I want to share a story that I am pretty sure you can relate to.
Because it’s about … drumroll …
“What’s for dinner?”
The answer is a never-ending nightly struggle, am I right?!
We make so many decisions every day - and by the time dinner rolls around - it’s like an endless loop trying to figure out what to eat.
For me, this struggle came to a head one night when I was standing in front of the fridge, trying to figure out what to make.
The same way I did almost every single night.
It wasn’t like I didn’t have any food on hand. I’d even gone food shopping over the weekend and stocked up on healthy food.
But everything required work – and time. It involved COOKING.
And honestly, I felt so tired and stressed out by the whole thing.
I just didn’t feel like making anything.
Then the 'Just Eat' app started calling my name!!
So I opened my phone and ordered takeaway.
Even though I knew it was going to set me back on my goals.
Can you relate?
Being stuck in that cycle is the WORST … because it’s way too easy to click that Uber Eats / Deliveroo / Just Eat button on your phone.
It's so damn easy and convenient!
Sometimes you’re not even sure you WANT to break out of it because it does make your life a little easier.
But when you look at the big picture…
● You end up consuming WAY more calories than you wanted to,
● There’s likely a lot more sodium (and other unwanted ingredients) in your food,
● And it’s not nearly as nutritious as if you were to make it yourself.
Here are three things I did to break out of the loop:
1. I got over the blame game with myself and analysed why my “meal prep” wasn't working, and why I was ordering so much delivery.
I always had good intentions of spending time prepping on the weekends - but the fact was, it wasn’t always happening.
So I absolved myself of that task! Which led to:
2. Spending time “batch cooking” a couple of weeknights. But I didn’t force myself into creating entire meals.
Instead, I spent about an hour on Mondays and Thursdays pre-cooking ingredients: quinoa, rice, potatoes, proteins, (chicken/turkey burgers/etc), and veggies.
This meant I could easily mix-and-match meals for the next few days (for lunch and dinner).
This one thing was a huge gamechanger.
With the right music or podcast playing in the background, I actually started to look forward to doing this.
3. Here’s where the magic happened! I noticed the link between how I felt (and my results) when I ate home-cooked meals vs. delivery a few times a week.
I had more energy, my stomach felt SO MUCH BETTER (seriously I didn’t even know how much it would affect me), I slept better, and I even had fewer aches and pains.
After that, it was so much easier to keep up with my batch cooking – AND stay (mostly!) away from the takeout food.
This ultimately not only kept me on track with my goals, but I also saved some £££s in the process. Love that!
Upgrading your habits isn’t always easy – but it’s not as hard as you think.
Your results are waiting for you.
If you need help, let’s do this together!
Make it an amazing day,,
Jamie Stedman
