Category: Meal Prep

Most People are Kinder to Others – Discuss

This week I’ve only trained twice (about 30 minutes both times) and I’ve only taught three classes.  This isn’t because I’ve been lazy (well not totally), I had a trip mid-week and whilst I could have fitted in a couple of extra sessions I decided to listen to my body and get some extra sleep.

I’ve also not really paid any attention to my eating.  Some meals I’ve prepped and taken with me to work (perhaps 60%) but whilst travelling I didn’t really think about what my body needed and have largely eaten what was convenient and I wanted.  Normally I do four Paleo based days a week and this week I haven’t done this at all.

These two things combined have left me feeling a bit sluggish.  Logically I know it’s stupid.  I’ve still done about 3.5 hours exercise over five days and statistically I’ve eaten vegetables more times than I’ve eaten chips.  But I’m very much an all or nothing person.  One bad week won’t undo months of hard work in the same way one good week won’t immediately turn you into an Olympic Athlete.  The brain, however, isn’t always a muscle that reacts logically to events.

When I feel like this I often instinctively think, right I need a really ‘good’ week next week and I’ll do every training session planned and eat perfectly and not eat cake and so on and so on.

But, this isn’t good for me.  We are only human.  We need to know that when we have weeks where we do a little less or eat a few too many calories it’s ok as long as we don’t let it continue for too long.  I know that if I feel ‘fat’ because I’ve not had a perfect week of eating or training then there’s something wrong with my own mindset towards my body.  Nobody can be perfect all the time and trying to be sets you up for failure (and there we have that never-ending circle of feeling bad about ourselves)

Of course this is easier said than done and writing this doesn’t mean I suddenly feel great and healthy and happy with how I look today.  Knowing something isn’t logical and not letting it bother you are two different things and overcoming those little demons in your mind isn’t always easy and even when you do overcome them sometimes they can creep back in!

But I’m not fat – a ‘bad’ week hasn’t made me fat.  I’ve put a little weight on recently, yet in comparison to a few years ago I’m fit, I’m healthy and I’m in a much more positive position than I was.  It’s ok to have a little wobble at times but we need to be kinder to ourselves in terms of our own expectations.  Because if someone else outlined my week to me as their own I’d be pointing out all the positives, but because I’m looking at my own week I’ve focused on all the things I haven’t done.  Most people are kinder to others than they are to themselves I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person reading this to need to be reminded of that.

How Paleo Eating Can Help With Weight Loss

5 reasons why eating a Paleo based diet can help you lose weight:

  • Protein

The Paleo diet encourages the eating of protein rich foods which helps control your appetite meaning you naturally eat fewer calories than you normally would.

  • Low Carb

Eliminating carbs such as bread, rice, pasta can reduce the number of calories consumed each day without really trying as these tend to be quite high calorie foods.  Yet you aren’t removing carbs from your diet completely as you continue to eat potatoes and veg – so hanger isn’t an issue!

  • Removes Processed Foods

Sticking to a Paleo diet tends to mean making most of your meals from scratch as you want to avoid many of the foods found in pre packaged meals.  Homemade food is likely to be lower in calories and contain more nutrients than a ready meal, and be more filling at that; so you will consume fewer calories and still feel more satisfied so less likely to snack later (thus keeping your calories lower than you might have with shop processed meals).

  • Reduces Sugar Intake

Processed sugar can add lots of calories to your daily intake (apart from the health issues too much sugar can cause).  Limiting your sugar intake to fruits and vegetables can help reduce your daily calorie intake.

  • No Calorie Counting / Eat When You’re Hungry

To lose weight you need to hit a safe calorie deficit – all of the above ‘rules’ to Paleo allow you to do this naturally – without having to painstakingly count every calorie every day.  By sticking to Paleo principles, if you’re hungry you can have an extra snack or meal without worrying you’ve gone over your calories budget and if you can eat when you’re hungry you are much less liekly to binge eat all the cake.  You may want to track at first to get the hang of how much you need to eat each day but after a while it will become second nature.

