Is Food Prep the Key to Healthy Eating? & Daily Exercise Log



I plan to microwave most of my meals
later on....image via health.com

I've read many times that food makes all the difference when it comes to being fit. No matter how much time is spent in the gym, if your eating plan is faulty, you won't get all of the benefits of the exercise. I've also read that the healthiest people generally limit their food choices to 3-4 healthful options for each meal. They have said that if they think of these meals as their only options, it reduces the amount of time they spend thinking about food, and will even limit its importance in their day to day thinking. I decided to try something new this weekend. Advanced food prep. I decided that if I took away some of my food options I would be better off. While everything I made wasn't "clean", I also knew that I would have to look forward to eating everything I cooked - or I wouldn't eat it. I'd been eating poorly, but I was ready to do better.

I started with a trial run a few weeks ago by buying 20 plastic food containers that could hold a complete meal, 3 soup containers, and a box of 240 snack bags. I didn't make any meals, but I did take most of the fruit and veggies and separate them into single servings so I could reduce the time spent prepping my morning smoothies. I spent about 90 minutes slicing pineapples and strawberries, washing and separating grapes and spinach. It was definitely worth it, and has saved me enormous amounts of time and energy in the mornings. Next time around (which will likely be Tuesday) I am also going to slice kiwis, oranges, lemons, limes, pears, bananas, pineapple, cucumbers, and I will also have to separate out more spinach, grapes, and carrots. 

Now on to the big time - entire meals!!!  Yesterday I spent about 5 hours (due to my own inefficiency) making a whole series of things. I think I ended up with 6 calzones, 4 pizzas, 2 turkey meatball, whole wheat pasta , and pepper meals, 5 quinoa, mashed sweet potato, broccoli or green bean and rotisserie chicken meals, 3 Thai curry chicken meals, lentil soup, chicken salad, and chicken broth. I saved myself some work by buying the rotisserie chicken, fully cooked turkey meatballs, and using pre-made pizza dough (both whole wheat and herb infused dough).   

Some helpful tips for your own food prep:

1. Decide if you want to make whole meals in advance to refrigerate or freeze, or individual components so you can have faster daily food prep. - Since I am out most of the day, I decided that making whole meals would be best for me.

2. Make sure you have enough containers, whether glass or plastic, and enough wax paper, foil, snack bags, and pan or slow cooker liners as you will need to make your food. - I had several glass containers that I use for lunch, and as I said above I purchased 20 reusable plastic containers. I used liners for the soup and chicken broth I made in my slow cooker. It sped up cleanup quite a bit. I also lined my baking pans with foil, again, to help with cleanup.  

3. Make a meal plan - what do you want to eat? Do these recipes have overlapping ingredients? - I used the turkey meatballs in the calzones, pizza, and pasta. I used peppers and tomato sauce for all three also. My mashed sweet potatoes were used in all of the chicken meals, and I cooked all of the Thai chicken at once. When I chopped celery for my soup, I set some aside for the chicken salad, and the chicken used were leftover pieces from the rotisserie chicken.

4. Make a grocery list, then grocery shop. - I knew I had quinoa, whole wheat pasta, lentils, diced tomatoes, some chicken breast, and some veggies I had previously frozen at home, so I only had to buy the rotisserie chicken, the sauce, celery, carrots, dough and cheese and a few other miscellaneous items to complete the meals. I ended up adding peppers, roasted garlic paste, and meatballs to my cart when I got to the store because I figured I could get 2-3 more meals out of my supplies if I added the meatballs. And I was out of garlic.  

5. When cooking, try to plan out cooking times. - I started with the soup in the slow cooker, but I should have had my chicken breast in the oven at the same time. I'm sure that I will learn as I go, but I don't want to continue spending so much time with the prep. So try to start the items that will take the most time first, use all the burners on your stove, figure out which things you can microwave, and which things need to be baked.  

6. If you are carrying whole meals or making components - be careful about storage! - Note that there are some things that can only stay in the refrigerator for a few days before going bad. If you are carrying food, make sure you have ice packs or access to a fridge or freezer.

If you are interested in using pre-cooked components as the basis of your meals throughout the week, I've included a link to a grocery list and set of recipes by Self magazine.

Please take the time to "Like" my blog by clicking here. 

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Monday

Goal: Boxing/Spartans

Nutrition: Green smoothie - pineapple, grapes, carrots, spinach, a little coconut milk and flaxseed oil. Chicken salad, crackers, baby carrots, hummus, brushetta, a slice of pizza with chicken, a cheese puff, and a small tomato filled phylo pastry. I also had a soda, and a lime/agave/green apple/cucumber drink later on. 

