Most of us are turning to fat loss goals this week. As we lead such busy lifestyles it can be a challenge fitting work, training, family responsibilities, etc into one day! However, the one thing you should NOT skimp on is your nutrition. In fact the worst thing you can do is start reaching for convenient, processed foods. To hit your 2016 fat loss and health goals you just need to get a bit smarter and more organised with your food preparation. These top ten tips will have you whipping up tasty and nutritious meals for you and the family in no time.
1) Plan Your Meals
This is such a simple step, yet it’s essential for making life easier! We’ve been doing this for all our members in Fitter 365 for their Epic in 2016 January plan. Planning your meals means the decision has been made, so when your finish work a little mentally fatigued you don’t even need to think about your evening meal. You can grab the ingredients and get cracking as soon as you get in that kitchen. If you know you’re having a late night or a busy day then schedule in a quicker meal that evening – we can even help out as we posted lots of ideas in our blog on emergency meals. Get a black/white board and get the kids involved too, you can plan it together over the weekend so everyone gets their favourite dish on the weekly menu.
2) Get Organised
There is nothing worse than not knowing where things are in the kitchen cupboards when you are trying to cook a meal quickly. We recently invested in a spice and herb rack on a spinning wheel, it hardly takes up any room and we fill it with the herbs and spices we use most commonly so we know exactly where they are. One weekend try to get all of your cupboards organised to speed up the cooking process as searching for ingredients in overfilled, unorganised cupboards will just drive you nuts and ruin what such be a calm and mindful experience – not to mention increase the risk of you burning something as you hunt high and low for the missing item! Think about the logic to your kitchen cupboards next time you unpack the shopping, chances are things could be organised better making ingredients easy to access.
3) Get a Decent Knife & Keep It Sharp
You don’t think twice about some decent footwear to improve your performance in the gym and a good knife in the kitchen is just the same. Just one will suffice if it’s a good’un. A good quality knife will save you so much time in the kitchen when chopping vegetables (which if eating Fitter Food you do a LOT!). Most decent knifes will last years so you get a great return on your investment. We love Global and ours has lasted us 3 years so far so it’s worth the extra expense.
4) Nail Your Fave Five
We always recommend finding five meals that you know by heart and are confident that anyone you are cooking for love will love too – this means you can knock them together pretty quickly, even if entertaining! Homemade burgers, soups or fajitas are some good examples, all incredibly tasty and take very little time to prepare. We have over 150 quick, tasty recipes in our latest book Fitter Food: A Second Helping, it can be your cooking bible for 2016! Burgers are a regular feature in the FF kitchen as they’re so easy to make and you can add veggies, herbs and spices to pack in extra nutrients. The burger shack chapter in our book includes turkey, red pepper and chorizo burgers, Greek style burgers with homemade Tzatziki and even a curry in a burger, BOSH!
5) Get Good Kitchen Scissors
Sounds obvious but sometimes instead of getting out the chopping board to cut meat or poultry it’s quicker to slice and dice with some good old kitchen scissors instead. They’re also great for chopping up vegetables and salads.
6) Batch Cook
This is a favourite for us, we never cook just enough for one meal, we always cook in batches so we have leftovers for lunch or breakfast the next day or to freeze for a later date. As much as we love food and cooking, life is too short to live in the kitchen so start whipping up giant batches of burgers, chilli con carne and huge Shepherd’s pies that you can freeze in individual portions as a homemade ‘ready’ meal.
7) Invest In A Slow Cooker
If you don’t have one, get one. Such an essential piece of kitchen kit. It not only saves time but also makes any dish taste absolutely amazing, meat just melts in your mouth after a few hours in one of these bad boys. To save even more time you can prepare the ingredients the night before, add them to the slow cooker dish and place that it in the fridge. In the morning remove from the fridge and allow it to raise to room temperature (if you put the cold dish straight on it will crack) and then switch it on as you head off to work. You will come home to the most amazing aromas in your kitchen and a mouth watering dish that’s ready when you are.
8) Pack The Next Days Lunch As You Make Dinner
Simple one here but have your lunch tupperware ready next to your dinner plate and simply box up lunch as you dish up dinner. That’s lunch sorted and it will you going back for seconds aiding portion control too.
9) Prepare Breakfast The Night Before
Decide what breakfast will be and do whatever you can the night before. For example if having an omelette, beat your eggs the night before and chop the omelette fillers such as peppers, onions, tomatoes etc. all ready in a bowl. Have the pan out on the stove ready to go and any other ingredients on the side. These little things will just save a few minutes here and there, making the process more effortless and easy.
10) Keep The Kitchen Clean, Tidy and Ready To Go
There is nothing worse than a messy kitchen to cook in. Make sure its tidy and the sink and dishwasher are on standby so you can clean and wash up as you go. This is so much less stressful, makes it easier to manoeuvre around the kitchen and of course there’s less to clean up at the end.
(Sadly this isn’t our kitchen 🙁 We food prep like a boss and if you would like to do the same with ease and get amazing results on your fat loss journey then come join us over at Fitter 365 with meal plans, training programmes and loads of coaching and support from the Fitter Food Team.
See you in there!
