Training updates and being prepared for eating clean

So training and eating are coming along pretty well. It's been 18 days since I switched back to my strict eating plan and I seem to be dropping some body fat already. I've made some good progress while holding onto my gains. I trained shoulders with D on Wednesday and Ash on Saturday, and my shoulders blew up so well. I'm really starting to get the V shape I'm after, and I don't think my shoulders have looked bigger. My stomach seems to be flattening out and my morning abs are back! Woohoo!

18 May 2014

The clean eating thing has reminded me that one of the hardest things about living a fitness conscious lifestyle is that it is really hard to stick with. Staying on course takes an inordinate amount of planning and perseverance. Here are some of my tips for helping me stay prepared for clean eating.

1) Prep your meals in advance 

Whether you do it the night before or once a week, I can't stress how much easier it is to stick to your meal plan when you're prepared. It's so much easier to avoid temptation to, because even if you feel like something else, your lazy brain will be like "urgh but I already made food I am not going outside to get takeaways." I always make sure I know exactly what I'm eating for the week and do my supermarket shopping to a strict list, I know how much I need of everything. 

2) Have the right tools for the job

"Hi my names AJ and I'm a plastic container hoarder" ..seriously though, have the right tools for making sure you're prepared.  My life is full of little plastic containers for dividing up all my food, making it easier just to throw it in the fridge and in my bag in the morning. I also have two different sized cooler bags, 2 giant water bottles (one at home and one at work) and a variety of plastic cutlery I can throw in my bag and not worry about losing them. This is all super important for making sure I can eat my meals on the go

3) Know your portion sizes - weigh and measure everything

How I manage what I eat is by watching my portion sizes and weighing and measuring everything.  My teeny kitchen scales are the most used item in my kitchen and are so handy. You can pick up scales for as cheap as $4 at Briscoes, so there's no excuse for not having a set on your bench at home. If you have them there you're more likely to use them and stick to what size portions you should be eating.

So these are a couple of things I use to keep my eating on track, take my meals with me and stick to my goals.

Speaking of goals, I set a few smaller ones this week to help me keep motivated and add new things into my routine. Last week I aimed to do three cardio sessions which I achieved. This week I'm aiming for 3 cardio sessions, three posing sessions and 3 foam rolling sessions. I have done 3/3 cardio sessions, 2/3 posing sessions but 0/3 foam rolling sessions (oops!). My training week ends on Tuesday so I think I'll achieve what I want to do by then. I'm going to keep adding more of these as I keep going.

xox AJ xox