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#148 - 16 Cooking Tips For Faster Fat Loss & Muscle Gain
32 Plays15 days ago
If eating healthy feels hard, it’s probably because you’re trying to change your whole life overnight instead of building a simple system you can enjoy that's easily repeatable.
In this pod, we'll go over:
- The key to picking an approach that feels doable, not extreme, so you actually stick with it
- A repeatable weekly diet that keeps meals simple Monday through Friday, adds variety on weekends, and still allows 1 to 2 meals out without blowing everything up
- Simple protein and meal shortcuts (crockpot, whey, Greek yogurt, bars and shakes, canned and frozen foods, fast food upgrades) that save time and keep hunger under control
- Practical planning tips that make the healthy decision the easy decision (running meal list, staple grocery list, pickup or delivery, ingredient prep, and what to do when travel makes things messy)
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Transcript
Introduction and Mission of the Fit Dish Project
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome back to Fit Dish Project with your host, Latham Bass. We make fitness and health simple for regular people like you and I. We have the weekly episode coming at you this week. Before I get into that, if you can, and leave a review. Continue to share this with people who you think could get some value. I do appreciate that. Continue to grow this show, get it out to people who can really use this information and hopefully change some lives for the better.
Cooking Tips for Fat Loss and Muscle Gain
00:00:27
Speaker
The topic for this week...
00:00:30
Speaker
I wanted to touch on some cooking tips for easier fat loss and easier muscle gain. And the reason I came upon this topic is because I was having a couple conversations with people in person.
Challenges and Enjoyment in Dieting
00:00:41
Speaker
I recently started working in the gym again a little bit, which is awesome because I get to talk to everyday people just like you and I.
00:00:47
Speaker
And I get to listen to their challenges. And it is nice to just have some fresh conversations with people face to face and really just hear about some of the things that people are struggling with, what they have questions about, and different things like that, because it gives me lots of good ideas about things that I can talk about, content I can make and put on social media and all those different things to try to help more people because there's often just a handful of things that people really struggle with. And we all know that when it comes to fitness, when it comes to health, one of the biggest things that people really are just challenged with is diet.
00:01:20
Speaker
And specifically, like, what they should be eating, how much they should be eating, and then also just finding a way to figure out some sort of system that is actually enjoyable. And I think that is the part that so many people will miss because if the way that you eat is not enjoyable, the likelihood that you stick to it long term is extremely
Simple Cooking Systems for Fitness Goals
00:01:40
Speaker
small. And so you have to find ways to do this that don't suck.
00:01:44
Speaker
I know that a lot of people really struggle with just cooking and just getting in the kitchen, spending time cooking, figuring out recipes, figuring out recipes that actually fit within your goals and fit your macros and are high protein and not too many calories and not spending all this time in the kitchen and stuff like that. And even people who are like really consistent with exercise really want to change their body or really want to feel better.
00:02:07
Speaker
All those things that we want to do with health and fitness, they still struggle with this part of diet and specifically with like cooking. what i wanted to do is explain to you things that i found to work really well for myself and with clients that i have worked with that are simple and easy and don't have you spending ton of time in the kitchen but also just help you to figure out a system that actually works for you because once you find a repeatable system that works for you things that you can do consistently Getting to those goals that you have becomes so
The Role of Diet in Health and Fitness
00:02:36
Speaker
much easier. And so I'm going explain a little bit of what I found to work really well for me, but then also give you 16 super simple, quick and easy cooking tips that you can start trying to help you figure out what that looks like for you.
00:02:48
Speaker
and so when you think about your goals like when you think about your health goals when you think about your fitness goals i mean honestly when you think about any kind of goal that you have it is going to be easier to achieve those goals if you have good health if you have good energy if you are confident in yourself if you physically feel good if you mentally feel good and so any way you slice it having better health having better fitness is going to be super beneficial to any kind of goal that you have and when we're thinking about this Diet plays a massive role in all of this. But when we break it down, like, what are the things that people struggle most with? Well, it's knowing what to actually eat. So eating the right things that help us build muscle that control hunger, that give us good energy that make us focused.
00:03:31
Speaker
Secondly, it's not overdoing it. So a lot of people really struggle with not eating too much. And today we live in an environment where calories are everywhere. And there's a lot of super highly processed tasty things that make it very easy to eat too many calories. And even when we don't feel like we're eating too many calories, there's so many sneaky ways that these calories start to add up. And so not overdoing it on the calories is another thing that people really struggle with. And then like I touched on at the very beginning is actually making this whole process enjoyable because I know so many people get overwhelmed with diet.
