Friday with Heidi: P is for…

We’re back full pelt at Fit Camp.

I thought we would be, Sunday Wake Up! was buzzing this week with lots of returners after the holidays with the new mantra of ‘lets-do-this’.

They didn’t say it out loud – but I could see it in their eyes 🙂

I’ve also had quite a few conversations with people this week who are either in camp and wanting to improve their health a little after the holidays and also with the new participants in my new programme that started last week. (I’ve called it ‘The Programme With No Name’. No prizes for why!)

The biggest problem for anyone wanting to shift some pounds to feel better is down to primarily one thing. If you can get this right, the rest is easy.

Planning.

Yeah, I know it’s boring. It’s almost as boring as hearing that you need to drink more water. But if you’re not getting this done there’s no point counting protein and carbs, fats and sugars if you don’t have the right foods in place in the first place. You will probably end up eating any old scrap when you’re ravenous or ordering a take-away.

So, this week I thought I’d share some preparation ideas to remind you what you can do to make this process easier. Afterall, it’s not like you don’t know, you’ve just forgotten than you do know!

• make a list of all the meals the family likes to eat (this makes meal planning easier)
• make a meal plan for the meals you want to serve each week before you go shopping (don’t forget our menu plans on the website for some ideas)
• make your list for these meals. Sounds obvious, but how often do you want to make, say, a Bolognese only to find that you’re out of tinned tomatoes?
• you don’t need to stick rigidly to it, but knowing that you have the right stuff helps.
• batch cook. This simply means make more than you need. Freeze the extra and you have ready-meals that are homemade. If you only have one portion over, have it for your lunch the next day.
• use Kilner jars to prepare lunches for the week. This article explains it way better than I could.
• be kind to yourself. Your family, and you, will survive if one night you have toasted sandwiches or scrambled eggs for dinner. It’s still better than a takeaway and it’s quick and does the job. I was only thinking this week how things have changed. My evening meal as a child was never quite so fancy as we serve now. I remember jam omelettes being a posh-tea at our house!
• prepare foods like carrots, peppers, celery, broccoli after you’ve bought them. A quick wash, chop and into tupperware boxes keeps them crisp and easy to use and snack on.
• hard boil a load of eggs for lunches, breakfasts and snacks and keep in the fridge.
• prepare your breakfast the night before. Chia seed pudding and overnight oats are both better when left overnight.
• cook quinoa in a large batch, allow to cool and keep in the fridge for the week, adding to meals as necessary. Not such a good idea with rice — cook rice when you need it.
• freeze goodies. If you home bake and are worried that you’ll eat them all before Tuesday comes around. Freeze each muffin or biscuit or cake in an individual bag and take it out of the freezer in the morning. It will be defrosted by the time you, or your family eat it at lunchtime.

So there you go…a few ideas to help you through September.

I hope that helps get you started.

If you want to get a bit active too, please come and join us at our Sunday Wake Up!sessions each week at Bearwood Recreation Ground, Winnersh. It’s at 9am, open to all and a great way to start your Sunday!

P.S I am running another 12 Steps To Nurturing Your Self Esteem this Wednesday 14 September at 19:30 at the Wokingham Cricket Club. You can book your free seat here.

We’d love to see you!