A game-changer for weight loss
When is comes to successfully losing weight, and maintaining a weight that you feel happy with, you need to set yourself up for success. Whether it’s planning your weekly workout schedule, packing healthy lunches to bring to the office or committing to an earlier bedtime, having a plan in place, rather than settling for what’s convenient, is SO important.
When you’re not prepared, you end up making choices that won’t serve you well or support your weight (or health goals), especially when it comes to making better choices with your food and diet.
Many foods that are convenient when you’re looking for that 3pm snack are packaged and processed. However, if you make it a habit of sticking with the following advice, it doesn’t need to be that way.
It’s the difference between eating food that is going to support weight loss and health or hinder it.
One important habit to start, if you aren’t already, is getting clear on the foods you need to create simple and healthy meals and snacks, and stocking up on these every week (or more).
Stocking your house with nutrient-dense foods, easy to prepare meals, and healthy snacks makes it much more likely that you’ll reach for these foods.
If you don’t already, carve out time in your week to get your groceries, and maybe a follow up day to re-fill or pick up the foods that are running low. You can put a reminder in your calendar or use an app like Instacart to place your order right from your couch, whatever will help you stick with it.
But there’s another part to this habit that is the real game changer when it comes to successfully losing weight….
The key here is to take the foods that require some prep work and get that work done, so that the food is readily available. When you’re hungry for a snack, if the celery isn’t peeled and chopped or the grapes aren’t washed, then it’s a lot easier to go for the cheezits and goldfish.
—> This is a MUST in order to stick with a healthy plan and manage your weight.
When you start to take away the obstacles and roadblocks, you will find it easier to make healthy choices and lose the weight with more ease.
If all you have to do is grab the healthy foods when you’re hungry, the chips don’t stand (as much of) a chance.
Below are some of my go-to easy and healthy foods to prep:
Wash and cut vegetables (or buy them pre-chopped to save you time!).
Clean fruit and put them somewhere in view (a bowl in the fridge or on the counter).
Boil a bunch of eggs for the week- here’s how to make the perfect hard-boiled egg.
Make tuna salad (aim for a high-quality mayo like this one).
Create homemade trail mix and portion out a few servings.
Take protein and snack bars out of their boxes and put them into easy grab containers (when you’re running out the door there’s nothing more frustrating than fighting with a box so that you can grab a quick snack).
Build a couple yogurt parfaits and keep in the fridge. Don’t make this complicated- empty yogurt into a container (one with a lid) and layer in berries and either raw nuts or granola (like this one). Do 2 to 3 layers, depending on how thick the layers are. These are cute containers to spice up your yogurt.
Prep overnight oats, if you enjoy your oats cold :).
These are just some examples to give you an idea. You can always portion out other snacks that you often eat or prep other foods that are specific to you, but if you need to make the food in the moment of eating it, it will be easier to grab something that takes less time and effort (and probably isn’t so healthy). If the food is sitting there ready for you to eat, you’re more likely to go for the good stuff, and as a result, you’ll continue to make healthier choices and get closer to your weight loss goals.