00:04:04
Speaker
just simply because there's so many different opinions every single person that you meet has an opinion about diet every person is going to eat until the day they die and so it's gets very dogmatic about like you should do this diet or you should do this diet or if you're eating this you're going to be sick and it's going to kill you or you're eating this food and it's making you fat and there's just so much bad information out there that it can become super overwhelming and so what i always like to do is just break this down as simply as possible so that you can get some easy takeaways from this and start applying it right away.
00:04:36
Speaker
So when we think about those three things, like those three things that I just mentioned, those three problem areas, how to solve that is actually figuring out some sort of system that's going to be repeatable for you and that is actually enjoyable for something you want to do. The thing that people really miss when it comes to this is you have to figure out a style of eating that doesn't feel so extreme and that doesn't feel so challenging that you know you won't be able to stick to it long term.
Creating a Sustainable and Enjoyable Diet
00:05:02
Speaker
And so when I was in college, I was going to school to be a teacher and had to take a bunch of education classes. And one of the classes that I took was called educational psychology.
00:05:13
Speaker
And one of the concepts that I remember learning about within this class was called the zone of proximal development. And so to put that in simple terms, it was basically when you're trying to learn some sort of new skill or learn some sort of new thing, you don't want that thing to be so difficult that you're discouraged from ever even trying or you try it and then you just instantly give up. You want it to be just outside of your zone where it's like challenging, but it's not too challenging, where like you feel like it's accomplishable.
00:05:41
Speaker
And I think when it comes to diet, so many people miss the mark on this because they try things that just feel completely unsustainable. Like they are so extreme. They're so hard. There's too many rules. There's too much restriction. There's no moderation. And it's just all or nothing mindset. And so they try it.
00:05:57
Speaker
They white knuckle their way through it for a little bit. But then they realize there is no way in hell that I'm going to be able to make this a long term sustainable thing. And so they quit. And if we think about this from any other area in our life, like I'm a sports guy, I like sports, I love playing sports. And like, there's a reason that we have different classes within sports. Like when you're in high school, you're if you're a smaller school, you don't play against the big schools, right? Because you would get absolutely crushed every single game or when you're a wrestler. You don't wrestle the heavyweight if you were a guy that weighs 120 pounds because you would get smoked. You want to have competition that's actually equal to what you are and gives you a shot at actually winning. Like if you've ever been on a really bad sports team, I played some sports growing up. I played football my freshman year and we were terrible. Like our varsity team was so bad. I think we won a single game that year. And so going into those games, you just know that like most of those games, especially if the team is any good, you just don't try very hard. You don't go into it with a good mindset and it just sucks. And I think when people try things that are just so completely unsustainable and so extreme, they go into these things just knowing that they're not going to stick. Well, then obviously you're not going to be successful long term. And what you're actually going to get out of that diet isn't going to be anything useful.
00:07:09
Speaker
So you want to try to find things that are actually going to be sustainable. And that's why I talk about just moderation and balance and finding things that you can do for a long time so much because it is so important. The number one predictor of weight loss success is adherence, meaning that you can stick to this style of eating for a long period of time.
