How To Save Time And Stick With Your Nutrition Plan
Kate Irwin • August 11, 2020
Doing These Things Will Help You Save Time
It’s that time of year when summer comes to an end and life gets busier. September brings new schedules for many families and it’s easy to fall behind. Whether you have school aged children or not, September is a great time to reset some of your healthy habits and focus on being prepared for the week.
START A SUSTAINABLE NUTRITION PLAN THAT WORKS FOR YOU
A helpful tool for both sticking to your nutrition goals and decreasing wasted time and food during the week is meal prepping. Preparing bulk foods (usually on the weekend) to be used throughout the week is a great way to ensure you always have access to things like lean protein and vegetables. Today I am going to share some of my favourite time saving meal preparation tips to help make life a little bit easier this fall!
THINK AHEAD
In the summer it’s the cottage, in the winter the chalet: Many of our members have reasons why they can’t prep healthy food for the week after a weekend away. The key is to think ahead. Always include food for the start of the week in your pre-getaway shopping trip. This means buying things like chicken breast, ground beef, frozen veggies/fruit and having them on hand for when you get home Sunday night. Having healthier options in the house means you won’t be scrambling as much Monday morning.
BULK COOK YOUR PROTEIN
This is probably my favourite tip. I am a little bit skeptical about meat that’s been in the fridge, so I like to batch cook meat on Sundays and Wednesdays to get me through the week. By having my protein prepared and pre-measured it takes the decision out of my lunches (and sometimes breakfasts!). When you have to make less decisions you rely less on willpower and are usually more successful at sticking to the plan. If you get bored easily with meals you can mix things up by cooking your meat plain then spicing it up depending on the meal. A great example to cook chicken plain in the slow cooker and pull it after cooking. Then one day you can add salsa, corn, black beans and rice while another day you can serve it over a salad, or add a light bbq sauce and make it more of a play on pulled pork. Finding ways to make your proteins versatile will keep you from getting sick of the same food day in and day out.
PRE-MEASURE FOODS
Many people pre-measure out the food they bulk cook, but I am talking about pre-measuring everything. Have a big tub of greek yogurt? Measure it into individual servings. Veggies? Cut them up when you cook your protein and package them by serving. It may seem a bit overboard but I promise that you are more likely to consume foods that are quick to grab and ready to go. Something as simple as measuring out greek yogurt and berries every morning can be a barrier to success. Measure them all at once, dirty one spoon and then it’s ready to go each day!
BUY FROZEN VEGETABLES
Vegetables and fruit are hard to keep fresh for longer periods. I find when I shop on the weekend, that by the end of the week I am out of produce and tend to have less ideal meals. By purchasing frozen vegetables and fruit it means you have access to them all week long without having to find more time to get to the grocery store. Frozen fruit goes really well on greek yogurt or oatmeal while frozen veggies are a quick source of vitamins and minerals. A ‘go to’ in our household is frozen edamame, a vegetable with some protein to keep you going!
Overall meal preparation is about routine. Scheduling in one to two hours one day a week to prepare meals for the week will save you time because you don’t spend 15 minutes preparing each meal. Not only are you saving time but you are saving decisions. The less decisions you have to make regarding your nutrition the more likely you are to have success at whatever your nutrition goal is. Take out the need for decisions and you take out the opportunity to fail.
These are some great meal prep ideas to get you started. I will say that I prefer to keep it simple and not try a bunch of new recipes each week. I find my top 2 or 3 options and rotate between them to keep my life more simple.