You don’t even need to eat Paleo all the time.  I follow the 80/20 rule and try and have 4 Paleo days a week adding a little bread and sugar into my diet on the other 3 days.  This still allows me to hit a calorie deficit most weeks without too much effort.

 

Systems

The week before last I hit a bit of a slump – my training and nutrition has slipped and I was eating far too many calories and not nearly enough fresh food. Hello sugar!

When this happens I find the easiest way for me to reset is to have a week of no ‘rules’ but decent food and for me the simplest way to do this is order in some meal prep.

I’d love to be able to afford to buy meal prep every week but it’s a bit beyond my budget however for a week to take away stress, add variety without having the stress of cooking it’s a really good idea.

I used PerfectPrep. They deliver nationally (UK) and I got 14 meals for £72. They were delivered Tuesday and lasted me until the end of Sunday (on Wednesday and Thursday I had 3 meals).

I added in my own breakfasts and snacks and by the end of the week with zero effort or proper planning I’d hit my calorie target and my protein targets for the week. I felt better and this week have eased back into my normal eating habits feeling like my mind has re-see itself.

Have a system that allows you to eat well but accept that sometimes you will need to mix things up for a bit and having some back up plans, like I had here, allows you to re-set without just saying sod it and eating everything and anything you can lay your hands on.

Useful Lists …

Protein is an essential part of any diet – a building block of bones, muscle, cartilage, skin and blood. Assists recovery post exercise and can help reduce hunger (and so help achieve a calorie deficit in some instances).

I try to eat around 160g a day.

Having an idea of what foods are high in protein can help keep you hit your protein aims without having to religiously input everything you eat into My Fitness Pal.

15 High Protein Foods (protein per 100g)

1. Salmon – 24g

2. Turkey – 30g

3. Prawns – 15g

4. Chicken -33g

5. Pork – 23g

6. Pumpkin seeds – 30g (100g of seeds is a lot though!)

7. Lamb – 25g

8. Beef Jerky – 30g

9. Cod – 18g

10. Cottage cheese – 10g (a tub is normally 25-30g)

11. Greek Yoghurt – 10g

12. Canned tuna – 25g (a tin is normally 100g drained)

13. Lean beef – 36g

14. Quinoa- 5g

15. Cheddar cheese – 25g (this is the equivalent to 5 mini babybels though!)

My Unexpected Breakfast Hero

Last week I had a bit of a rubbish week nutrition wise – and I know to be honest it was largely down to my breakfasts.

Some people say they can’t eat breakfast- I am the total opposite- I need a good breakfast to set me up for the day.

Last week I just found myself not enjoying my normal breakfasts – I just didn’t fancy them and I found that this dissatisfaction towards my breakfast prep quickly spread to all my other meals and I soon found myself snubbing my home made meal prep and opting for carbs upon carbs, sugar and generally processed, stodgy not particularly beneficial foods.

I decided that this week I needed a week away from Paleo.  I still think overall it’s the system that works best for me but I also know I occasionally get myself into a tizz and whilst I’m there restriction doesn’t really work.

So I ordered some meal prep for my main meals for this week (blog to follow later this week) and decided that for breakfast I would eat what I fancied.

Now I walk past McDonalds to get to work – and I teach first thing so by the time I do walk past I’m normally pretty hungry.  This week I’ve just gone in and ordered what I fancied.  This sounds pretty unhealthy, and yes they were high calorie meals, but actually, when you look at it, as breakfasts go they aren’t as bad as I first thought.