00:07:29
Speaker
And I think there is a time and a place to try different things, like maybe try some intermittent fasting or try certain styles of dieting, even if they may seem a little bit more out there, because you can learn from those things. But if you have zero foundation about eating, and you're trying really extreme diets, or you're trying things that like, you know, for 100% fact, you are going to hate then what you're getting out of those diets isn't going to be very helpful for your long term. And so it's got to be that Goldilocks area, right? You don't want it to be so hard to where you know it's not going to do anything for you, but it also can't be so relaxed and so easy that you don't get any type of results or don't learn anything from it. And so when you think about this, like trying different diets or trying different tips or trying different nutritional eating strategies, like it's going to be harder up front and it should be a little bit challenging, but you also don't want to make it just so crazy that it's just like, you know, you're not going to stick to it It's like if you signed up for a marathon. You wouldn't go out on your first run try to run 20 miles because it's just, you get hurt, you quit, you'd be burned out. you'd
00:08:29
Speaker
There's no way you would do it. Right. And so when you think about dieting, when you think about weight loss, when you think about your fitness goals, it's like, you don't go in the gym for the first time and slap four plates on the bench press and try to bench for 405 you start slow you work your way up you get better at things you improve your habits you improve your skills and then over time you're able to do more and nutrition is no different when i think about the things that i was trying back when i first started this like i just didn't know a whole lot and so i did a lot of stupid things and a lot of the things that i tried when i first got into dieting seemed really difficult and that was like cooking seemed hard i didn't know like how to cook
00:09:05
Speaker
When it came to like knowing macros or understanding food, I didn't know any of that stuff. Now that stuff just is kind of second nature to me. Like I can look at different foods and I know how many protein is in this food or how many calories are in this food. Turning down certain foods or making better choices always seemed very difficult at the beginning. Like I just wanted to eat the things that were tastiest where now I've spent time figuring out what actually feels good to my body. I figured out things that work well for my goals, things that I actually enjoy eating. And so this stuff doesn't feel that difficult. And I honestly didn't know if I would ever get to this point where it felt kind of second nature.
00:09:38
Speaker
But when you do things that are actually within your sustainable area where you can actually learn and grow and just get better at things, it's so much important. enjoyable and you're able to actually stick with it because it doesn't feel so daunting. It doesn't feel like, man, there's no way I could ever do this my entire life. So you have to make sure that you're doing this in a way that actually works well for you because there's so many people out there on social media that will just tell you just go all or nothing, go all in, like do this overnight or just like I made all these changes. I lost 100 pounds in eight months or whatever. But it's like for every single person like that,
00:10:14
Speaker
There's thousands of people who have tried that exact same route and it does not work. Like we see this year after year after year with new year's resolutions. Most people by this time in the year in February, they have given up on their new year's resolutions and they're not gonna do anything all year long until next year rolls around and they're gonna try the same extreme approach and they're gonna fail again.
00:10:33
Speaker
The people who make the changes for the most part They do this in a slow and sustainable way and they just accept that it's going to take a while to build the right habits, to build the right skills, to build the right mindset. But when you approach it that way, it's so much more long-term sustainable than a lot of these short-term fixes that people have, these ideas about losing tons of weight or making crazy transformations. And so... All that to say, like when you're thinking about just eating in general, when you're thinking about your goals, you have to make sure that you're approaching this in the right
Maintaining a Consistent Diet with Variety
00:11:05
Speaker
way. Once you have that kind of foundation and you're approaching this with the right expectations, you get into the next part of this, which is now finding a way that you can eat that is a repeatable system. And so to give you an example of what I do now that works really, really well, obviously, I've talked about losing 100 pounds and being able to keep that off. And I feel like I'm In a really good spot now where like I look the way I want to look I feel the way I want to feel. I'm more athletic at 32.
00:11:31
Speaker
Then I was in my early 20s like I can run for long time long distances I can play basketball for a couple hours I can lift heavy weights I can do all these different things. And a lot of that is fueled by what I eat and things that I've been able to do and just different skills and eating habits that I've able to add to my routine over the years. And so what my stuff looks like now is so much different than when I started. But what works really well for me is like during the week, I keep it extremely simple.
00:11:59
Speaker
I don't want to be spending a ton of time in the kitchen. I don't enjoy cooking. I would rather keep meals very just quick and easy. And so I do things that allow me to stay within that because I know if I had to cook every single night or if I had to cook every single day and spend an hour in the kitchen,
00:12:17
Speaker
i wouldn't want to do that and i would revert to things that just probably aren't as healthy for me probably don't fit within my goals and so i keep it super simple during the week very simple meals like three or four ingredients some proteins and carbs some healthy fats some fruits and vegetables things like that and then On the weekend, that's where I'll get my variety. So if I want to have a little takeout or if I want to go out to eat with some friends or if I want to have a couple drinks or if I want to have like pizza or burgers or different things like that, maybe I'll find like a macro friendly meal to kind of scratch that itch a little bit. So I never feel like I'm getting slighted. I never feel like it's too restrictive. I actually enjoy a lot of the meals that I eat and i look forward to eating because I found a way that's actually enjoyable. And that tastes good, but also doesn't take tons of time. And so it fits within my lifestyle. And so like when you're thinking about these things, like figure out what works for you, because just because somebody lost a bunch weight or they look a certain way and they eat a certain way, that doesn't mean that their way of eating is going to work for you. and Even me, like I'm just explaining to you what I do right now. That doesn't necessarily mean what I do is going to work super great for you. But I think if you're trying different things for yourself and you're looking, OK, what's going to be
00:13:32
Speaker
sustainable for me long term? What's what is something that I can actually do that I know I'm going to consistently do or try? Those are things that you want to pay attention to. And then you start to try some of those things. And so what I'm going to do with the rest of this podcast is give you 16 different tips around just cooking and planning and different little hacks and things like that, that are quick, simple and easy so that you can start to try some of these things. Because if you're again, like me, you don't want to spend a bunch of time, you want something that's simple, but also get your results to help you lose fat, to build muscle, to not overeat, to reduce hunger, to have good energy, then these are some things that you can start to try and start to implement within your routine to help you do those things. And so I split this up into three different sections. So the first section is about like protein hacks.
