Here are the three things that you can do right now to supercharge your diet.
#1 – Always Have Good Food Choices Close at Hand
Good whole foods are the way to go here. If it has a label, then it probably isn’t real food. I think that many people “get” this, but when hunger strikes, real food is not close at hand. I remember this happening to me many many times. Often, I would be at work, trying to get that last thing done, before breaking away for something to eat. With little time left before the 1 PM mandatory meeting, I would eat just about anything I could find. Where I used to work, there was a kitchen area with lots of snacks. I would often drop a few bucks in there throughout the day – cans of tuna salad and crackers, trail mix, bottles of juice, pistachios, cans of soup, and chips. It was impossible to create a good meal from all of that. Likewise, when I would return from work — especially if the day was long — little time would be left in the day to prepare a meal. Instead, I would grab the first thing that I saw in the kitchen and devour it on the spot. If I hadn’t shopped that weekend, I might find little in the fridge. So, with little time left in the evening, maybe I could head out and pick up a quick bite at a convenient restaurant. Have you had similar experiences?
Meal Prep
The one super-effective thing that you can do to help is to prepare healthy meals in advance.
- Why?
- Saves you time, money and energy
- Lack of convenience will lead to eating unhealthy foods
- What?
- Shop once a week no matter what
- Cooking in bulk twice a week
- How?
- Prep your food every Sunday and Wednesday
- Make soups, stews, chilis and stir fries
- What if?
- I don’t know how to cook
- Cook large portions of meals that are mostly meat and veggies
- Chili (grassfed beef with onion, bell peppers, celery, spinach, yellow squash)
- Stir fry (chicken with onion, broccoli, snow peas, zucchini and cashews)
- Stew (grassfed stew meat with onion, carrots, celery, daikon, jalapeno peppers)
Have Someone Prepare the Meals for You
We offer a convenient meal prep at the gym that specializes in Paleo meals. Fresh Meal Plan provides deliveries of freshly prepared meals to the gym twice a week. “Healthy Eating, Made Easy” is just a few clicks away. You can learn more about this service here: http://tri.freshmealplan.com/
#2 – Improve the Quality of the Food that you Bring into the House
Here is one amazingly simple thing that you can do to improve your diet (but may not be easy). Let’s say that you are interested in eliminating “Added Sugar” from your diet. The first step would be to go through your kitchen cabinets, pantry, and refrigerator, and remove all foods that are not “good”. So, in this example, if the food has added sugar, you need to remove it.
Once all of the “bad” food is removed, the next rule is to only ever put good food into your shopping cart. If you don’t buy it (bad food), then you won’t have it in the meals that your prepare at home. This is a big deal and ensures that your kitchen remains a safe zone for good food.
Names for “Added Sugars” on food labels include:
- anhydrous dextrose
- brown sugar
- confectioner’s powdered sugar
- corn syrup
- corn syrup solids
- dextrose
- fructose
- high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
- invert sugar
- malt syrup
- maltose
- molasses
- raw sugar
- sucrose
- sugar
Buy Local Organic Food
When you are shopping, selecting locally grown organic food ensures that you are getting food that has the best chance of providing super nutrients (vitamins and minerals). Locally grown foods do not to sit in warehouses, trucks, and trains for long periods of time. Instead, the time from between when the food is picked and the time that you eat it is relatively short — again ensuring fresh food for you that still has a healthy dose of micro nutrients.
Each year, we partner with Alison and Luke Howard of Homestead Farms – a local certified organic farm located in Millington, MD just 60 miles from the gym across the bay bridge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Alison and Luke offer an organic crop share and deliver boxes of fresh organic vegetables to the gym through the Spring, Summer, and early Fall. Their crop-share season is 22 weeks long, beginning the third week in May and continuing for 22 weeks into October. The cost depends on the size of the share that you would like, Full Share $25/wk or $541 for the season, a Small Share $18/wk or $391 for the season.
They deliver to the gym on Tuesdays — making it convenient for you. Just be sure to indicate “CrossFit Glen Burnie (Odenton)” as your pick-up location. You can learn more, and sign up for a share on their web site. http://www.freshorganicvegetables.com/
#3 – It takes a Village – Partner Up!
And finally, but just as important to your success – do this with a friend or a group! When you improve your diet, you want to make good lasting decisions and stick to it! It won’t be easy, so having someone to do this with will provide the support that you need when it gets tough.
Think back to the most successful and enjoyable moments in your life. Chances are, these moments are as much about others as they are about yourself. For most of us, we fight harder when we are on a team. That is because people are counting on us and keeping us accountable.
We plan to have about fifty people participating in the upcoming Lurong Living Summertime Challenge. We are going to do this together! The summertime challenge is a five week challenge that combines nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle. The challenge starts May 14th. Registration is open now! Learn more about the challenge and sign up for the Lurong Living Summertime Challenge here: https://challengeseries.lurongliving.com/summertime16/
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