Many of the websites I’ve been reading online say that meal prep can take a little getting used to, they’re not wrong!

My first on the Zone plan.

I spent an hour or so last week planning a couple of week’s meals and then writing a shopping list, and about 3 hours on Sunday cooking everything. I hope that as I get the hang of it, that time will reduce, as I’m not sure my wife will be too happy if I spend 3 hours every Sunday morning in the kitchen.
 
With Zone, everything you eat is broken down into ‘blocks’. Generally, you have 3 meals and 2-3 snacks a day, the size of which depend on your body composition and how active you are. Every time you eat you have some form of protein, fat and carbohydrate, simple right?

The meals were pretty straightforward to prep, the hardest part is getting used to weighing or measuring the correct amounts. Once you get used to sizes it becomes easier, or so I’ve been told.
 
I tend to have the same breakfast most days (overnight oats or porridge) so I just measured out the correct portions and added extras to bump the fat/carb/protein ratios (protein is that hardest for breakfasts). On weekends when I have more time I plan to make omelettes or something involving eggs and bacon.

The other two meals I’ve made interchangeable, a lean protein like chicken, pork, beef or fish, carbs in the form of fruit and/or vege and fats usually made up of oils for cooking. I plan to swap these out every week so I don’t get sick of eating the same thing over and over.

I will definitely need to up my snack game over the next few weeks. A usual snack for me consists of a muesli bar, a piece of fruit, or something sweeter.  Having to eat a balanced combination protein, fat and carbs is proving a little more difficult than I first thought.

So far I’ve settled on yoghurt with fruit and nuts, but some of the other combos I’ve tried are kinda random. E.g. an apple, peanut butter, cheese, and an egg. Not something I’ve eaten together before, but it does the job.

A (not so) great start!

All my food prep for the week is complete and ready to go… and what do I do?! Leave my overnight oats sitting on the kitchen bench at home!

Not too worry, after a quick snoop around the work kitchen I managed to “borrow” someone’s oats and threw together a decent substitute. To top off that start, there were two separate work shouts which I did well to avoid.

The rest of the week went surprisingly well. I stuck to my plan and felt pretty good. The amount of food was enough to keep me full, so I didn’t really have cravings for sweet stuff.

I managed to add a cheat meal over the weekend, not because I wanted it, but because we were busy and didn’t really have time (couldn’t be arsed) to cook.

Even still, I picked Turkish as you can generally build your own meal and if you steer clear of the sauces it can be pretty healthy, but I struggled to eat it all.

Overall, a reasonably successful start to the changes I hope to make. 

Thanks for reading, and if you've got any questions, flick me a line at admin@crossfithuttvalley.com

Cheers

Shaun