00:14:16
Speaker
The second one is just kind of random time-saving cooking hacks. And then the third one is all about just some planning things that you can do to save you time and save you some energy. So This first section of protein hacks, number one is crockpot protein.
00:14:30
Speaker
I've talked about this before on different podcasts, but making a huge batch of protein, whether that be like chicken or pork or beef in a crockpot is a crazy simple way to keep your meals high protein throughout the week without having to spend a bunch of extra time in the kitchen. So at the beginning of the week, maybe on a Sunday or maybe even in the middle of the week, if you want to do it one or two times per week,
00:14:54
Speaker
throw a bunch of meat in a crock pot, season it up, and then you have a ton of protein to use throughout the week. So if you want to throw a bunch of chicken in there, and then one day you have some barbecue chicken, the next day you have a salad with some chicken on it, the next day you make a quesadilla, the next day you have something else with chicken in it. Like this just gives you a ton of variety. So you don't even have to eat the same meal every single day, but you always have access to protein there.
00:15:20
Speaker
And you can even take it a little step farther where you can make entire meals. And there's a bunch of social media pages out there who their entire page is about crock pot meals. So like you throw some meat in there, you throw some vegetables, maybe some rice or potatoes or different things like that. There's so many different meals that you can make just within a crock pot.
00:15:37
Speaker
And you can, this takes you maybe five minutes, 10 minutes max, you throw it in the crock pot and now you have eight meals. in a week that you just made in five minutes. Like you throw it on there, you set the timer and then you're good to go. Like you just made a bunch of meals and just helped yourself out. And if you could add an easy eight extra meals, like already prepped and done for you within five minutes, well, that's a third, over a third of your meals for that entire week you just accomplished and making and keeping things healthy and keeping things aligned with your goals in five minutes. Like that seems like a pretty good trade-off. So crockpots are huge staple of mine. I use them every single week.
00:16:14
Speaker
And if you don't like cooking, I highly suggest investing in a crock pot and figuring out some recipes that you like. Number two is using whey protein for meals or for snacks. So when it comes to just getting more protein, using whey protein powder is one of the simplest things that you can do.
00:16:31
Speaker
It's super quick and easy to use. And so some things that you can do with this is I like to add whey protein powder into things like Greek yogurt, and maybe you throw some Greek yogurt in there, throw a scoop of protein powder in there, throw some fruit or some granola in there. You have 40 plus grams of protein in two minutes by doing that.
00:16:50
Speaker
I'm a huge fan of protein ice cream. So I use whey protein in my ice cream that I have every single night. I use it in oatmeal quite a bit. So I'll throw some oatmeal, some instant oats, some protein powder, and then some fruit, add some water to it. That's a really quick breakfast that I use all the time. I really like protein pancakes. So I use them in my breakfasts there. Protein shakes are another really good one.
00:17:12
Speaker
There's tons of different ways that you can use whey protein powder and I use it literally every single day. I probably use at least a scoop sometimes too every single day of whey protein powder just to keep my protein levels high and just to make sure that I'm checking that box so I can build more muscle and have less hunger and all those different things. so You don't use whey protein powder. And again, you want to save some time, but also just eat higher quality meals and just making sure that you're hitting those protein goals. Highly suggest looking into that. I use a brand called
Choosing Convenient High-Protein Meals
00:17:41
Speaker
Levels. It's supposed to be a little bit cleaner brand because some of these brands you use them and like your stomach is just in knots because they're just different things in there that You don't really know all the different ingredients in there. And if your stomach feels like trash after having a protein powder, you probably need to find a better one. And so the one that I've been using, like i said, is called Levels. It feels cleaner and it tastes cleaner. It mixes really well and I like it. So that's the one that I've gone with for quite a while, but just try different ones and just see which one gels with you and one that you actually enjoy.
