Quick, Dirty, ‘n Delicious MEAL PREP
Are you eating for your goals?
Lifting weights is only half of the equation when you are training to get strong and to build muscle. YOU NEED TO EAT FOR YOUR GOALS! If you aren’t backing up your training with adequate nutrition, you’re basically planting a garden but never watering it.
You spend 5 days a week for 2 hours a day in the gym lifting your ass off breaking down your body but can’t find the time to prepare the food that will help build it up! We get it, the last thing we want to do everyday is cook up some chicken breasts.
Not to worry! Over the years we have refined our meal prep practices so that it takes 1-1.5 hours of prep time and saves MANY hours during the week.
Check out this video of Coach Gary meal prepping for the week
How to figure out how much protein you need
Carbs are easy to come by and it’s easy to have a big Costco-sized bag of rice always on hand. But each week you are going to have to know how much meat you need to purchase from the grocery store.
How much protein you need per day is going to differ on the individual but there is an equation that is a good place to start.
How many grams of protein per day
Daily Protein Needs (DPN): 1g of protein per 1lb of bodyweight
Now how do you figure out how to plan your day/week based on this info? I know the equations below may seem simple but sometimes you need it broken down for you to realize it is that easy to figure out!
How many grams of protein per meal
DBN / meals per day
How many LBs of meat per week
DPN x 7 = Grams per week (GPW)
GPW / 28 = Ounces per week (OPW)
OPW / 16 = Lbs per week
(Pro tip to consider, the cooked weight of your protein sources is about 75% of the uncooked weight, don’t forget that in the equation)
Your coaches eat a combined 14 lbs of meat each week! That is a lot of protein farts.
Meal Prep overview
1. Chicken
2. 93/7 ground beef
3. sushi or jasmine rice
4. veggies
Chicken Breast:
Oh the dreaded chicken breast. It really is all about how you season it! Gary likes to use a variety of seasonings and put it on our smoker to enhance the flavor and keep it juicy.
We beat the chicken breast thin so it cooks evenly and when it’s done we chop it up chipotle style. This is key to measuring out your food quickly.
We know how much protein is in a serving because we prepare our chicken the same every time. The first time you prepare your chicken you can weigh it raw (after trimming the fat) and then again after it’s cooked to see how much you need in order to get your serving.
Dress up your chicken meal ideas:
- Stir fry with rice, soy sauce, cucumber, peppers, sesame seeds
- Salad with veggies, balsamic, and olive oil
- A “pizza” bowl with tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, veggies, and maybe even a little pepperoni!
Chicken, soy sauce, veggies, sesame seeds, and rice
ground beef:
Ground beef is a great way to break up the monotony of chicken breast and have something that is super easy to make. Make sure you drain the fat especially if you would rather use other fat sources to make up your macros.
We use taco seasoning because it doesn’t add calories and is delicious.. Duh.
Dress up your ground beef meal ideas:
- Add tajin, rice, cheese, avocado, and/or veggies to mix and match to hit your macro goal!
- Combine eggs, rice, and cheese for a breakfast bowl (Gary’s go-to!)
- A “hamburger bowl” with rice mustard, ketchup, pickles, and veggies
Ground beef, rice, eggs, & cheese
Rice:
We make sushi rice in our rice cooker. It’s super easy to set it and forget it.
Amateur tip: Make sure you rinse your rice and add salt!
Pro tip: Set the timer on your rice cooker the night before so you can have fresh rice ready in the morning!
Wait.. isn’t white rice bad for you?! NO! And white rice is easy to digest which is great for pre and/or post training.
Make sure you do the same thing with rice as you did with chicken when it comes to figuring out macros. Weigh it pre and post-cooking. If you prepare your rice the same way and with the same amount of water every time you don’t have to redo the equation.
Veggies:
Yes, you have to eat your greens! We go through phases of what we prep but rice now we are on a summery raw cucumber, pepper, and carrot kick!
We use taco seasoning because it doesn’t add calories and is delicious.. Duh.
But here are other easy ways we add veggies into our meals:
- Stir Fry peppers and onions
- Straight up mix raw spinach in (cooks with your meals in the microwave)
- Airfry roast mini tomatoes w/ olive oil
- Airfry roast baby carrots
- Roasted broccoli
Before you Look Strong Naked, you must EAT strong naked. We hope these meal prep tips give you a place to start. Make sure you wash, rinse, and repeat in order to make real progress.