We are excited to share this special guest post from Rebecca the Dietitian! We recognize how much the way you fuel your body influences your exercise results, and are excited to be able to bring you Rebecca’s sound eating advice to help you optimize your health, enjoy eating and get the most out of your workouts. We hope you will check out her post below and look forward to learning more from her. If you are in need of more guidance when it comes to nutrition, her comprehensive course, “Nourished & Fit” teaches you everything you need to know in order to lose weight, increase your energy, and balance your hormones (while enjoying delicious food of course)! Along with the course you will be invited to monthly group calls and a private Facebook community of amazing, supportive women. Please check out this link here to learn more (be sure to use the code ‘JSTV’ for a 30% discount).
Are you ready to build strength this summer? Of course to get strong you will need the right strength training program, but you can take that program to the next level and optimize your results by incorporating these simple nutrition tips.
#1: Plan Ahead
You learned in last month’s blog that it’s important to fuel your workout with regular meals and snacks. The problem is that most of us ladies are movers and shakers and if we don’t plan our nutritious options ahead of time we may end up skipping food or grabbing a less healthy choice.
Keep running lists of meal and snack options that you enjoy. Make a simple plan for each week so that you can shape your shopping list accordingly and have the right ingredients at home. It’s a great idea to keep a list in your phone of foods that you need so that if you get the opportunity for an impromptu stop at the store you can quickly restock. You can meal prep on the weekends or evenings so that you have some healthy options to grab on the run. You can also let the store meal prep for you with options like salad kits or frozen stir-fry blends.
#2: Figure Out a Simple Routine
It’s a great idea to eat the same foods on repeat if you have one or two healthy go-to breakfast, lunch, or snack options that you love. This makes for simple planning and shopping. For example, I almost always make overnight oats ahead of time so that I can grab it when I need to head out the door first thing, but on mornings at home I make smoothie bowls that take extra time to prepare and enjoy. Sometimes social media makes us feel like we should be trying to figure out a new gourmet meal at every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That all sounds lovely, but it’s simply unrealistic for most of us.
#3: Keep Emergency Options Handy
Even with the best intentions, sometimes things don’t go as we planned. Keeping healthy snacks like fruits and veggies, or nuts with you at all times will ensure that you have nourishing foods available if needed. You will also want to keep some super-fast healthy meal options at home. I like to keep healthy frozen meals and quality soups around for fast options. Frozen veggies are super nutritious and convenient to add to fast meals for extra nutrients. I like to heat up frozen brown rice with a can of beans and top it with salsa for a fast, easy, filling meal. There will be times when you didn’t get to the store to stock up on fresh foods or you just don’t feel like spending a lot of time cooking, and having these simple, fast meals available can make all the difference (instead of ordering pizza on-the-regular).
#4: Map Out Healthy Options on Your Regular Route
In reality sometimes we just haven’t made it to the store or things run late and we end up hungry when we’re not near home. It’s a great idea to find some healthy options that you like around the places that you normally end up (like near your work or your daughter’s dance studio). Starbucks has a lot of great healthy options like salads and snack boxes with fruit and whole grain crackers. Panera and Chipotle are two other options with a lot of great options (choose whole grains, brown rice, extra veggies, and go easy on the cheese and sour cream). A grocery store is a great place to stop to grab a deli sandwich or a grab and go salad with some fruit. Even a lot of gas stations now carry fresh sandwiches, salads, fruit cups, and trail mixes.
With a bit of forethought you will be able to ensure that you fuel your body before and after your workouts to get optimal results from your strength training routine. Have fun with it. Figure out what makes you feel amazing, and celebrate every time you make a healthy choice to nourish your body.
If you would like extra-special support in shifting your nutrition to get optimal results this year, I would be so honored to work with you. I have put together a fun and super-comprehensive course that teaches you everything you need to know in order to lose weight, increase your energy, and balance your hormones (while enjoying delicious food of course)! Along with the course you will be invited to monthly group calls and a private Facebook community of amazing, supportive women. Please check out this link for a special price only for the Jessica Smith community.
MORE HELPFUL POSTS FROM REBECCA:
EATING AND EXERCISE: WHAT TO EAT BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER YOUR WORKOUT FOR BEST RESULTS
TOP 4 NUTRITION SHIFTS THIS YEAR FOR A STRONGER, HEALTHIER BODY
3 WAYS TO CURB EMOTIONAL EATING
TOP 3 NUTRITION MYTHS YOU STILL BELIEVE THAT ARE KEEPING THE SCALE STUCK
3 REASONS TO STOP LABELING FOOD AS ‘GOOD’ OR ‘BAD’
Great tips. It’s really in the diet. Yes, training hard does matter but you cannot outdo crappy nutrition.
Thank you for this