00:18:09
Speaker
Number three is to use pre-made bars or shakes for meals. By using protein bars, protein shakes, you can easily get 20 to 40 grams of protein. You can take them on the go with you. You can keep them at work. And so if you're in a pinch, like this is a really good option. I have clients who will do this all the time, like whether they're on the road or like they don't want to spend a bunch of time in the kitchen in the morning for breakfast, like they'll just have protein shake and maybe a piece of fruit or something like that. And that's what they go with. When I was teaching and coaching football, I had a lot of early mornings, especially during the football season. I did not want to be working out after school and then after practice, like after being at the school for over
00:18:51
Speaker
10, 11 hours, I didn't want to be there another hour to work out. So I would work out in the mornings early before I had to get to school before I had to get there for like in season lifting and things like that. And I just didn't want to spend an extra 10 to 20 minutes trying to cook something up for breakfast. And so what I would do is I would make a protein shake as I was getting ready for school in the morning. And then I would take that in my car with me. And then I would eat that with A banana or some other piece of fruit. And that was a breakfast that I had for probably four years straight every single morning, Monday through Friday, like that was my go to. And so those are super good options as well. They're really convenient and something that you can utilize if you are short on time.
00:19:30
Speaker
Number four, just some easy protein sources that take zero time to make is things like beef jerky or any kind of jerky is really good. you can find these at different gas stations or grocery stores if you're on the go. Canned tuna is another one that I use a decent amount if I don't want to cook. Like I always keep tuna on hand. Canned chicken is another one. You can use like canned beans for different dishes and things like that. So even if you don't, let's say you don't use a crock pot, you don't wanna make anything. Like if you have these canned options on hand,
00:19:59
Speaker
It takes you two minutes to open a can of chicken or a can of tuna and mix it in with some rice or some vegetables and some sauce and different things like that. You have some high protein options there at your disposal. So finding little different things like these to just keep on hand or keep them handy around. So like if you are in a pantry, you don't want to spend a bunch of time can go a long way. There's been multiple times where like I'll get home. like late from the gym or something like that and I don't have anything prepped and I don't want to spend any time cooking at all, I'll just get in the cupboard. I see I have some tuna in there. So take the tuna out. I have some pre-made rice and then I'll throw some vegetables in there. I'll throw some teriyaki sauce on there. And I just have a meal that I just made in under five minutes. Whereas like if I didn't have those options, then I would probably, you know, I'd want to do something that's more convenient and
00:20:44
Speaker
When you're doing those things all the time, it's just easier to slip up, like go through the fast food drive-thru and order something that you don't necessarily want that's not going to make you feel great. to say you can never do those things, but like just having these things on hand at your house can go a really long way.
00:20:57
Speaker
Which leads me into my next point. If you do not have anything at your house and you do go the fast food route, there are better options that you can make if you are trying to have higher protein, if you're trying to watch your calories, if you're trying to pick foods that aren't going to make you feel terrible. Grilled chicken options are always going to be a plus.
00:21:15
Speaker
And then anything that has like high veggies. So if you're getting like some sort of like grilled chicken sandwich or a grilled chicken salad or a grilled chicken bowl, anything with like a lot of veggies and a lot of grilled chicken is typically going to be a pretty good option. So Chick-fil-A's or any kind of like chicken places or like Mexican style places like Chipotle or Poncheros or like those types of things where you can get bowls are always going to be a good option.
00:21:38
Speaker
The other thing that I would say about this is something that I've actually started to do a little bit more. I seen a fitness influencer posting about this, but he started like reframing what he looked at as fast food. So like he would go into a grocery store and he would just grab some high protein things, some lower calorie things. And he would always say like, this is just as fast as going through a drive through. And it's true, like it might even be a little bit less time. So if you have a grocery store nearby,
00:22:02
Speaker
so many Some gas stations even have a lot of things that are just good for you and just easy to grab. So like you go into a grocery store, you grab some jerky, maybe you grab some cottage cheese, you grab a couple apples or a banana or a couple pieces of fruit. And like that is a meal. Like a meal doesn't always have to be like this sit down thing and have... these tons of different ingredients, like there's really simple ways to put together a good quality meal, if you're in a pinch, and like doing that, like using grocery fast food is a way to do that as well. And like rotisserie chickens, like some hot cases have some decent things, some chicken options and stuff like that. So there's always things that you can do, you just have to find these things.
