With the New Year fast approaching, one thing is on most of our minds: health and nutrition! If you’re like me, you allowed yourself a little indulgence during the holidays (though my goal is to always leave the holiday season more fit and healthy than when I went in).
One key to achieving your nutrition goals is to take some time to prepare and plan. When you set yourself up to succeed, you will be much more likely to keep moving toward your nutrition goals – and to enjoy life along the way.
Protein Prep
The number one thing we always have prepped in the Tilson house is protein! It’s easy to throw some fat (nuts, dressings, oils) and carbs into a meal, but if your protein isn’t cooked, it can make that hard. We always have either chicken, ground turkey or beef, or some other sort of protein cooked. And we always have (sustainably caught) tuna in the pantry if we’re in a pinch.
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Available Snacks
Having lots of healthy snacks on hand really helps me in the prep department as well. One of my faves is below – it’s grain free because I have to eat a gluten-free diet. But believe it or not, it’s passed multiple times for the real deal from gluten-eating enthusiasts.
Rebekah’s Grain Free Granola
Ingredients:
- 1 C each of 3 different types of nuts (I used pecans, hazelnuts, and almonds…raw of course)
- 1 C coconut oil, measured solid
- 4-5 T honey (I started with about 3 and then added more to taste)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1.5 T cocoa powder
- splash vanilla
- 2ish tsp cinnamon
- dash ginger
- ¾ C shredded coconut (I used the sweetened version – TJs has an awesome version, had to be careful not to snack on it too much as I used it!)
Method:
Heat oven to 300. Chop, process, crush the nuts…I used my Ninja – which is incredible. I highly recommend it for all types of smoothie-ing, processing, etc. (Putting the nuts in a bag and crushing with bare hands or the back of a spoon of some sort is some pretty stellar stress relief as well…). Add all other ingredients except the coconut to a small pot and heat (low heat), melting the coco butter. Taste test and be sure you like the base flavor (here’s where you’d add more honey, salt, cocoa, etc.). Slowly add the shredded coconut, making sure it’s coated in the mixture of awesome. Then slowly add the nuts, again making sure they’re coated. Spread the mixture onto a baking pan and place in oven at 300 for around 10 minutes. Turn oven down to 200-225 for another 10-15 minutes or so, remove, and let cool (or if you’re me, eat hot because it’s delicious). Then break the granola apart and store in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to indulge!
Meal Planning
If you haven’t followed already, take a look at my Instagram @rebekahhopetilson – I post the Tilson weekly menus here. Just simply writing them on a chalkboard helps me prep and plan for the week ahead. Here’s a calendar of our monthly meals from earlier this year.
Your Meal Plan
One of the biggest questions we get with our Eat What You Want nutrition coaching program has to do with meal planning and prep. Once you get planning and prep into your schedule, it’s a no-brainer – but sometimes it does help to get a little outside push! To help with this, and to enhance our Eat What You Want program, we’ve teamed up with local nutritionist Autumn Ehsaei.
Autumn’s extensive experience working with athletes and nutrition clients of all types is a huge asset to the program, and we are so excited to have her on board. The new addition of meal planning to the EWYW program will allow team members to not only have a customized program for macros and nutrition goals – but also to have a fool-proof plan to achieve nutrition goals. Autumn’s view on nutrition is the perfect fit for our Mash Elite Family. Her approach aligns so well with our community, and I can’t wait for you all to hear from her more!
“The science of nutrition is ever-changing, which is incredibly exciting and incredibly frustrating at the same time. My goal as a nutrition expert is to help interpret current research into understandable, realistic, and applicable information. I love helping my clients understand how to implement good nutrition habits into their lives in a way that actually works for them. My aim is always to help you feel better, happier, and more at ease around your food choices.” –Autumn Ehsaei, MS, RDN, LDN, CNSC, CLT
Having a nutrition goal is a great start – but unless you can implement your plan, it’s obviously not going to move you forward. Coaching can give you that push-start to get going, and the input of an experienced coach can help you navigate any problems that arise.
With a little planning and a little prep, you’ll be well on your way. Wishing you all the best in this New Year!
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