal damage. Some of my favorites are:
Diet drinks
Sugar free gum
Black coffee/flavored green tea
Sugar free/0cal syrups to my oats or coffee!
3. Cook meals that you enjoy!
Sounds obvious right? But there are so many people out there who think healthy eating has to be mundane. It certainly doesn’t have to be bland chicken and veg for the rest of your days. Spice things up, get creative in the kitchen and follow a varied diet! You are more likely to be able to sustain it long term if you actually enjoy what you’re eating.
If you are working with a coach (someone like me), then let them know some foods you'd like to have in your meal plan so they can incorporate them in for you. I work closely with all of my clients and it is one of the questions on my initial questionnaire. I try and do everything I can to set my clients up for success.
Quick Story: one of my clients LOVES peanut butter. If he "cheats" on his diet, he does it with peanut butter. So guess what I did? I put it in his meal plan so he wasn't messing up on his diet. If I know he's going to eat it, why not make it a part of his plan so we can stay on track?
4. Plan ahead
Set yourself a diet plan to follow, rather than just winging it. Structure will help to keep you on track. If you know you are traveling or working long hours having a plan in place will keep you accountable.
If you know you are going to go out to eat with friends or for work, look at the menu ahead of time and make good choices.
Quick Story: I have a young lady as a client who goes out to eat almost every week with friends. I have encouraged her to send me the menu ahead of time and I go over it and tell her what would be ok for her to eat to try and stay within her calorie range for that given meal. Guess what? It hasn't hurt her progress at all!
Use the resources you have. I encourage my clients to stay in touch with me on anything they need help with. After all, that is what they are paying me for right?
IMPORTANT: If you do snack, don’t let it ruin your whole day! You’ve had a couple of biscuits.. or a slice of cake and now you regret it. Ok! Get back on track. One slip up doesn’t mean the whole day is wrote off and you may as well eat everything in sight and “start again tomorrow”. Learn self control. Balance is key. If you had one flat tire, you wouldn’t slash the other 3 would you?! So just because you slip up once doesn’t mean you should throw everything out the window.
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Are you struggling to get and keep a plan in place? Let me help! Shoot an email to: forged.physiquesllc@gmail.com to set up a consultation. I would love to help you reach your physique goals!