Time-Saving Kitchen Appliances for Healthy Eating
00:22:40
Speaker
And then once you start to do these things more often, it just becomes like normal to you.
00:22:44
Speaker
Another option that you can use is to use a meal prep service. I've never used one of these services, but I have friends who they just don't like cooking and they're pretty busy and they'll use meal prep services, not for every single meal, but they'll just have a handful of them delivered to them every single week. And so like, let's say for example, they work from home or they're just really busy and they just don't want to be spending that extra time during the week. Like they just have a bunch of calls or different things like that. Like they'll use these services so that they can stay in line with their goals. And there's so many different kinds or companies out there where you can try these things. But like if you have the means to do so and you really want to stay on track, thinking about using a meal prep service can definitely be an option.
00:23:25
Speaker
The next section that I wanted to touch on was just like random time saving cooking tips. And so these are just things that I found that you can do when cooking to just spend less time in the kitchen, but also just keep the meals high quality, keep them high volume, keep them healthier. And so number six is use canned or frozen veggies.
00:23:43
Speaker
The simple act of like not having to like cut up vegetables and different things like that for me, if I can just use canned or frozen, like I'm going to do that. Most times, like if I don't want to spend any extra time in the kitchen, like this is a great option for me and I use mostly canned in and or frozen vegetables for like all my meals like I'll just open a can of mixed vegetables or green beans or corn or beans or whatever. And I'll just eat an entire can of that with my meal or like frozen veggies like I'll eat entire bags of broccoli for everything.
00:24:12
Speaker
a meal with like some chicken or some rice throw some sauce on it different things like that because it's quick and it's easy and it's convenient i could go buy fresh stuff and i could cut it up and i could prepare it and wash it and all that stuff but like i don't want to do that so i don't so finding little things like that just using some canned or frozen veggies can go a long way uh number seven frozen fruit same exact thing like Lots of fruit you don't necessarily have to like prepare, but some you do, you know, like pineapple or different melons or different things like that. Like you have to cut them up and then you have to like package them up or different things like that. And if you want to so save yourself some time, I know it sounds super like trivial, but even just the convenience of that and just making things easier by using frozen fruit, like you are more likely to use those things, especially when you're busy during the week or you're stressed or like motivation to make any kind of like quality meal or cook anything as low, like having these things.
00:25:05
Speaker
in your house, I promise it makes a difference. Number eight, use pre-made low-cal sauces or seasonings and spices. A lot of reasons that people will say they don't like to, quote unquote, eat healthy is because like it's boring or bland. And to that, I say, you don't know how to season your food or you don't have the sauces that make your foods taste good. And now there's like so many different options around like low-calorie sauces you can get or even just like seasonings and spices to add to your food. So like just getting some,
00:25:36
Speaker
spices and different things like that and trying new things. They make a lot of multi-purpose blends out there that are really tasty, but just messing around with different kinds of combinations of that to find ways to season your food that actually tastes good or just change up the flavor. You can make very simple meals and make the same stuff and season them or put different sauces on them and they taste completely different. So you don't feel like you're always eating the same thing.
00:26:01
Speaker
Number nine, invest in an air fryer. I have an air fryer and I use it a ton. So I really like the air fryer because you don't have to like stand around it like you do like the stove or pay attention. Like if you're cooking something in the oven, like you have to keep an eye on and different things like that. Like an air fryer, you put it in there. And you turn it on and then you can walk away and go do whatever you need to do, like take a shower or go do something around the house or do some work or whatever. And then it just shuts off when it's all done. So you're not burning anything like you're not paying attention to it. There's no mental bandwidth going into cooking. So you just set it in there, like you put something in there and then you forget about it. Like I'll like to make chicken stuff or I'll use potatoes in the air fryer all the time. And so like just last night I came back, I didn't have anything prepped. and i was like, ah, what should I make? Like, I don't really want to spend any time in here. So I cut a chicken breast in two into like fillets.
