Welcome to the Second Group Nutrition Presentation.
Today, we’re going to be talking about “Limiting Factors to Progress.”
So hopefully, at least one, if not a few of these topics that we cover have affected
you in some way some time or they’re currently affecting you and we’re going
to come up with strategies to help in trying to eliminate these hurdles.
A lot of people aren’t aware of the dangers of sugar.
A lot of people focus on the amount of fat in their food and have heard
a lot of old wives’ tales about how damaging fat can be when actually,
what’s recognized as the biggest danger to health and to actually
causing a lot of obesity is a high sugar diet.
In this episode:
00:05 – Limiting factors to progress
00:28 – Hurdle 1: Eating out frequently
00:45 – Choose custom meals
02:06 – Don’t be afraid to substitute certain foods
02:28 – Choose compliant restaurants
02:52 – Hurdle 2: Busy life, little food prep time
02:59 – The Sunday Ritual
03:32 – The Breakfast Ritual
04:32 – Pre-chopping vegetables
05:35 – Hurdle 3: Lots of travel
05:44 – Choose a room with a kitchen if ever possible
06:28 – Bring protein supplements
07:28 – Hurdle 4: Busy social schedule
09:01 – Hurdle 5: Nutrition boredom
09:06 – You’re going to have to eat certain foods on a regular basis
10:40 – Summary: Look through the attachments
Transcript:
So to start with, Hurdle Number 1, which is eating out frequently. So, you may have to eat out a lot due to your occupation, you may travel a lot, or you just may enjoy eating out. And a lot of people find they have difficulty in making the right choices when they are eating out. So, an option to try and avoid this being a hurdle is to choose custom meals. When I say custom meals, I mean that you don’t actually have to eat the typical meals that are on the menu necessarily. You can look for meals that allow you to stick to your plan, but you can also order items that aren’t exactly on the menu. You can substitute things where you need to. So normally, you’re going to need to increase the protein portion. More than likely, you want to reduce the carbohydrate portion and bump up the amount of vegetables that you’re given on your meal.
Now, pretty much all restaurants you go to are more than happy to do this. They’re more than happy to try and assist you, the actual customer, rather than trying to stick to exactly what’s on the menu. So, typically you’re going to have to ask for extra meat, fish or whatever vegetarian protein you’re using and doubling the amount of vegetables. That’s a great guideline just to follow. Double the amount of meat, fish or vegetable protein and double the amount of vegetables.
It also would be very sensible to actually ask your waiter or your server exactly what you’re eating, e.g. a lot of meals can contain hidden high sugar additives in the sauces, which can really drive up the calorie cost of the meal. So make sure you actually ask what they’re putting into your food. And like I said before, don’t be afraid to substitute certain foods. A great habit to get into is literally just say before you order anything, “Please don’t bring the bread basket” because a lot of restaurants will automatically bring a bread basket as it’s cheap for them and it fills you up slightly as well.
Another option would be to try and choose compliant restaurants, and just on the top of my head, it was Nando’s that came to mind because I know you could get chicken and salads there. But, wherever you are, have a look around. Ask whoever you can what the compliant restaurants would be that are near you that you can go to.
On to Hurdle Number 2, which is having a busy life and not allowing much time for food preparation. So one of the strategies here would be what we call a “Sunday Ritual” where if you’re able, you check aside three hours or so every Sunday. Any day of the week will obviously do, but Sunday is normally easiest for most. And you’re going to write out a menu for the week and you’re also going to do your shopping for the week and prepare the meals for that week. And obviously, they’re going to be either refrigerated or frozen. This doesn’t have to be a finicky, really over the top compulsive affair. It’s literally just to make the rest of your week easier by doing a little food preparation work in advance.
Another ritual would be the “Breakfast Ritual.” So, some people find preparing food every morning the easiest way of doing things. So think about what your day holds under the best conditions, i.e. when everything goes exactly right. You’re able to leave home, you’re able to come home exactly when you want to, no one disrupts your day. And also, the worst. So maybe if you have to suddenly collect one of your children after sports practice. But think about what that day holds under the worst and best conditions so that you can prepare so that if anything were to crop up, you’ve got something prepared for you to get through it.
Another strategy would be precooking protein. So cooking all your protein at once and refrigerating can save an awesome amount of time. It’s normally the protein which takes the most amount of time to cook. So literally, either doing it on a Sunday or first thing in the morning, cooking all that protein for the day and then refrigerating it can save you a load of time.
