60% of the people reading this blog right now are overweight or obese. And another 20% of people who are reading this probably train really hard every single day but still don't see any results.
That's a lot of people who either don't know what they're doing in the gym or have absolutely no clue what to do in the kitchen.
No matter which way you spin it, the majority of people out there are missing the mark when it comes to their nutrition and exercise. And it's not because they don't try to eat "healthy", or because they aren't trying hard in the gym. It's simply because they just don't know what to do.
Here are 3 of the biggest problems people face in the kitchen:
- Don't know how much food to eat
- Don't know what foods to eat
- Don't want to track calories/Macros
Now instead of letting these problems or barriers keep you from getting the results you want to see, I want you to look at these problems and consider the solutions below to make eating healthy, well-balanced meals way easier than you could ever imagine.
3 Tips for Making Better Decisions in the Kitchen
1. Simplify Your Grocery List
Making healthy choices on a daily basis can be overwhelming. There's so many things to eat, so many things to shop for, and so many other distractions that usually lead to some not so "healthy" choices in the kitchen.
Instead of saying "You can't eat this." or "You can't ever have that.", I prefer to think of it in terms of "What will this food do for me?" - If you ask yourself this simple question before you eat or buy something you're going to find some quick reasons to confirm it's either a good or bad choice. Let's take it one step deeper, consider what the food will do for your goals. If you really want to make sure you make the right choices ask yourself if the food item will get you closer to or further from your ultimate goal - if it's not going to get you closer, then stay away!
Having a simple grocery list makes these decisions far easier. Stick to whole, non-processed foods and you're not going to have to worry about whether or not a certain food item will take you further away from your goals. Here's some examples of whole non-processed foods:
- Animal Protein - Chicken, Ground Beef, Tuna, Steak, Salmon
- Fruit & Vegetables - load up your diet with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and if anyone has ever told you that too much fruit will make you fat because of the naturally occurring sugars, then it's time to stop listening to that person.
- Grains/Starches - Rice, Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes, Oatmeal
The beauty of a simple grocery list goes beyond making shopping easier as well. If you don't have "problematic" foods at home or in your general vicinity there's a VERY good chance you aren't going to find yourself eating them or craving them.
Want more examples of common foods you should be including in your diet? The brand new Nutrition & Meal Planing Guide has over 100 different items that you can include on your grocery list!
2. Accept That You Have to Measure Your Food
Look, there's no way around it. If you truly want to make real, lasting changes to your body or your body composition you will have to measure your food in some way. The sooner you accept this, the easier it's going to become for you. But I totally understand how annoying it is to constantly be measuring or searching the numbers for how much you should be eating, so here's a tip - Write down the quantity that you need of whatever food items you plan on eating and stick that piece of paper on the refrigerator right where you can see it. No more searching, no more scrambling to figure out how much you should be eating because it's already there. Now all you have to do is measure.
Here's an example of this - I know that in every meal I have to eat 5 oz of protein. It can be any protein source, Chicken, Protein Powder, Beef, Tuna, you name it. So if I have Beef in the fridge and I'm going to be eating it over the next few days I'm writing down 5 oz Beef and putting it on the fridge with all of the other quantities that I chose to list out. That way I don't have to search for numbers, it's all right there. Pro Tip - keep doing this and eventually you're just going to remember your serving sizes and won't even have to write it down.
Measuring your food is crucial when it comes to understand how much you're actually eating on a daily basis. With no understanding about the quantity of food that we are consuming then it's pretty self explanatory as to why so many people suffer from being overweight/obese. Go the extra mile, measure your food, you will thank yourself later down the road! And to add another great reason, if you measure you do not need to count calories - in the brand new Nutrition & Meal Planning Guide I go over exactly how to determine how much food you should eat in each meal and give you the exact measurements to make your calculations!
3. Simplify Your Meals
Eating healthy, well-balanced meals that benefit you and get you closer to your goals does not need to be hard. You don't need to cook up elaborate plates with 15 ingredients and hour prep times. All you need is 3-4 simple food items and you have exactly what you need. In every meal you consume your goal should be to have a protein, a fat, and a carbohydrate. If you do this you're going to be putting yourself on the path to getting the results you want out of the kitchen. Check out this sample meal straight out of the Nutrition & Meal Planning Guide:
Breakfast Bowl:
Ingredients: Ground Pork Sausage, Egg Whites, Baked Sweet Potato, Avocado
Instructions:
- Cook Ground Pork Sausage in pan until browned
- Add Egg Whites & Scramble in pan
- Cube Sweet Potato (heat in microwave) and serve in bowl
- Add Ground Pork Sausage & Egg Whites to Bowl
- Slice & Serve Avocado with Breakfast Bowl
Want the exact measurements for this meal? Check out the Nutrition & Meal Planning Guide for the exact measurements you need as well as over 75 other meal samples!
Are you ready to learn how to get back in control of things in the kitchen? Check out the brand new Nutrition & Meal Planning Guide here - everything you need to know about how to plan, how much to eat, and what to eat is all right here for only $30.00. Plus, if you purchase your copy today, you'll get a free 30-Day Trial to the TrainRx Performance Programming Platform. Everyone knows training & nutrition go hand in hand so what would a copy of this guide be without some high quality training to go along with it?