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Preparing for BattleA Guide to Conquering Food Prep
by Mike Roussell
Every day that you wake up you're going to battle. It's your decision whether or not you're going to be the victor or the loser. Are you going to become leaner and more muscular that day? Or are you going to join the masses and work on developing your fat ass and heart-attack stomach?
For those who lift weights for a living, winning each day is easier because your physique is your number one priority. If you don't have that luxury and instead have those pesky things called commitments, what you need to do day-in and day-out to have the body you desire can become very difficult. Try convincing your girlfriend that while yes, "date night" is important, it's just not as important as leg day. That's a losing battle.
"But babe, barbells need love, too."
To develop a warrior physique while fighting off the junk food, office parties, four dollar pitchers of Long Island Ice Tea, and combating your commitments takes dedication, persistence, and planning. Often planning is the limiting factor, so I'm going to layout your battle plan. Soon you'll taste victory and be the envy of your peers.
Sunday Decides Everything
What you do on Sunday will make or break your nutritional and physique success throughout the week. Your routine on Sunday can be broken down into four main parts:
1. Planning2. Shopping3. Prepping4. Packing
Let's look at each one.
Planning
Planning all of your meals for the week on Sunday takes the "thinking" out of eating. If it's time to eat your afternoon snack on Wednesday and all you need to do is reach into your Hulk Hogan lunch box, pull out the food, and dig in, then it's very unlikely that you'll miss that meal.
Muscle to go.
However, if it's time to eat and you need to think about what you've eaten, decide what to have, track down those foods in the proper amounts, and then finally take a bite — the chances of you skipping that meal are much higher. Plan out the foods and meals that you're going to eat during the entire week — make no exceptions. Planning is the first step towards winning.
Shopping
Now that you have your meal plan, turn it into a shopping list and head off to the grocery store. Going to the store with a specific list of everything that you need for the week will prevent you from freestyle shopping. Freestyle shopping is when you wander the isles waiting for an advertisement to grab your attention. The end result is that your cart starts to resemble that of the fat-burdened creature in front of you. Leave the freestyling to rappers.
Get everything on the list and nothing else. Shopping with a comprehensive list will also prevent you from having to run to the market in the middle of the week. The last thing you want to do when you get home late from a long day is turn right back around because you need more broccoli. There's a good chance you'll end up skipping the broccoli and hitting the couch with an industrial sized bag of Tostitos.
Prepping
After you've planned your meals and purchased all of the food, the next step is to prep as much grub as possible. Here are some things that you need to do:
• Grab your favorite knife and slice 'n' dice those veggies. Store them in containers for easy access during the week.
• Get your protein sources squared away. I get chicken breasts from the store that can be as big as 12 ounces! Portion, season, cook, and store the tasty animals you're going to be eating throughout the week.
Chicken — portioned, seasoned, and ready for the deep freeze.
Measure out your Surge intake for the week in snack size Ziploc bags. Fill one bag with one scoop of Surge and five grams of creatine. Label this bag with a "P" for post-workout. Fill another bag with two scoops of Surge and label this bag "D" for during workout.
Make as many of these bag sets as you need for the week. Each morning, just toss a set of baggies into your cooler, and your workout nutrition is ready to go. If you use Metabolic Drive Complete during the week you can use this same strategy.
Packing
The final step is packing. Using your meal plan as a guide, pack up at least three days worth of meals in Tupperware or Pyrex containers and store them in the refrigerator. If you want to pre-pack all of your meals for the week, put Thursday, Friday, and Saturday's meals in the freezer, and take them out the night before they're to be devoured. You want to freeze those meals because Thursday afternoon meat that's been sitting in the fridge since Sunday begins to grow some funk.
Labeling your food containers with masking tape and a permanent marker makes it far easier to keep your meals and various foods organized.
A "battle ready" freezer.
Going to Battle
If you follow the steps that I've outlined above, each day when you get up all you'll need to do is throw your meals in your cooler and head out to the front lines. Dedicate yourself to planning, shopping, prepping, and packing each and every Sunday and you'll be well on your way to winning the physique battle.
About the Author
Mike Roussell is sports nutritionist and doctoral candidate in nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University. For more information about Mike and to get the free Top Secret Fat Loss Strategies special report and his free No B.S. Nutritionnewsletter visit NakedNutritionGuide.com.
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Scott "Old Navy" Hults, NFPT-CPT; NGA-CPT
FAME, NGA & IDFA Natural Master Pro Bodybuilder
FAME, NGA & OCB Contest Judge
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