On this blog (and generally on the interwebs/TV), you can find a ton of information about how to stay healthy and in shape.  There is information on what you should be eating; the best workouts; how much to eat;  what foods to avoid; etc etc.  There are entire magazines & blogs dedicated to giving us tons of information about what we “should” be doing on a day-to-day basis to stay healthy.  For some of us, its not lack of information that is keeping us from our health and fitness goals – its our lack of preparedness.

Naturally, we all tend to follow the path of least resistance.  Let’s face it, living a healthy lifestyle is not always the easiest thing to do.  It takes effort.  After a long day at work, its easy to order take out instead of making a healthy meal.  When you need a snack at work, its easy to grab something from a vending machine (likely highly processed and filled with who knows what).  However, the amount of effort that it takes is substantially decreased by living by a simple motto: Always Be Prepared.  (Ok, I stole it from the scouts, but its applicable here too!)  Here are some of the ways that I prepare in advance to have a healthy week:

Go Grocery Shopping:  If your fridge only contains condiments, salad dressing and last night’s take out – you are probably not going to cook.  Pick a day each week to go to the grocery store and buy food – REAL FOOD.  Don’t know what to make?  Like I said above, there are a million sites out there to help you find healthy easy recipes, you just need food to make those recipes.  Not the cooking type?  Fine, at least go and buy healthy snacks (and choose your take out wisely).  Don’t like going to the grocery store? Fresh direct will deliver to you – there are literally no excuses – fill that fridge!

Have Healthy Snacks In Your Desk/Home:  When you are starving for a little bite to eat until your next meal, you will have a tendency to grab whatever is in your eyesight.  If you keep healthy snacks around, you will have something better to grab on the go.  In addition, you probably won’t get to that starving point because you’ll have food around.  Here is an example of me being prepared for a long day at work:

Baby Bell Cheese, Greek Yogurt, Trader Joe’s Super Spinach Salad, Almonds w/ Cranberries, Fresh popcorn (I make it on the stove with plain kernels and olive oil)

Chop Veggies In Advance: If you are like me, you are not interested in spending the extra 10-15 minutes on a week night to chop up veggies to cook for dinner.  This can easily be done in advance on a Sunday night (chop them up while watching Mad Men or Game of Thrones).  Put the veggies in a container and when you get home from work, viola!  You can throw them in the oven, pan or nosh on them as a snack.  Easy peasy. (I will also make some quinoa or brown rice on Sundays for my dinner carb side.)

Check Out the Menu:  If you are going out to eat, check out the menu in advance and pick something delicious AND healthy before you get to the restaurant (preferably when you are not hungry yet).  Have you ever gotten to a restaurant starving and then end up ordering two apps and an entree because you were just too hungry when you ordered. First, have a snack before you get that hungry (see above), and pick out what you want to eat when you aren’t ravenous and might actually be level headed enough to pick something healthy.

Plan Your Workout Schedule in Advance:  I choose my workout schedule on Sundays based on what I have going on that particular week.  If I know I have plans after work, I’ll workout in the morning.  If I know that those after work plans will go late, the next day I’ll sleep in and try to workout in the evening the next day.  Also, creating a schedule helps you stick to it, plain and simple.

How do you prepare to be healthy?  Leave us a comment with your tips to stay on track!