Here’s my thought process:

 

Traditional Breakfasts

Crunchy Nut Cornflakes with semi skimmed milk (30g)

180 calories

31g carbs

4g fat

6g protein

Porridge with semi skimmed milk

243 calories

19g carbs

4g fat

8g protein

Two slices toast with butter

380 calories

56g carbs

16g fat

8g protein

 

Now I got these numbers from MyFitnessPal so I don’t claim they are 100% accurate. These are the type of things we traditionally eat in the morning.  They are all quite low in calories and protein and high in carbs.  For most people a 30g bowl of cornflakes is probably unrealistic – have you ever measured out a bowl of cereal- a suggested serving is massively disappointing!  My issues with these breakfasts is that, whilst they are low in calories they don’t provide me with much protein (and I try to eat 160g a day) nor will they fill me up – which means that any calories saved at breakfast are likely to be made up in snacking mid-morning when I get hungry.  Mentally they also don’t particularly satisfy me so again I’m much more likely to snack –an on stuff I shouldn’t snack on at that.

In comparison, this is what I had at McDonalds the last two mornings:

 

 McDonalds Breakfasts

Three pancakes with sausage and syrup plus extra sausage and bacon, Flat White coffee

988 calories

117g carbs

37g fat

39g protein

Sausage egg and cheese bagel with extra sausage and bacon, hash brown and Tropicana

1,058 calories

87g carbs

56g fat

45g protein

These breakfasts are about 70% higher calorie wise.  For some this would be extremely detrimental to their daily calorie intake granted.  However I burn 3,000 to 5,000 calories a day so I actually do need to eat a lot of calories each day to avoid a detrimentally low deficit. A thousand calorie breakfast therefore isn’t the worst things as my subsequent meals are unlikely to reach that level.  In addition these meals filled me up AND satisfied me.  I felt like I had had an enjoyable and filling breakfast and didn’t feel the need to start snacking an hour later.  The protein content of the meals was also high, hitting around 25% of my daily aim.

For my requirements then these higher calorie higher protein meals actually work better for me than the more traditional ideas of a breakfast.  And because I’ve felt satisfied and enjoyed my breakfast I’ve found it easier to stay on track the rest of the day.

Now normally when I’m following a Paleo style diet I have this:

 

My Go To Paleo breakfast –

Smoked salmon trimmings (half pack), 3 eggs and tomatoes

277 calories

5g carbs

22g fat

31g protein

 

This has the benefits of being high in protein and low in calories and fat whilst also being filling.  I know it’s better for me than a McDonalds breakfast.  Realistically I know for my long term health I need to eat this more often than I have a McDonalds breakfast.  Yet when I’m really not feeling this of a morning then rather than letting my whole day fall away because mentally I’m not going to be satisfied, because I know that today I’m going to throw a mental tantrum, the odd McDonalds breakfast won’t hurt.

In conclusion – as a society we tend to group things as good or bad, healthy or unhealthy.  However whether a food will work well in your diet or not actually depends on so many factors- what you eat the rest of the time, what you burn, how it makes you feel etc.  Rather than following accepted ideas about different meals we should look at our own situation on any given day, week or month and pick options that benefit us best in that moment – even if that might sometimes seem an unusual choice.

I’m not a trained nutritionist nor am I suggesting that you should have McDonalds for breakfast every single day – just that sometimes we need to look outside the boxes we are currently in and objectively review our options because no foods are simply good or bad – it’s never that black and white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Personal 10 Commandments for a Healthy Life

  1. Aim to hit a 20% calorie deficit across the week. Find a system for doing this and stick to it- don’t be swayed by new fads. My system is to eat to Paleo principles (not strict Paleo) 4 days a week and then allow myself three days where I can enjoy treats (read cake).
  2. Start your calorie week on a Friday. You are more likely to have a calorie surpluss at the weekend – this allows you Monday to Thursday to pull back and still hit that 20% weekly calorie deficit if that does happen and stops you feeeling like you are being overly restricted.
  3. Eat at least 2g protein per kg body weight every day (for me 160g). This will make you feel full, help your body recover from training and means Carbs and Fat will look after themselves.
  4. Drink 3.5 litres water a day (this is based on based on 30ml water per kg of body weight plus 500 ml for every hour of exercise – I just average out based on my normal training week).
  5. Drink a max of 3 coffees per day.
  6. Take a multi vitamin and fish oil supplement every day.
  7. Have a little bit of dark chocolate each day when on your period if you suffer with cramps (magnesium can help relax muscles reducing cramps, and sugar can boost your serotonin levels which can drop – hence feeling like you want to cry). I believe Kale can also help reduce cramping but for some reason doesn’t hold the same appeal as chocolate!
  8. Train in a way that suits your life and your week. I don’t lift as heavy as many and my sessions are shorter than most people I know – but they fit into my working life allowing me to stay consistent enough to see results. If it’s going to be tough one week to fit in your training – adjust your plans to feel successful.
  9. Stretch every day.
  10. Get up 30 minutes early and develop a morning routine that helps set you up for the day. I like to get some day light, drink a large glass of water and read a chapter of a book (as I don’t get much ‘me’ time during the rest of he day).

