By now most of us have heard of the saying that when it comes to transforming your physique for the better it’s 20% training and 80% diet. Many of us have also heard the expression that “abs are made in the kitchen” which essentially means that all the sit-ups in the world will not turn your keg into a six pack unless your diet is in check. And although I somewhat agree with these theories I have come to my own conclusion that when it comes to achieving results with one’s physique it’s 100% training, 100% diet and 110% preparation. Now I’m no mathematician however I’m fairly certain those numbers combined do not equal to 100%. And you know what? I don’t care! Because in my opinion to get real results you have to put in real work which means absolutely nothing can be achieved properly with mediocre or satisfactory effort. So yes you need to give it 100% in the gym and you sure as hell need to give it 100% in the kitchen but more importantly you have to be ready to give it 100% in both areas to succeed and that’s where the art of preparation comes into play.

Meal Prepping 101

To say I grew up poor would be an understatement. Don’t get me wrong I had a fantastic childhood as both my parents were always amazing to both myself and my brother. But the fact remains we grew up in the middle of an economic recession and good paying jobs were few and far in between. My parents were both and still are hard workers and they always made sure that there was food on the table. But it’s no secret that to feed a family of four costs money of which we didn’t have much of. My Dad was the cook in the family and I learned from watching him at a young age of how to shop for and prepare your food while working with a budget. My Dad taught be more about the importance of meal prepping long before any fitness guru or YouTube sensation workout star video ever could. So if you’re having difficulty finding the time to cook and prep your meals I’ve stolen my Dad’s top 3 Meal Prep Tips to make prepping food easy and efficient.

Mr. C’s Rules of the Kitchen:

1) Forget Fresh
Unless it comes to your greens (which can easily be cooked up in seconds or eaten raw) if you are working with time restraints learn to cook your meals for not just the next day but for the next few days. My Dad would always cook up a big batch of soup, rice, chicken, fish, yams and even eggs and freeze them for us throughout the week. This saved time when it came to having our next meal as whatever we planned on having the following day he would just take out of the freezer and defrost for us the night before.

2) Learn to Love Leftovers
I always tell clients that variety is good but sometimes too much variety in their diets can lead to dangerous decisions. Keep your diet as simple and basic as possible. Leftovers don’t have to be boring if you know how to make your meals taste good. It’s amazing what a few different spices can do to your food, and best of all most spices are calorie free!

3) Have a Tupperware Party
Okay, not literally. However my dad use to stock our kitchen cabinets with copious amounts of tupperware. This made it convenient for us to bring our meals anywhere we went. In fact, we use to eat the majority of our meals out of tupperware and to this day for the most part, I still do. Your less likely to run out to the food truck outside your work at lunch hour or go for greasy Chinese take-out with your co-workers if you have a meal sitting in your office fridge that can easily be heated up in seconds in the microwave.

Training to Train
Wait. What? What do I mean “Training to Train”? The one thing that seems to be a common issue with the majority of clients with whom I work with is that they can either never find the time to workout or are always pressed for time once they start working out. For a problem that’s so common there must be a solution. And there is – You need to starting training to train.

In my opinion one of the reasons why people constantly find themselves short on time or rushing for the better part of their day is due to a lack of preparation. Yes life can be unpredictable and certain events can suddenly occur throughout the day that we cannot control however we can prepare for the unexpected at times. For example if you know that you have a busy day ahead of you prepare yourself the night before. Pack a change of clothes for the gym before you go to sleep. And when it comes to sleep, go to bed an hour earlier so that you can get up an hour earlier and have a head start on your day. And if you follow my Dad’s tips your meals should be prepped and ready to go in less then 5 minutes. These little details can save you lots of time when you are running around trying to do ten things at once.

It may not always seem practical however if you are serious about your health and wellbeing then I suggest you start taking your preparations for proper nutrition and training just as serious as you take all other components of your life including work commitments and family obligations. It’s easy for us to cancel a workout or cheat on our diets if we do not take them serious. However I’ve never quite understood why people take their career and social life more seriously then they do when it comes to their own health.

You can have an endless supply of money and all the friends in the world but neither one will be able to do much for you if your health becomes an issue. Therefore rather then associate training and dieting as a choir and/or something that you need to do to change your aesthetics and appearance, try and consider both to be your contributing factors to living a long and healthy life.

And that healthy life all starts with perfecting your preparation for success.

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove