As much as I would like to have a regimen that I follow to the letter every week, I have yet to exercise the self-discipline to implement this into my life. This is an area where I know I need to do some more Think By Design work.
Between running my practice, coaching CrossFit, Eat By Design Coaching, seminars, community events and getting to my weekly date night in Toronto, sometimes I get the sense that I am not running my schedule, it is running me.
The last several weekends in a row I have had events and celebrations (weddings and birthdays) that have taken me out of town. Even on a normal weekend, pretty much every Sunday I am in Toronto and then I drive back to London Monday morning. Before I lived in London, before I had a practice, when I was ‘just’ in school full time and working, I always did meal prep on Sunday. Always.
Over the past few months, however, Sunday meal prep has become a thing of the past. It has yet to be replaced with a Friday meal prep day, or a Tuesday meal prep day. However, I will be implementing a new meal prep day starting this week (you are now a witness to this commitment that I am making.)
Since I have spent the last eight months eating By Design on the fly, I thought it might be helpful to share some of my habits, in the event that you find yourself off of your schedule.
If Monday morning rolls around and you discover a mostly empty fridge:
Step 1: Do not panic.
Step 2: Take inventory of the fridge, freezer and pantry.
Step 3A: Determine if there is anything you can MacGyver into a meal that will hold you over for several hours.
In my books, the following qualify as perfectly acceptable MacGyver meals:
An avocado, kimchi and a pepperettes. No pepperettes left? There has got to be some jerky somewhere in the back of a shelf. No jerky? Canned salmon, for the win.
Coconut milk with a scoop of protein and raw cacao powder blended with water along side a small handful of almonds or mixed nuts. No protein? No problem. That coconut milk fat will get you through. No coconut milk? Got cream? Still counts.
Small amounts of everything left in the fridge put on one plate (or mixed together in one container).
Leftovers that do not smell bad yet.
Cheese, a green pepper and a cup of bone broth.
An egg scrambled, rolled in lettuce with a little cheese and hot sauce. Bonus points for finding a box of blueberries from the week before, picking out the gross mushy blueberries and eating the good ones.
Step 3B: If no meal is possible, if I have five minutes to spare, I hit a grocery store on the way to work.
Go-to items include:
Roasted chicken from the hot counter with a prepackaged salad or chopped vegetables.
A can of wild salmon (get one with a pull tab on top or you will be very sad when you can not find a can opener at work.) Also with a pre-made salad or sliced vegetables.
The highest quality sliced deli meat and cheese that they have, rolled into little bundles of joy. Also with a pre-made salad or sliced vegetables.
Alternatively, I may sub out the salad or vegetable option for an avocado, banana, or whole bulb of fennel that I rip apart and eat.
Step 3C: Absolutely no food and no time to stop? Fast – as in, do not eat. Fasting is much better for your body than grains or fast food.
The longer you Eat By Design and the more fat adapted you become, the easier fasting becomes.
Step 4: Execute my plan to get through the rest of the week with bare minimum food preparation.
As soon as you get the chance, hit a grocery store and get:
- A whole chicken
- A huge bin of salad
- A container of sliced vegetables
- A container of blueberries
- A couple of cans of coconut milk
- Some raw nuts
- Eggs
- Ground beef,
- Grass fed pepperettes or jerky or similar high quality “convenience meat”
- Cheese
- Organic cream
If the chicken goes in the slow cooker with some water and spices while you sleep, you are covered for lunch and/or dinner for the rest of the week (Tuesday to Friday). The bones of the chicken can then be put back into the slow cooker to make bone broth. The above grocery list items can be mish-mashed into everything on the list as quick MacGyver meals (review step 3A). Lastly, the ground beef can be used on a later day to make burgers or taco meat for dinner and a lunch or two.
I hope this helps! I know you are all busy, the trick to great results (and a happy, healthy life) is to keep “doing it” despite being disorganized or on the run.
If you have any strategies you use that get you through hectic weeks, please share them in our comments so everyone can benefit!
For more simple By Design recipes why not pick up your copy of the Eat By Design Cookbook. I’ve created it in the form of a 28-day meal plan (plus grocery lists!) so you don’t need to think about what’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner for the next month. Or you can grab the first 7 days FREE by clicking here.