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Do Hard Things Now, So Life Becomes Easier Later Modern humans default to the easy way but it's not our fault... Throughout human history, we were wired to survive constant hardship - scarcity of food, threats from predators, harsh environments and manual labor for everything. Our DNA evolved for survival in these conditions, not for modern living. Imagine an early human stumbling across a fruit tree. It made sense to gorge - there was no telling when the next meal would come. The human who gorged had a higher chance of survival than the human who only ate a few pieces of fruit. Practicing self-control in an environment of scarcity would have been a death sentence. Likewise, if given a chance to rest instead of walking miles or hunting, rest was the obvious choice. The problem? Our genes haven’t caught up with modern life. Today, food is everywhere. We don’t have to fight to meet our basic needs. Technology does the heavy lifting, cars replace walking, entertainment is on-demand and calorie-dense foods are always within reach. Left unchecked, our instincts will always lean toward easy options like overeating unhealthy foods (that are so easily accessible) or driving to the store instead of walking. In other words, we’re still hardwired to take the path of least resistance. But here’s the catch: Choosing easy now often means a harder life later and choosing hard now often means an easier life later. Most modern humans are overweight, stressed, tired and dealing with chronic health problems because we’re following outdated survival programming that no longer serves us. It’s time to become aware of these defaults. To override them. To consciously choose the hard thing - because doing hard things is what actually makes life easier in the long run. Hard things like: Going to bed on time instead of watching another episode Preparing a healthy meal instead of grabbing fast food Moving your body instead of sitting all day Walking or biking to the store instead of driving Managing stress with deep breaths and fresh air instead of pouring a drink Looking at your habits instead of masking symptoms with medication It might feel uncomfortable because it goes against everything your biological programming is urging you to do. But that’s exactly why it matters. Don’t think of it as punishment or sacrifice. Think of it as an investment. Every time you take the stairs instead of the elevator, cook instead of order out, or put your phone down to truly rest, you’re building a life that’s easier, richer, and more fulfilling down the road. And remember: Do easy things, and you’ll have a hard life. Do hard things, and you’ll have an easy life. Most of the above information is probably not new to you. That’s because we live in the information age with the internet and now AI - we already know what it is we need to do. The problem however is implementation. This is where having a customized plan and accountability comes in. If you know the hard things you need to do more of but struggle with breaking past your ‘default mode’ then contact us for a complimentary consultation HERE .
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We are back with our second series of 'Pod Calls' available exclusively to our Nova Health Club members. Don't miss these unique sessions to help you level up your health and wellness game! What is a Pod Call? A Pod Call is a live online (webinar like)_ session with a Nova coach, offering support and insights on key health topics like fitness, nutrition, recovery and overall wellness. Why did we create Pod Calls? Our goal is your success and your health goals can not be built on fitness alone. After delivering thousands of personal training sessions, we noticed a disconnect between fitness sessions we were delivering and the other pillars of health (and lifestyle habits that happen outside of the gym). To get the most out of your health and your fitness sessions at Nova we need to link other pillars such as mindset, nutrition, stress and recovery. Training coaches who care about your results will agree that a couple hours of personal training each week is not enough time to workout AND learn everything you need to know about maximizing those workouts... Things like how to eat before or after workouts, what recovery habits should be practiced or the link between stress and working out are all subjects that you need to know on your health and fitness journey. Pod Calls are dedicated sessions where we teach you essential health and fitness insights that we can't often cover during your gym workouts. We hope you take advantage of these expert-led sessions that will enhance your workouts, teach you new concepts about health and bridge the gap between fitness and overall wellness. Upcoming Pod Calls (all times in EST) Mon Jun 2, 2025 (6:00pm) Topic: How To Eat Carbs For Better Energy, Muscle & Fat Loss Coach: Josh Allen Wed Jun 4, 2025 (2:00pm) Topic: Hip Mobility Using the 'CARS' (active session) Coach: Kim Vo Sat Jun 7, 2025 (12:00pm) Topic: Benefits of Single Leg & Arm Training for Overall Strength Coach: Matthew Nadler Tues Jun 10, 2025 (6pm) Topic: Releasing Neck Tension Coach: Zack Fernandez Wed Jun 18, 2025 (1:00pm) Topic: Training The Backside of The Core Coach: Colin Soltesz Thu June 19, 2025 (7:00pm): Topic: Ayurveda for Healthy Ageing Coach: Kayla Hutchinson These calls are free for Nova members and Zoom links for each call can be found in the Nova Mighty Networks platform. If you are not a Nova member and would like to attend any of these please email Info@NovaHealthClub.com for a seat. We look forward to seeing you then!
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