Credit – Ricky Long, who bullied me into most of these things – but they work!

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I Don’t Have Time

“I don’t have time.”

I eat pretty well most of the time, I plan my meals, meal prep once or twice a week and train 3-4 times a week on top of teaching my classes and my day job (I make myself sound better than I am here but I do do these things).

I’m not saying everyone should do this. I train because I enjoy it and I meal prep because I want to feel healthy and look a certain way.

I strongly believe everyone else should train and eat in a manner that provides the outcomes they want – whether that be to look a certain way, feel a certain way, gain or lose weight or just eat whatever the f@@k they want and enjoy it.

Often – as I sit with my tupperware box of food someone says to me – I wish I had the time to prepare food to bring in.

As I head to the gym after work people will remark I wish I had free time to go to the gym after work.

My normal response is.

  1. I set aside one or two hours on a Sunday to prepare all my meals for the week because I know I won’t have time to make meals in the week so perhaps they could do the same.
  2. I enjoy training so I make the time so if they did want to train they could probably do the same and find one or two windows a week.

The normal response to this is

  1. Oh but I don’t have time to spend two hours on cooking on a Sunday- I work all day and barely get any time to myself / with my family so I’m not wasting time on Sunday cooking.
  2. Oh but after work I’m tired / have to get home to the kids / go to the pub after work.

Now…

The implication here is almost a little (unintentionally) assumptive about me – that I do have two hours where I personally wouldn’t rather be out with friends on a Sunday or that I would have nothing else to do of an evening.

The fact is I have made a choice.

  1. I choose to eat homemade food because it’s cheaper and I feel better for it and know if I didn’t take food to work with me I would end up living off fast food and chocolate. I also know that as I’m out and about from about 6 am until around 10 pm most weekdays if I don’t meal prep on a Sunday I won’t want to when I get in at 10 pm so I’ll be reaching for the takeaways.

I am aware of my obstacles to healthy eating – I CHOOSE to overcome them and find solutions. That solution is finding some time in my week to prepare.

Would I rather not spend 2 hours on meal prep each week? Of course – but then if I don’t I know I can’t really complain about not having the food I want to eat during the week. I would need to eat whatever was served in the staff canteen and accept that has been my choice

2. I choose to go to the gym after work sometimes (most of the time it’s for work i.e. I’m teaching a class), not because I have nothing else to do, but because I value how I feel after training. If I have plans that evening or am teaching, I will train on my lunch break. In other words I fit my training sessions around my life and job(s). Again, this is a choice I could choose not to do this but I couldn’t truly blame this choice on my circumstances – it would be a case of me prioritising something else over training.

I go back to my point that I don’t think people who do not prioritise exercise or anything else are wrong. We should all decide how we can live our own happiest life and not be judged. To those who happily go about life eating cake and never setting foot in a gym fair enough – because they are happy (and this sounds quite good to be fair).

I’m talking about are those who repeatedly say they WANT to be fitter or thinner or eat better or anything else (insert any goal – fitness related or not here) but when it is suggested how they could achieve this there is a list of ‘Buts’. Reasons why they cannot take the actions that could help them towards their goal.

So when someone says to me I wish I could do what you do and eat that or go to the gym what they mean is I wish I could get the results without having to do the things that get the results – which is a different thing entirely.