Another option would be to pre-chop all your vegetables. So, it is normally best to chop your vegetables literally before eating them. However, a tactic you can use is to, when you do buy your vegetables, is chop up a large amount as soon as you bring them home, and then put them in a large container in the fridge so that they’re already there, already ready chopped, ready when you want to use them.
Now, another great strategy, one of my most favorite ones, is super shakes. So these are a great way to get nutrition into your body really, really easily. I’ve attached a load of recipes for different types of super shakes below this presentation. There are many different flavors, many different ingredients, so you’re more than likely going to be able to find at least one type of super shake that you can enjoy. And they substitute a meal and they’re a lot easier than having to carry around foods. So sometimes it’s not possible to store your food and take it with you, so a super shake is a great option.
Hurdle Number 3 is lots of travel. So, a lot of people have to travel a lot. I mentioned it slightly earlier. But if you do have to travel, looking for a room with a kitchen wherever possible is a great idea. So if you’re traveling a lot to America, Canada – and I know there are other countries that do it – there’s a large number of places to stay that do have kitchens. So make sure that you try and look for those, if possible. If a room with a kitchen is not available, you can still store foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, bottled water, cottage cheese, plain yoghurt, natural peanut butter, sliced chicken or turkey and mixed nuts in the room. And also, you can normally ask for a fridge, which makes the storing of those foods a lot easier as well.
Take along your protein supplements. A lot of people feel a bit funny when they’re taking any powders with them, but believe me, I’ve taken more than my fair share of proteins and pills and potions on flights with me and I’ve never had any issue. But what it does allow me to do is whenever I need to just nip back to a hotel room and have a quick protein shake or have a little bit of food so that I’m never left hungry, which obviously, we all know that it’s when we’re hungry that we’re really tempted by the bar snacks and all the bad food that normally hotels and things have to offer.
Another strategy would be to use homemade bars. Now, you’ll again have a look at the attachments for recipes for healthy homemade protein bars that you can cook up in advance to take with you on a trip. They’re very easy to store, they don’t normally require a refrigerator, so they’re a great snack that you can take with you when you’re traveling.
Hurdle Number 4 would be a busy social schedule. So this is where you’re out to dinner a lot and not necessarily in charge of the actual cooking. A great idea for this would be to actually have a snack or a pre-dinner meal before you’re going out. So if you’re away on work and you have to go and eat together, then having a super shake, or again, some protein, some quality vegetables and good fats before your dinner would be a great idea. I know we’re all taught not to spoil our appetite, but this is the one case where you’re looking to try and minimize the amount of food that you’re going to have to eat, particularly if it’s not a healthy available meal or restaurant. This way, you’re not going to be eating as much as you can from the meal because you’re going to be quite full already.
Another option for a busy social schedule – this is particularly if you’re eating out for friends and things – is to become the host. So normally, when you go away, it’s not appropriate to dictate what the menu is going to be when you’re eating at someone else’s house. So this way, if you were to become the host, as much as you’re able to, you’re able to actually choose what food and what nutrition you’re actually going to be providing. And obviously, you’re more likely to choose healthier foods that you want to eat for your goals.
Now Hurdle Number 5 is quite a large one, which is nutritional boredom. So, there is a bit of a reality in that you’re going to have to eat certain foods on a regular basis. Things like vegetables and protein. There’s no way around it. To succeed in the long term, you’ll have to keep these nutritional staples constant. So how do you keep from getting bored? Well, you keep the staples constant whilst changing your meals around. There are literally thousands of different ways to prepare lean meat, eggs, vegetables and other healthy foods. So, if boredom is happening, I’d say it’s time to look a little deeper into the way you’re actually the food.
So getting some cooking tips and different ideas from people. I know for me, it’s going to be from my mother or grandmother. Checking out different books. A lot of meals can be modified from recipe books to fit into your plan just by removing or substituting certain ingredients. Reading articles online about healthy cooking also provides inspiration. Ask us if you’d like direction, or literally, you can just Google search, and quite a few hundred healthy meal preparation ideas come up.
Another option would be a food magazine. Just remember to substitute any of those bad ingredients, which will make it healthy, but still keeps you changing your meals. And again, we’re going to provide as many recipes as we can. You’ll see that there’s more recipes today. So use them, try them out, and you’re going to find that just by changing the different types of meals that you’re having, that nutritional boredom is not a problem that you end up with.
So in summary, I’d like you to take a look through all the attachments that are below this presentation, particularly for the super shake recipes. They’re a really great habit to get into. And also, there’s more recipes for you to try.
So, I hope you enjoyed the second presentation, and I’ll see you next time! Thanks. Bye-bye.