00:26:51
Speaker
put it in the air fryer, season it up, put it in there for 25 minutes. And then I went and i walked on my treadmill while did a little bit of work. And then in 25 minutes, I had chicken sandwiches.
00:27:02
Speaker
Like it took me two minutes to prep that. And then i have a super high protein, lower calorie type of meal that actually tastes good. because of an air fryer. Like before I would typically have to like, you know, sit around the stove and watch it and make sure it's not burning and like I'm paying attention to and all that stuff. But like when the air fryer, you just put it in there, you forget about it and it's just super nice and convenient.
00:27:22
Speaker
Second thing, similar to this. So another kitchen appliance that I really like is I have an Instapot and I use this to make rice in bulk. and also uses as a slow cooker. But you can also make just like entire meals in this. I haven't really messed with it too much, but I know there's so many different functions on there that you can use this for, but just finding different appliances that you're actually going to use that make your life easier and more convenient.
00:27:44
Speaker
I think that's a worth the investment every single time. So I'm a huge fan of like finding those one-off things that like, you know is just going to make you your life easier and also just help you just ah stay aligned with your goals. Like I think about like the air fryer or the crock pot or even like my walking treadmill. Like I use those things just about every single day, if not every day, multiple times per week. And like the amount of value that I've gotten from those things from that one single purchase is like astronomical. So finding those little things that's going to make life easier and just
00:28:16
Speaker
help you to be more successful around your health and fitness goals and just like improve your life i think they're worth it every time to me and then the last section that i had here was planning tips to save you some time the first one on this list is just to keep a running list of super quick and easy meals and i have a entire cookbook of this which i'll i'll link that in the show notes that I put together, because again, I don't like spending a lot of time in the
Ensuring Meal Prep Simplicity and Flexibility
00:28:43
Speaker
kitchen. And I was like, well, let me put together all these recipes that I use, and that I found to be super successful for me and let other people try them or use them if they want. I'm no gourmet chef, but I think they taste pretty good. And they are take you not too much time in the kitchen. And so I like them. And so keeping a running list of super quick and easy meals, because what I found with like clients is like, they'll sometimes be like, well, I don't know what to eat in a certain situation, or they don't really have a plan or like,
00:29:09
Speaker
it tends to like come to this place where like they're they're like questioning like what they should eat or if they don't have a plan or different things like that and like a lot of times we just need to be reminded so like I'm sure there's different recipes that you tried in the past that like you really liked but then you just kind of forget about them and then you don't use them anymore I do the same thing I'm like why don't I use that anymore and it's like oh because I kind of forgot about it so If you find super quick and easy meals that you genuinely enjoy, keep a list on your phone, and like open up your notes app and just keep a running list of like, these are some breakfasts that I like that are super quick and easy that I can come back to. These are some lunches and some dinners. These are some snacks.
00:29:44
Speaker
And then when it's time to meal prep or when you don't know what to make, like you just whip open that list and just scan it be like, what looks good? Oh, I have these 10 options that I put on here that I know I really like. i haven't had this in a while. This is super simple and quick to make. And then you make that.
00:29:58
Speaker
Sounds super simple, but I promise you it makes a difference. Number 13, keep a grocery list of your staple items. talked about this one before, but again, we eat mostly the same things. Like if you looked at all the meals that you ate or all the foods that you ate over a month period, it would be a lot of similar things. And so when it comes to just making this simpler and just making things more convenient for yourself, keep a running list of things that you always want to have in your house, like keep that on your grocery list. And then anytime that you run out of those things, like Just make a note of that and then just keep replenishing those things so that you have these things on hand to just make your life easier. And so that you never get yourself in a position where you're like, I want to eat something that's quality, that's healthy, that's high protein, but I don't have anything in my house. Like you always keep those things stocked and on hand. You're again, you're much more likely to do those things and just stay aligned with those goals that you have or those things that you want to do. Number 14, also, I've talked about this quite a bit, but use grocery pickup or use delivery. One of the things that I've noticed is like, people just love convenience. And like, even for the people who like they don't mind cooking, if they don't have the foods in their houses, like it's just so much easier just to like Uber Eats or just get fast food or order something or things like that. So like, you can just do a grocery pickup or a grocery delivery once a week to help you keep some of those staples in your house, you're much more likely to actually use those things in
00:31:23
Speaker
I know it sounds simple, but like the less friction that you have within your schedule, like having to actually drive to the grocery store and then go in the grocery store and then look for all the different things. Like some people like grocery shopping. Like I've had friends tell me that they actually enjoy going to the grocery store and I'm like, that is not me. Like i don't wanna spend any time in the grocery store and I rarely ever do anymore. I just do a grocery pickup. It's like two extra bucks. And go about my day. I save some time. I don't have to go in the grocery store. I get all the things that I need. And it's just super simple. Or if you want to spend a few extra bucks, you can even have it delivered straight to your door.
