The 5 P's Part 2

I cant tell you just how much preparation plays a vital role in the success of your YRG / physical transformation journey. I learned after a few fizzled attempts that without a game plan, i was destined to fail. Not because I'm a failure, or even failure prone, but because in our busy lives it is just easy to get distracted or find ourselves without the tools necessary for success....preparation.

Today, we'll discuss planning and preparing nutrition. The first step is to read and memorize the nutrition section of the book. Why is it so important? Although exercise is a huge component of any physical transformation, it is nutrition that enables the body to do what it has to do to build muscle, shed fat, re-energize, and become a high efficiency performance machine. If you don't give your body what it needs when it needs it, you will feel off balance, unmotivated, sluggish, tired, and a whole host of other things that dampen success.

Myself, i took about three weeks of lead time after making the decision to transform my life and buying the book before i took one step onto the mat. Instead of diving in without knowing what was in there, I took a week or two to learn how to shop, cook and eat properly so that i would be over the initial shock, and could hit the ground running. I pored over the food lists and picked out the things i like, looked at some of the recipes, scoured the internet for information, and took notes, made lists, and made a plan.

Preparing for success is as simple as what you would normally do in your everyday life. You need groceries, you make a list, you visit the store. Simple. Its the same here. Take the time on a Saturday to sit down and map out every meal for 6 days (including supplements if necessary). Once you have your meals planned, figure what ingredients you'll need to successfully prepare healthy, delicious food to fuel your efforts.

Once you've got everything together, take some time to pre-cook anything you can. I usually grill or bake a package of chicken breast, make a big pot of brown rice, keep plenty of frozen and canned (no salt added) vegetables so that i can whip up a meal in about 5 minutes. I like to chop a bunch of raw vegetables for munching too.

Nutrition tip for beginners:

Follow the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid) in the first week or two.

Don't try to wow yourself with extravagant recipes from the get-go. Even if it means a little boredom, you might even want to repeat some meals for the sake of ease. Concentrate on learning HOW to eat for life, then once you have a firm grasp on the routine, feel free to stretch your culinary legs a little bit.

By mapping out (preparation, planning ahead) every step, you'll find your nutrition plan more organized and easier to execute. and you haven't even hit the mat yet. If you learn to discipline yourself early on, in time it will become like second nature and you wont even need to think. It becomes a way of life just like buying chips, soda, junk food and fast food was. You never thought twice about buying that stuff, and it was killing you. Take a minute or two to organize and set up a nutrition game plan to ensure success daily.

Proper Preparation Prevents Potential Problems