| So fwiw I consider myself an athlete (ex-military, powerlifter, been lifting for 15 years) and I still struggle with nailing my weekly meal plan. It’s a nontrivial effort and organization problem. There’s also no “best” way to eat without identifying what the metrics you’re optimizing for. For me, I’ll oscillate between really motivated to be lower body fat vs not and that’s basically a function of roughly hitting macros (40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fats) while staying below calorie counts (2500 on non lifting days, 3000 on lifting days). It’s not exactly “right” but I can generally manage to hit it with 3 meals a day plus some snacks. If I can manage this without going out to eat during the week then I generally lose body fat over time because restaurant meals have a lot more calories and sodium than home prepped food. The meal prep is more complicated on “high motivation weeks” but I work to maintain this as a baseline. Trader Joes is my grocery store btw. Breakfast every day (pre lifting meal) 5 minutes of prep - Egg whites from a box with some shredded cheese + granola bar or handful of granola Lunch every day: 5 minute prep - bread + Turkey slices + pepper Jack cheese + mustard and 3-4 rice cakes + seltzer water. Snacks: Turkey Jerky or Yogurt Dinner: 5 minute prep (I cheat slightly here) - Trader Joe’s prepared meals like a burrito or a Tzatziki wrap or a Caesar salad or a half a box of their chicken nuggets. I sometimes cook my own food but this is a good compromise between a fairly spartan homemade meal but not 1000 calorie restaurant meal. Portions tend to matter more than you expect. When in doubt, have a fixed rule like no carbs after 1pm and give yourself a free meal or day once a week for your sanity. It matters more for your life that you just start trying to eat better than to actually nail it off the bat. Best of luck and feel free to reach out to me if you want to chat further! You’ll figure it out. |
1. Make your grocery list. 2. Eat a snack. 3. Go to the store and shop. 4. Profit.
You will buy food that will take you further away from your goals if you hungry shop.