00:31:55
Speaker
Again, it's just another way to help make the healthy decision, the easy decision. Number 15 won't be any surprise anybody, but just meal prepping. You don't have to prep every single meal of the week, but if you can prep some of your lunches, some of your breakfasts, especially like when you're going to be busier and you know you're not going to spend a bunch of time cooking, just be proactive about those things. Or even if you're not going to prep entire meals, you can prep single ingredients. So maybe you prep your veggies and you prep some proteins and now you have some mixtures throughout the week that you can use and mix and match and different things like that. Like doing little things like that a couple times a week can make a big difference.
Strategic Meal Skipping for Diet Management
00:32:33
Speaker
And the last one on the list, which is probably one that you wouldn't think would be on the list is actually to just skip a meal. So I have clients who will do this, like when they have to travel, they'll be on the road, like for lunch or for breakfast or whatever. And they'll be like, okay, I'm just going to skip lunch today. Like, I don't really want to worry about eating on the road. i don't really want to do all these things because like I have other things that I want to be thinking about and worrying about, which is traveling and work. And maybe they have to travel for a meeting or different things like that. So they'll they'll be like, I'm just going to fast for the first half of the day and then I'll eat most of my calories that night. And this is a super simple strategy that you can use. Like you don't have to eat three meals a day every single day. we're pretty adaptable. Obviously, you want to be mindful about like, if you're the person who if you skip a meal, you are like crazy and ravenous, and you eat everything in sight, and you clear the entire pantry that night, then maybe the strategy isn't going to be good for you. Like maybe you want to have something small or, you know, take a protein bar with you or couple pieces of fruit, some snacks, things like that. But like, if you don't mind skipping a meal, like this is a great strategy. i had another client who like he would travel and like one thing he would do is since he knew he was going to be eating out and he would Sometimes go to places that he really enjoyed or like he'd visit a city where he'd been before and go to a restaurant where he's like, Oh, love this meal here. I can't wait to have this. Instead of having three meals that day, he would just do the OMAD method. So one meal a day. So he would not eat breakfast, not eat lunch, and then he would go to that restaurant and he would enjoy that meal.
00:34:00
Speaker
That way he's not... crazy overdoing it on calories, he's able to enjoy himself, he's able to still eat out, it's flexible in that way. And then the next day, he's just back to his normal routine. So having some of these tools in your tool belt, I think can go a long way and a super helpful. And that's just another one that you can add to the list. And so with that those are the tips that i wanted to share with you again it's not the goal to try every single one of these but to find maybe one or two of these things that you think would help you and just make things easier for yourself to help just make your system better because again the whole goal is just to find a repeatable system that you actually enjoy and that helps you hit your goals make you feel good lose fat build muscle all those things because once you find that system and it's something that you can consistently do
00:34:46
Speaker
this health stuff and just eating in general becomes so much simpler. So like, it's a very good thing to spend your time focusing on because again, you're going to eat until the day that you die. And so if you can find a way to eat that actually makes you feel good, that helps you look good, it helps you live longer. Like why wouldn't you spend some time doing that for six months, for a year, for a couple of years. And then you get to a place where like, this is super easy for me. And now I eat really healthy. I feel good. Like my health is good and all these different things. So like,
00:35:14
Speaker
Finding those things, it's definitely worth your time. It is going to take some trial and error. It is going to be challenging at times. You're going to try some things that probably don't work at all. Like I know how many different things I tried that is just, I look back on them and I just shake my head at a lot of those things I was able to learn from. and now you know I share those things with you and hopefully you don't make those same mistakes, but try one or two things from this podcast, especially if you ah you got some value from it, you know pick one of those.
00:35:39
Speaker
Find the right system because it makes all the difference. And with that being said, as always, i appreciate you listening and we will see you next week.