If you are wondering what the “Day 3” is all about – this month I’m blogging a theme: 31 Days to Being Healthy & Happy! I’ll be highlighting some of the tips and techniques that I use in my 5 Step process – HAPPY. I’m starting out in order:
H = Healthy Foods; A = Activity; P = Planning & Preparation; P = Positive Mindset; Y = You are Amazing
and then will spend more time on the first 3 letters; Positive Mindset and the Y for YOU and everything that means require more time than 30 days to really get into intensive training; in fact I generally work on the YOU with clients after 6 months to help them reach a particular achievement – maybe it’s running a marathon, or hiking while on vacation, etc…
The first P is for Planning & Preparation – which is the biggest challenge for most of my clients. Well, actually, I take that back, TIME management is the true challenge but the symptom is lack of planning.
Have you ever thought to yourself, or perhaps heard a family member bemoan – “All we ever have is chicken” or “I’m so sick of salads!” Lack of variety in your meals is often a symptom of poor planning, because it’s easier to do the same ol’ thing!
I want you take a moment right now as you are reading this and think about what you are going to have for your next meal; it doesn’t matter if it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner – do you know what you are going to eat? I’m writing this LIVE today on Saturday afternoon and I can tell you that for dinner I’m going to make Chicken with Mushrooms; Rice: Asparagus; Salad. (and, no, I don’t always have chicken, I had salmon tacos last night!)
If you don’t know what you are eating for your next meal – Decide! Now! Go get something out of the freezer if you need to; check your refrigerator to see if there is something leftover to enjoy for a quick lunch; make a grocery list if you need to.
Congratulations! You have planned a meal! Perhaps it was an easy thought for breakfast – “oh, yeah, I’ll make a protein drink” – or it might have made you realize that you literally had no clue what you were going to have; now that you took a few minutes and thought about it – it’s done!
I find that many people think of Meal Planning in too large of chunks, like a month or a week – yikes, who wants to figure out what they are going to eat for a whole month!? I don’t – because sometimes you might not feel like eating a certain thing. 1-2 weeks is the LONGEST that I would suggest planning out your meals, however 3 or 4 days at a time can be very efficient. I’ll discuss how that works more on a future blog, for today I want you to focus on one meal and then progress to ONE DAY.
I want you to do the same thought process as you did for the meal, this time think about what you are going to eat tomorrow; Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Depending on what part of the world you are in when you are reading this “today” tomorrow could be Sunday or Monday. I’m going to give you a sample for both. I have already looked in my refrigerator and know what is there. For this first One Day plan I’m not going to include snacks; that’s another blog/lesson.
Sunday:
Breakfast – 2 eggs and Gluten Free toast; my typical Sunday breakfast
Lunch – Leftovers from the past couple of dinners
Dinner – Salad, Flank Steak, Potatoes, Green Beans
Monday:
Breakfast – Protein drink
Lunch – I know I won’t be working from home, so I need to pack something! Sunday night when I’m making dinner I’ll make an extra salad and put chicken on it and it will be ready to go in the morning. Also pack up some veggies and some almonds.
Dinner – Last night’s Flank Steak is tonight’s Fajitas and/or Fajita salad; I’ll saute onions and peppers, slice the steak and add to the pan to re-heat, maybe sprinkle some cumin and cayenne and add a bit of red wine to flavor. Serve on salad or in corn tortillas. Instead of a salad before dinner I’ll have crudités.
Please feel free to copy my ideas!!! The Flank Steak >>> Fajitas is what I like to call, PLANNED-OVERS instead of leftovers; because you are re-working; or re-purposing something that you’ve already made and turning it into something new. (I know my internet marketers are loving the idea of re-purposing because we all do it with content!!)
GREAT JOB on taking a few minutes to plan for tomorrow! I know you feel great about it! Keep up with my 31 Day blog to get more helpful hints and watch for a Virtual Meal Planning workshop that I’ll be announcing later this month!
Health & Bliss to You,
Susie