“I don’t have time” translated into honesty is “I don’t really want to.”

I do these things because I’ve decided they are important to me. It doesn’t mean they are easy or I do not have obstacles and ‘buts’ I need to overcome but that I make a choice each day.

I’ve found it useful when making an excuse for not doing something to think about it in that context – because if you really want it you will work out a way of doing it. If you don’t that’s OK but just be honest with yourself and admit that- at least then you can get on with things you do give a real f@@k about.

A recent example for me – I kept saying I wanted to run another marathon- to do this I knew I’d need to make time in my day for weekly long runs. This was doable but would require sacrifice – I kept making excuses until eventually I said you know what, I value my Sunday morning lie in more than running another marathon so I’ve given up on that idea.

If we want to change we can – we can make small changes, mini sacrifices, find life hacks to get closer to that change. It’s generally easier to make excuses, which is why we so often do that.

Next time you think I don’t have the time maybe reconsider rephrasing that in your own mind to evaluate if that is really true or if you actually just aren’t as bothered about it after all- I don’t want to sound preachy, it’s just been a really useful tool for me I wanted to share.

Shopping Locally

I love fruit.  I don’t think there is a single type of fruit I don’t enjoy and it’s one of those foods that makes me feel better when I eat it (I know some fruits can be naturally quite high in sugar but, right or wrong, I work on the basis that unprocessed foods are probably ok for you in moderation).

I try to buy a variety of different types of fruit each week and then have at least two different types each day- so I’m getting variety and a range of different nutrients and tend to have it as a mid morning snack.

This can be expensive!

This blog isn’t about the scandal that is fast / processed food being cheaper than the stuff that’s naturally good for you, or a lecture about how, if you value your health, paying more for food is an investment.

It’s about local markets.

I’m probaby a bit late to the game with this one- you may already buy your fruit from local market stalls.  I live in Manchester City Centre (in the UK) and don’t drive and there aren’t lots of lcoal markets so I’ve always relied on supermarket fruit- which tends to have a short shelf life and if you want a nice variety is not cheap.

I recently discovered the fruit and veg stall in Picadully Gardens on a Staurday (I think there is also a fruit stall in the indoors Arndale Market too aong with a fish monger and butchers- all of which I’ve yet to try but I will).  I’ve been going weekly for a fews now and last Staurday I got a punnet of strawberries, punnet of blueberries, punnet of blackberries, box of grapes and tub of apricots for a fiver.  That’s good value- plus it doesn’t go off really quickly so I can make it last the whole week and the Blackbrries were HUGE and really juicy.

It’s actually also really nice to get served by the same people every week rather than using the self scanner at Asda!

I need to shop locally more often and fully intend to test the value for money of the other market stalls inside the Arndale over the coming weeks.  If you don’t already, I can highly recommend finding your local market and giving them a go, because eating well can be expensive – so if helping out local business also helps your own wallet it’s a win all round.

On another fruit related note –  it’s been bought to my attention that I may eat Kiwis strangely. 

I eat them with the skin on!

Now I’ve been led to believe this provides more fibre and vitamin C than eating the flesh alone but apparently it creeps some people out!

I can’t be the only person to do this?    

No Bake Paleo Cookies

I wrote a while back about eating a paleo based diet 80% of the time.

I also like cake.

These two things don’t naturally sit together.

So when I came accross some sweet paleo recipies I decided I needed to give them a go.

Last week i tried to make paleo cookies.

Not too much mess!

And… they were a success!

They tasted like cookie dough and satisfied my sweet tooth … and were huge (a bit sticky but i think that was me measuring the ingredients wrong).

Plus because I added protein powder they were also a high protein snack which is a win when you are trying to hit your protein for the day.

Ready to chill

So I’m just going to leave the link to the recipie here because I can’t lay claim for inventing these!

https://thebigmansworld.com/2015/11/06/healthy-no-bake-giant-paleo-cookie-for-one/

If you are trying to follow a paleo plan I can highly reccommend giving them a try!

