Nutrition is 70% of a weight loss and weight maintenance battle. If you fail to plan you plan to fail. If you don’t have time to cook here are two strategies to plan ahead on Sunday and assemble healthy balanced meals and snacks that will keep your metabolism burning fat and building muscle. Post your favorite go-to meals and snacks in the comments.

Sunday Stock Up:

• Hard boil a dozen eggs and keep them ready for grab n’ go in the fridge.
• Make a pot of unseasoned kidney, black, or white beans to use quickly in salads, or ready to use in 3/4 cup portion sizes for quick meals.
• Bake seven small sweet potatoes for easy grabbable snacks.
• Make 5 turkey burgers with shredded zucchini and carrot and mushroom in the meat for quick lunches.
• Boil a pot of brown or wild rice for ready use in 1/2 cup serving sizes during the week.
• Soup: boil your favorite non-salad vegetable–broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, mushroom, butternut squash, etc. and add onion, stock or broth and corresponding spices and puree with a hand blender or food processor. Best way to drink  your veggies.
• Buy an organic rotisserie chicken to keep on hand for use in wraps, mixed with rice and beans, or with sliced apples.
• Shred your favorite non-salad vegetables in advance for easy use in salads, stir frys, and omelets during the week.
• Make a pot of turkey chili with butternut squash, zucchini, and corn for use during the week.

Breakfast: 

• Banana plus 1-2 tablespoons of raw almond butter
• Whole wheat tortilla with almond butter and banana burrito
• Whole wheat tortilla with avocado and tomato 2 eggs any style
• Fage yogurt with honey, pumpkin seeds, and strawberries
• 1 cup of oatmeal with whey protein powder and cinnamon
• Any dinner leftovers shoved into a Ziploc baggie

Kale wrap

Lunch:

• Can of tuna with 1/2 cup of Sunday’s brown rice and 1/4 avocado (instead of mayo) cherry tomatoes, and any raw vegetable–radish, carrot, fennel, celery, onion, jicama, etc.
• Thermos of the soup you made on Sunday with raw veggies and cottage cheese
• Sunday’s burger on whole wheat bun with avocado, spinach, tomato, and onion.
• Nitrate-free deli meat wrap using kale or chard leaves as the wrapper stuffed with avocado or hummus, onion, tomato, and your favorite cheese.
• 1/2 cup of brown rice, 1/2 cup of beans, salsa, chopped tomato, onion, and avocado.
• Throw raw greens, spinach, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, shredded red cabbage, cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds, 3/4 cup chopped chicken breast or can of tuna and toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

• Dinner: 1 cup whole wheat pasta. During the last minute of cooking, throw in frozen broccoli, artichokes, sun dried tomato, shrimp, leftover chicken and toss with basil and tomato sauce.
• Fresh fish cooks in a flash. Stir fry your favorite fish with shredded kale, spinach, and chopped tomatoes for a bright and healthy dinner.
• Omelets are a fast meal jazzed up with fresh garlic, salsa, spinach, artichoke, fresh herbs served with a side salad.
• Toss pre-washed greens with a can of tuna, sardines, or chicken and add radish, carrot, tomato, sunflower seeds, white balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
• Use a portobello mushroom as a pizza crust and top with spinach, basil, tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and sun-dried tomato.
• Roasted vegetables with leftover chicken or fish.
• Sunday’s soup with salad.
• Anything on the lunch list.

Notice that the mushroom is the crust!

Snacks:

• Small baked sweet potato with 3 slices nitrate free deli meat
• Whey protein powder shake made with milk, water, and frozen fruit and frozen spinach
• Handful of baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and snap peas with 2 tablespoons hummus
• Apple with string cheese
• handful of grapes with 3/4 cup cottage cheese
• Fage yogurt with berries
• Trader Joe’s Just-A-Handful-Of-Cashews or Almonds with a grapefruit, orange, pear, or melon.