Part of achieving fitness goals includes eating healthy and with a purpose. I always talk about how eating healthily doesn’t mean you have to be neurotic about how and what you’re eating. It does require that you create healthy habits which include discipline. It doesn’t mean you can’t splurge once in a while, but the critical part of it is that you can’t splurge all the time. If you’re working out 4 – 6 times per week ala Pat’s Gym style, then you can eat what you want, but I still don’t recommend splurging too much.
What I do is roughly plan my eating for the week on Sunday. I will chop up veggies that I will use during the week. I will cook meat or other dishes that I can use during the week for lunches or dinners. My breakfast generally consists of a smoothie made with whey protein, fruit, fish oil, milk, wheatgrass, and spinach or other leafy greens. For a mid-morning snack, I will have yogurt or an apple with almond butter on it. For lunch, I will either grab a salad or eat my cooked meat and veggies. A mid-afternoon snack consists of either a handful of nuts, beef jerky, or carrots and hummus. For dinner, which I usually eat at home, I will have a clean meal consisting of a large portion of protein (e.g., steak, chicken, or fish) and a large spinach salad and other veggies. If I’m going out to dinner, I generally review the menu before I go out so that I can have my healthy selections made before walking into the restaurant. It’s a great way to take the guess work out of eating out, and you can enjoy your meal without having concerns of overeating.
I recommend that you determine what works for you. Again, you don’t have to be robotic or neurotic about it. Have a goal and make sure you eat for a purpose.
