Look, one of the things that makes people procrastinate meal prep is two things, #1 Lack of Knowledge about how or what to prepare. #2 Straight up laziness!!!
Because I understand, meal prep is time consuming. Having to weigh out all your foods, having to pack all the separate containers, so much bs, so much time, you’d rather watch netflix! I get it!
But meal prep is KEY to staying on point! You HAVE to do it so that way you are accurate as hell with your calories/macros. You HAVE to do it so you can create the calorie deficit you need to melt body fat so that way you can get lean, defined, and sexy. You HAVE to do it if you want to optimize your workouts and the time you are investing into your training. You have to do it if your health is your number 1 priority. Its a must!
Because if you dont, guess what happens?
You binge on some bs! You make dumb food choices, eating all the wrong stuff which leads to cravings for more wrong stuff, and you overeating and gaining more body fat. Or at best, preventing your fat loss.
NO!
If you want the body, you gotta master NUTRITION! Meal prep is a must!!!
But I understand how much of a pain it is which is what led me to discovering some meal prep hacks that I am going to share with you right now. That photo at the top of example meal prep, yea, we dont do that. Ever. Theres a better way.
But first lets tell you some facts about your body you probably dont know.
#1. You already have a 6 pack guys. Yep, you heard that right. You already have defined arms, legs, stomach ladies. You just cannot see it because you have a thick layer of body fat covering it. You can be light on the scale, and undefined, aka skinny fat.
Typically the look women are going for where they are sexy, defined, lines in the stomach, maybe a hint of abs, is under 14% body fat. The inspirational models you see on insta are usually around 10-12%.
Just to give you an idea. Thats measured on dexa scan or an Inbody 570. Dunking is meh, the hand helds are meh, the scales are usually off, so are most trainers when they pinch. I personally only trust Inbody(i have one in my gym) but the dexa is the pinnacle of accuracy. It just takes forever.
Men to be RIPPED like most of you guys want to be thats about 6%. Youll start to see a hint of abs as you start to get below 10% but it wont look awesome until 5-6%.
I say this because most people think they need to ADD muscle to see the muscles, NOPE. You need LESS FAT on your body to reveal the muscles. Cuz if you add muscle to your already high body fat frame youll just look like pillbury dough boy.
The body you want is going to come from LOW body fat levels.
#2. You do NOT need to eat every 2.5 – 3hrs 5 to 6x per day!
Say what?!!!
Fact! Science proves it, I prove it, my clients prove it. The only thing that determines your results whether you are burning body or storing body fat is your total calorie intake/macros for the day/week.
So the ol “Im not eating frequently enough so I cant lose any weight” is bs. Your body never stops burning calories, EVER! You burn 24/7, you are just pigging out when you DO eat overconsuming calories. Then topping it off with dessert.
So what this means is that you do NOT need to prep 6 meals every day. Woohoo!
Its always a calorie game and the meals dont matter, you do NOT need to “stoke the metabolic flame” thats horseshit.
So if you are eating 1 meal a day at 2000 calories, vs 6 meals a day at 2000 calories the results are similar. Actually doing the 6 may actually SLOW you down due to the constant digestive activity and constant release of insulin.
Personally I recommend doing 3. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Or just lunch and dinner if you like to fast. Its all about the TOTALS for the day and week that determines your results. So 1,2 or 3 take your pick.
#3. Understand how you gain fat and lose fat.
Its very simple, you gained more body fat because you over ate on hundreds, or even 1000s of days. If you are NOT working out every day, you are easily overeating and storing fat.
For Example:
Women burn 1300 at rest, just to survive. Add in workout she can burn 2000 total for the day.
If she doesnt workout and only burns 1300, eats 1400 she gets fat. Shes in 100 calorie surplus. All excess calories get stored. Thats not even a lot of food.
If she doesnt workout burns 1300 naturally, then eats out, eats poorly, could consume 3500+ and not even be full. Now shes storing 1900 calories as fat. Wow! Thats over 1/2lb of pure fat stored in just one day!
Now if she burns 1300 naturally, worksout now shes at 2000 burned for the day. If she limits her intake to 1400, now she creates a calorie deficit and BURNS FAT.
2000 burned – 1400 eaten = 600 calories missing (deficit)
This forces the body to dig into its own body fat to get the calories. This is fat loss. This is how you get lean. This is how you get sexy.
This is the ONLY way the human body will burn fat. The ONLY!
“But Im only eating 1000 calories per day and I just cant lose any weight!” -person clearly not eating 1000 calories per day.
Its a proven fact! Deficit creates loss 100% of the time. Its not your thyroid, its not your slow metabolism, its not your genes, its not your water, its your MOUTH!
You’re clearly overeating somehow, miscalculating, not weighing portions, not tracking your intake on an app, not being accurate, cheating, finishing kids food(yea, I know you moms), etc.
No Deficit, NO LOSS. Period!
With that said 2000 calories of junk and 2000 calories of protein and veggies is going to have a completely different metabolic and hormonal effect. Yes, its still deficit, youll still lose, but the loss will come from muscle, hormones be wrecked, and youll look and feel like crap.
So when I say create a deficit Im saying with healthy foods, and most your calories coming from protein, fats, and veggies.
Got it?
Lets recap that, GET low body fat levels to get sexy, dont eat 6x per day eat 3 or less, and create a deficit!
Now that we got that out of the way lets talk about the meal prep hacks that will prevent you from wasting hours a day meal prepping, and will make you SUPER ACCURATE with your calories and macros to create a deficit!
So here is the hack, buy foods that are already precut, pre weighed, prepacked, or come pre measured by nature. Just like this photo here below!
1lb Ground turkey 680 cals
1lb ground beef 960 cals
Eggs 70-100 calories
1lb bag frozen veggies under 150 cals bag
Turkey bacon 40 cals slice.
Beef patties (Not shown)
Turkey patties (Not shown)
Med apple (Not shown)
You can literally hack your meal prep and never weigh a thing by doing this.
For example a Womens Day:
Ladies
1lb pack turkey
1/2lb ground beef (cut pack in half)
1lb broccoli
1 med apple
Under 1400 calories and macros on point!
Guys Day:
1lb pack turkey
1lb pack beef
2lbs veggies
1 med apple.
This is under 2000 and your macros are on point.
Simple! And this gives you a lil wiggle room if you are adding butter, or oils to cook with. MEASURE those! They add up quick.
But as you can see if you do these premeasured products meal prep is a cinch!
So all you gotta do is make breakfast at home, cook one quick meal for lunch, eat dinner at home. Viola!!! You’re all set and on point!
This is literally how I live year round!
Simple, Right?!
I thought so too. I teach this to my clients, and in both my books, and now Im teaching you!
Share this with your spouses, and training partners. The more people you have on the same page as you around you the faster you will get results and keep them.
So if you liked what you read make sure you subscribe to my email list and Ill send you recent posts!
If you ever have any questions, need help, hit me up via facebook here
https://www.facebook.com/daymondsewall
Until next time!
Daymond Sewall
Founder/CEO Phenomenal Fitness
