FAILING TO PLAN = PLANNING TO FAIL

Failing to plan= planning to fail

By Anthony Noud

Sound familiar? You’ve heard this a thousand times before, you must schedule exercise into your day and plan your food to achieve your goals. I know this, because I myself have been through the weight loss journey losing  over 30 kilos of fat!

Sometimes I feel like a broken record, repeating the same things over and over again. Every time I partake in a seminar or talk with clients I worry someone is going to stand up and say, “get some new material!!” because I feel like I’m  saying the same thing over and over, the same thing you read in a hundred different articles a hundred different times…..if you fail to plan then you plan to fail. So why do so many people still struggle with planning their food and exercise into their lives?

On a daily basis I ask my clients…”so what’s for lunch?” or “what’s for dinner?” and have begun to notice some trends. Some will flat out lie to me! (I know, sad but true), But, if you were eating what you say you are, then you wouldn’t have a weight issue. Most people will say something like: “I have no idea” or “I’ll probably just get sushi or something ” or my favourite, “I’ll just get a salad,  that’s what I usually do.” These are the same people who say “ I love my food too much to be on a diet.” For people who love food so much, wouldn’t it make sense to take a second to at least consider what you‘re going to eat and what it’s going to do to help your mind and body?

I have clients of all shapes and sizes and all different lifestyles and professions. Some have sedentary jobs, some travel on a weekly basis and others who have to be in shape or at a certain weight as part of their job. Regardless of work or family commitments, time constraints, travel, or incidental exercise one thing is always constant: clients who are overweight and particularly those frustrated and struggling to lose weight (or constantly fluctuating) are not sticking to any kind of structured meal plan and my leanest, healthiest clients could rattle off exactly what they are going to eat today at the drop of a hat and in most cases have already prepared it themselves.

Some of the most common excuses I hear for eating rubbish food is that “I wasn’t prepared”, “it’s all I could get my hands on” or “work was so busy that I ran out of time to prepare something”.  Without a basic plan of what you should eat on a daily basis you are likely to make poor choices. Eating the wrong foods at the wrong times, opting for unhealthy take away, skipping meals because you don’t have anything prepared all lead to overeating, energy slumps and a general unhealthy lifestyle. Going about your day “hoping” to stumble across healthy food is a plan destined for failure.  Lets face it, how can you have ANY hope of losing weight if you don’t even know when, how much or even what you are eating??

Long hours at work? So busy you can’t remember the last time you had a lunch break? Have to cook for the partner and kids? Or the dreaded “work lunches/dinners and Friday afternoon nibblys?” They are all the same thing, EXCUSES! Prepare all of your meals the day (or days) before and you will actually SAVE TIME (not to mention money) by not having to think of what to eat, leave the office, line up, order and then pay for what is most likely a poor meal choice anyway… and you haven’t even eaten it yet!  

If you’re finding it all a bit daunting because you think it’s too hard, will take too much time to shop and pre-prepare your meals then take five minutes of your time to write down what you think you should eat on an average day. Then, expand this to cover an entire week of meals. My guess is that it looks something like:

Breakfast:       cereal/muesli and milk OR piece of toast with a spread

Morning tea:  piece of fruit (if anything at all)

Lunch:            protein (chicken, ham, tuna etc) and salad (plus or minus bread or a wrap)

Afternoon tea:piece of fruit or biscuits/similar snack food

Dinner:           pasta or rice + meat variation eg;spag bowl, stir fry etc

                        OR

                        Vegetable + meat/fish variation eg; meat and 3 veg,    

Do days 4, 5 and 6 look pretty similar to days 1,2 and 3? Do I hear a resounding yes Anthony they do? This means that at most you have NINE different basic food “items” in your average day and most are repeated throughout the day every single day. When you look at it this way, does it really seem so hard to plan,  purchase and prepare? When you exercise, you break it down, just apply that same principle to planning your meals and you’ll be surprised how easy, simple and quick it is.

You can keep your meal plan as simple or as complicated as you like and I find each individual is different. Some people prefer an extremely simple yet highly structured “to the gram” approach. Personally I find myself time poor and choose to eat largely the same meal 5 times a day, with similar snacks and dinners day in and day out. This works for me as I only have to cook and pack my meals once a day, and I am confident in the knowledge that every gram is accounted for and has been prepared by me, in line with my personal goals. I can always choose to relax this and have “cheat” meals.

Others can’t fathom the idea of such a strict and repetitive diet. Instead, together we write up a daily, weekly, or even monthly plan for each and every meal they are going to eat. We add as much variety as possible and stick to a daily calorie target. Most people fall somewhere in between and together, we find a happy medium between both extremes where most main meals are similar in nature, and snacks are varied.

Surprise, Surprise…. ALL of the people that follow the plan are either at their goal weight (maintenance) or extremely close to their goal weight. With the common denominator being they all KNOW what they are going to eat next at any time on any given day. Ask the “skinny bitch” in your office or circle of friends what she eats and my bet is that she could tell you exactly what she will have, including a rough idea of portion size.

Modern day shopping makes it even easier with items such as 90 second rice, pre prepared and portioned fresh salads, single serves of just about everything from tuna to bread to cheese all labeled with nutritional advice for each.  You can even get all of your fresh fruit and vegetables delivered to your door via the internet! I am not saying these are your best option but in terms of preparing your own vs. purchasing take away this leaves the “I don’t have time” classic truly null and void.

I understand this article doesn’t cover what you should be eating, from which macronutrient sources nor does it touch on portion sizes. It is simply a call to get your head out the sand and take stock of what you are currently eating, and make a decision to take some responsibility for what goes in your mouth.

In order to get the most from your body you need to be honest about the food you are putting into it. You then need to understand what impact it has on your body. With the right knowledge you can make the right choices.

Take a moment to sit down and THINK about what you are going to eat tomorrow before you queue up for that sushi roll. What’s the worst that could happen? Save time and money? Possibly lose weight and feel healthier? 

Here’s the thing and I know this from my own personal weight loss journey. If you want to lose weight, and I mean deep down honestly are ready to do what you must to shed that layer that for whatever reason you’ve been holding onto, then you have to be brutally honest, at the very least with yourself, about what you eat. You didn’t develop unhealthy eating habits overnight and you’re not going to change them overnight either. But, by planning your meals you have a structure that will help you make those changes and shed that weight.

In conjunction with PURE health clubs http://www.purehealthclubs.com.au I have created the PURE and clean dietary plan that is tailored to each individuals specific sex, height, weight, activity level and desired goals. It outlines exactly what you should be eating, how much of it and when- tailored to your body’s own nutritional requirements.

Whether you are looking to lose a lot of weight, those stubborn last few kilos, or maintain a photoshoot ready physique the PURE and clean dietary plan will work for you.

For more information contact me personally: anthony@purehealthclubs.com.au