Meal Plans for a Better You

I just moved to the big city (hello Toronto!), but I wanted to try and keep up the same rigorous fitness schedule that I had while I was at home between school and my internship. Turns out working 8am-6pm makes it a bit difficult to spend the same amount of time working out as I did when I was at home living the life of a real housewife. As much as I want to spend that time working out, my priorities have shifted. I now value sleep even more than I already did, and I try to live a balanced life: experiencing the city, keeping up my fitness routine and leaving time for other hobbies and interests. When I came to the conclusion that I just couldn’t do it all, I wondered how I could maintain and keep up the progress that I had made over the past few months at Howe Fit, as well as a balanced lifestyle. My solution? Meal plans.

 I know you’re thinking that meal plans can be extreme, and that I must eat horribly to need one. But that’s just not true. At first I even thought to myself, I don’t eat poorly enough to be in need of a meal plan. It turns out that those small changes can show me how much further I can push myself and give me some background on why I crave certain things at particular times. I contacted my trainer at Howe Fit to help me answer some questions about the meal plan. With their help, I decided to invest in my health and start a 12 week meal plan. 

Now, I’m not on the meal plan to lose weight necessarily, but more so to gain an understanding of how I can fuel my body better. I invest time into going to the gym and I feel as though I could see more results. I also like knowing that my time spent at the gym was being used to its full potential. Disclaimer: I do have an ulterior motive – my sister is getting married in June and hey, who doesn’t want to look fab in their bridesmaid dress?! #SweatingForTheWedding 

I’m currently starting my second week of the meal plan and it’s been an adjustment, making sure that I have all the necessary food ready to go for the next day. I spend  time every evening prepping my meals for the next day. This week I decided to spend a good hour just chopping up vegetables on Sunday afternoon. That way, I’m not spending more time than I have to prepping every night.

Having a meal plan takes away the thought process of wondering what to eat, and what to pack for your lunch. I’m also super motivated by my trainers at Howe Fit to stay accountable and motivated throughout the process, with weekly check-ins to monitor my progress. In order to see maximum results I am going to try my very best to stay dedicated to the meal plan that has been designed specifically for me – my goals, my weight, my height and my age.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this fitness journey takes me, and hopefully in 12 weeks I’ll be looking and feeling better than I ever have! If you’re in the same boat as me, and enjoy health and fitness and want to know how you can step up your fitness game a notch, try a meal plan. Do some research on how you can improve your eating habits and make those changes. Prepping for the meals is 90% of the work, the other 10% is will power. 

Will you try a meal plan, collegiettes? Let us know at @HCuOttawa! 

Images: From the Her Campus photo library

GIFs: 1, 2, 3.

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