Hair: Same as Sunday.

Outcome: I went to boxing, I did all 50 curtsy squats, all of my sit ups for my Spartans, I did all of my squats, mountain climbers, and the funny push ups - but I owe myself 110 push ups and 110 burpees (I have 11 sets worth to do...) I will be adding them to the end of the October workouts every day until I finish. 

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Tuesday

Goal: Boxing/Spartans

Nutrition: Green smoothie - mango, banana, carrot, spinach, grapes, coconut milk and flaxseed oil. I had my lentil soup and a whole wheat pizza with spinach, peppers, onions, and turkey meatballs. I had 3-4 crackers w/ checken salad, 3 Chessman cookies, a Snickers bar, some Swedish Fish, and one of the rotisserie chicken, quinoa, broccoli and sweet potato dinners.   

Hair: I did the back in a bunch of cinnamon rolls.

Outcome: It was a decent workout day. I started "Optimist October" which features a different set of exercises every day for the month. Last night I did 6 Advanced Warriors (which ended up being 120 pushups, 12 plyo-lunges, 6 bear crawls, and 6 reverse bear crawls) and my boxing class.

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Wednesday

Goal: Boxing/Spartans

Nutrition: Green smoothie - pear, banana, spinach, kale, kiwi, coconut milk, carrots, grapes, ginger, agave, and flaxseed oil. I had 3.5 Chessmen cookies, a small calzone, 2 stuffed mushrooms (45 calories for two - who knew?), later I had some of my whole wheat spaghetti with turkey meatballs, a green apple, and I used my Nutrabullet to make my own frozen strawberry lemonade (with a little agave and a little processed sugar).   

Hair: Same - just messier.

Outcome: I did my exercise for today - 6 Spartans (yes the same workout from September) and I went to boxing. 

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Thursday

Goal: Dance Class/Boxing/Spartans

Nutrition: Green smoothie - grapes, banana, carrots, spinach, flaxseed oil, coconut milk and strawberries. Ok this is probably the worst I've done in a few weeks. I ate for recreational purposes. I went out of my way to eat something "bad" as a "treat" instead of just eating what I've cooked, and making better choices. Anyway, I had Krystal's wings, fries, and 2 Krystal's, a chocolate chip cookie, a serving of pizza (that was supposed to be a lunch), a little chicken salad, hummus, crackers, a homemade white grape and lime drink (with sugar) that I made, and a big cup of HI fruit punch. A mess!  

Hair: I did the Vintage Glamour style - see the updated post. 

Outcome: I went to my pole dancing class, I went to boxing, I did my bear crawls for the October challenge...

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Friday

Goal: Training/Spartans

Nutrition: Green smoothie - grapes, carrots, kale, flaxseed oil, pear, mango, and lime. I also ate one of the small pizzas that I froze last week, a serving of rotisserie chicken and quinoa...it went off the rails when I had some trail mix, 2 chocolates, a caramel, and 2 caramel cream candies. 

Hair: Puff. It was going to be a really big puff, so I actually took the front part, that was hanging and rolled it all under and incorporated it into the rest of the puff. I actually got a few compliments...

Outcome: I boxed in the morning and did my crawls as required by my October fitness challenge. More about that for Monday, October 7th. 

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Saturday

Goal: Run/Hike/Boxing/Objective

Nutrition: Green smoothie - grapes, carrots, kale, flaxseed oil, pear, mango, and coconut milk. I ate pizza, and drank a limeade with cucumber, celery, white grapes - and sugar. Fail. I had 4 cookies. Then later on I had two mini cheesecake bites, a beef skewer, brushetta,  a large Shirley Temple (just sugar for no reason), then tortilla chips with cheese and salsa. 

Hair: I did the back in a Ballerina bun, and did the front in 6-7 large twists, rolled the ends, and kind of pinned it all in place....but that was in the evening. It was in the same puff as Friday when I exercised. 

Outcome: I hiked Stone Mountain and did my crawls as required by my October fitness challenge. More about that for Monday, October 7th. 

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Sunday

Goal: Walk/Objective

Nutrition: I didn't do anything but eat junk on Sunday. There were Cheetos, M&Ms, Munchies and Jolly Ranchers. I also drank a sugary drink.

Hair: Nothing

Outcome:  I did my required exercise, but that was about it. It was shameful.

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Write by: Unknown - Monday, September 30, 2013