DINNER
Now that I have discussed my breakfast and lunch tips, it's time for dinner!!
First off, before discussing my tips, I want to preface by saying that my all-day nutrition tips are designed to help you fuel smarter, eat healthier and develop or maintain a healthy (or healthier) relationship with food and your body. There are no rules or guidelines as to when to eat or even exactly what to eat. There are no bad foods to avoid or even a list of clean foods to eat.
My goal is to help athletes fuel and eat smarter all in an effort to maintain a healthy body composition, keep the body in good health and of course, boost fitness and perform amazingly well on race day!!
-Dinner is often the "Achilles heal" of most people in our society. For a variety of reasons like being tired and hungry, wanting food fast, feeling too busy or not liking/wanting to cook, sitting down at the table to a home-cooked meal is not an every day occurrence for many. But for athletes, with so much to squeeze into the day, there is great reason as to why dinner may be an afterthought. BUT - that is no excuse. You have to prioritize dinner.
Here are my big tips for ensuring that you can enjoy a dinner meal even as a super busy athlete:
-Prepare meals on the weekend and always plan for leftovers.
-A little meal prep goes a long way. Dice, chop, wash, cook - do as much as you can when you have the time so you at least have options for a upcoming meal.
-Prep a meal (as much as possible) before a workout so you don't finish your workout hungry with no patience to meal prep.
-Have a menu for the week. Knowing what you will eat for dinner will ensure that you have those items for dinner. No need to make this menu extravagant, just make a plan. As far as I know, athletes love having a plan to follow.
-Allow yourself one night a week to get a little help from a pre-made meal. Rather than dining out (which takes time to wait for food, eat and pay and travel to and from the restaurant), order out or pick-up food and then use your extra time after dinner to prep a meal for the next day.
-Stop wasting time on stuff that takes up time. Think about your day when you are home. Often times, the cooking and meal prep is an afterthought and athletes get busy doing something else and then when it is time to eat/cook, hunger is too great that the athlete needs something quick and easy. Look at your day to see if there is 10-30 minutes in the morning, when you get home from work (or a workout) or evening that you can do some cooking.
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As an athlete, food should be high on your to-do list. This means eating, cooking and planning. There's no need to be obsessed and there is nothing wrong with the occasional off day of eating food prepared outside of the home.
Above all, you should love to eat as it is the best way to keep your body in good health and boost your fitness - and who doesn't want both of those??
Above all, you should love to eat as it is the best way to keep your body in good health and boost your fitness - and who doesn't want both of those??
You know how important consistency is with training and the results you get when you can stick to your training plan. Put a similar amount of passion, effort and enthusiasm into your daily diet (and fueling regime) so that you can feel what it is like to properly fuel and nourish your body in motion.
If you struggle with daily eating as it relates to your busy lifestyle or body composition or performance goals, send me an email so we can work together to figure out the best fueling plan to meet your health and fitness goals.