Time and health are the most precious commodities you have in life and they are best traded off doing things you like with people you like. 90% of Americans don't like to cook. If you're one of them and prefer to never compromise on quality and lead a fulfilling life, from interpersonal relationships to adventures to tasty culinary experiences while staying fit and lean, this is your plan. We've tested this ourselves and live by it. Here are some key pointers on this plan:
- When you're buying entrees or packaged foods, try to find something that has high protein and a moderate amount of carbohydrates and fat in it. For instance, a meat bowl with 20g protein, 10g fat, and 15g carbohydrates is excellent. Yogurts can come loaded with sugars and fruit syrups.
- Yogurts sweetened with non-nutritive sweeteners such as sucralose are excellent.
- Protein is essential for building your body and should be part of the morning, afternoon, and evening eating. Fats and carbohydrates are interchangeable fuels that are also your fat gain or fat loss levers.
- The goal is to create something sustainable using foods you enjoy and get you results.
- If you find more time that you've saved from cooking, bring in a workout routine that may also allow some social engagement. This could include yoga, workout classes, dance, hiking, rock climbing gym, cycling club, running, or anything you've always wanted to do as a fun and social routine! You may meet like-minded people on this journey too while resistance training is one of the best energy sinks that will aid in your weight normalization or becoming lean journey.
- You can still go out socially and have meals with friends at evenings or events. The goal of this plan is to allow you to create a basic routine that you can use in the background.
- Liquid calories(eg. Sugar and fat fraps) or isolated nutrients(syrups, oils, butter) are usually the biggest culprits in fat gain. You can find substitutions for those. For example, if you like BBQ sauce, you can try to find a zero-calorie sweetened version of that sauce instead. It will all add up!
- Though this plan isn't plant-based, you can substitute plant-based meats or alternatives. In that case, you may want to add more protein for each meal to compensate for the slightly lower quality of amino acids in plant-based proteins.
This plan will serve as a template that you can evolve once you have a better understanding of the foods you enjoy and how food structure plays a key role in your health and fitness.
Morning
Pick 2-4 items from below:
- Energy Pod
- Eggs
- Fruit
- Black coffee (Optional: Splenda, low-fat creamer)
- Yogurt (low fat, sweetened, no added sugar)
- Meat, cheese, and egg burrito
- Protein shake
- Granola sweetened with non-nutritive sweetener
- Quick oats with chopped fruit and non-nutritive sweetener
- Caffeinated pre-workout (alternative to coffee)
Mid-Day & Snack:
Pick two items from below:
- Energy Pod
- Veggie Burrito
- Trail Mix
- Nuts
Evening:
Pick 1-3 items from below:
- Frozen meat, rice, mushroom, beans & veggie dish
- Side of greens
- Tofu Burger & fries (low/no sauce)
- Frozen chicken crust pizza
- Rotisserie chicken with a side of low-fat air fries and greens
- Meat salad (low/no sauce, zero-calorie sauce)
- Protein shake
Optional Healthy Dessert:
Optional Social Drinks:
They are not healthy but may be fine on social occasions:
- Hard liquor
- Wine
- Light beer
- Low-sugar or sugar-free cocktails