The finished product

15 Tips to Help Improve Mental Health

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week I wanted to offer some ideas of simple things you can do relating to fitness and nutrition to help improve your mental health and manage depression and anxiety:

1) Drink water

Most of us don’t drink enough water at the best of time and if you feel low the chances are you will drink even less. Fill a water bottle and sip throughout the day. Dehyration causes fatigue and has been linked to feelings of depression so drinking water is a cheap, low effort way of helping you feel a bit better.

2) Vitamin D

This can help make you feel better natutally. You can buy supplements, a light box, possibly use a sunbed or even better get outside and get some fresh air at the same time. Little effort required for a potential improvement in your mood.

3) Fish Oil

Omega 3 has been linked to improving symptons of mild depression. Make the effort to take a supplement each day – you can buy it in liquid form if you can’t swallow tablets (and are brave!). This was one simple habit that has worked well for me.

4) Eat regular meals

When you feel low eating proper meals at regular times can go out the window. Set an alarm for regular intervals and eat a small simple meal when it goes off. This will help stabilise your mood and create a feeling of routine and normality which can help when life feels like it’s crumblig around you.

5) Eat colourful food

Go to the shop and buy lots of different colourerd food. If you don’t feel like cooking buy prepared veg and fruit. Eating a variety of colours will mean your getting a variety of nutrients and will help improve your mood as well as your health.

6) Eat simple healthy meals

Eating healthy foods can have a dramatic affect on how well your mind feels. If I’ve had a bad week a simple healthy meal can help me feel more positive and in control of my own mind and body. It may sound stupid but when i eat well I feel like my body feels better and I’m looking after myself which in turn makes me feel brighter within myself. On days like this I won’t have the energy to cook a fancy meal so I go for a simple piece of salmon I can microwave or grill and a pack of microwave veg. 10 minutes to prepare a good quality meal.

7) Try some alternative meal prep

The holy grail of fitness freaks! Cooking is the last thing you want to do when you feel depressed. So if you find yourself having a good day make the most of it and prepare so batches of food that you can freeze. Then on days you just can’t face cooking you can defrost one of these meals and still eat something homemade.

8) Buy a slow cooker

Slow cookers allow you to make healthy tasty meals with little effort -and a casserole is brilliant comfort food. They are great for preparing a comforting meal without much effort and will make you feel better thab turning to chocolate and other quick food sources that we often crave when we feel low.

9) Drink less coffee

Adrenal Fatigue and depression / anxiety are linked. Too much coffee puts you at risk of developing adrenal fatigue – drinking less will help reduce stress levels. You could try a herbal tea instead which many people find helps then relax.

10) Walk

Getting outside helps you move more -that will help your mental health. Fresh air will help lift your mood. Being outside will help increase vitamin D intake. Walking can help clear your head. Walking is free. In short one of the best and most simple things you can do to help yourself.

11) Exercise

As I said moving has been shown to help manage many mental health issues. You may not feel much like it but it can be in any form and doesn’t need to be for long periods of time to help. Start small and build up as you start to feel like you can.

12) Dance

Stick music on and just move to the music. Music can improve mood as can moving which makes thos fun activity a win win mood boosting activity.

13) Try group exercise

Nerve wracking and requires motivation. Sounds awful if you aren’t having the best day. But if you can push yourself to walk into the room you can find exercise, motivation, good music and social interaction in one place. It’s hars to leave a class not feeling at least a little bit more positive than when you walked in.

14) Join a team or club

Another nervewracking idea. Another idea which will allow you to exercise which will help your mental health and get to meet new people, another great mood booster. It can also help boose confidence which will help your mental health dramatically.

15) Try yoga

A chance to challenge your body and stretch along with a focus on breathing and mental wellbeing. You could try a class or find a free video on You tube. You could do and hour or even 5 minutes. Whatever you feel like at the start there is an option you could try out and you may feel more relaxes by the end of it.

Do you have any other tips for improving your mental health?