I recently met up with a client to talk nutrition strategies. Both of us were feeling crappy from holiday eating, and had been reaching for prepared food and even delivery on nights where we were tired and drained of energy. We came up with some good ideas to help make staying on track easier. Here are some the strategies that you can employ to ensure nutrition success.

Stir frys are quick, easy, and full of nutrition

• If you have roommates or a significant other sit them down and discuss your goals. If you know that having junk food around will trigger you, explain and ask to come up with a compromise. If you talk about why it is important for you to have healthy meals it may be easier to be successful. It is unrealistic to expect someone to change their life to fit your diet, but there's nothing wrong with trying to compromise. 

• Many of my female clients who are trying to lose fat and build muscle have partners that need to gain weight. Finding a balance can be challenging, when one person thinks they need to eat and the other is trying to cut back. Try making healthier versions of dessert like foods to satisfy both of you. If you are watching your calories or intake of processed foods, you can use cauliflower as a rice substitute or even pizza crust substitute. 
• Make your baking a bit healthier by substituting apple sauce for oil. Small changes can add up over the week and can hopefully make everyone happy. Check out this blog for healthy substitutions. http://greatist.com/health/83-healthy-recipe-substitutions 

• One of my favourite healthy desserts-- chocolate chip zucchini muffins can be found here: http://inspiralized.com/gluten-free-chocolate-chip-zucchini-noodle-muffins/ I love my spiralizer and think its a necessity for healthy eating. I found that including healthy versions of sweets and desserts in my diet made healthy eating much easier.
  

  Zucchini noodle muffins with chocolate chips

• Get ready for your week on the weekend. Plan out grocery shopping time, meal prep time, and what potential meals you may cook this week. If you have to eat out, it may be useful to plan what you will order ahead of time, and eat leaner during the week if you need to.
  

• Get to the gym and don't skip your workouts! Staying on track with your workouts will make you more likely to stick to your meal plan. You will feel better- both mentally and physically and it will empower you to make positive choices. I've gone down to my condo gym while leaving food in the oven (set a timer of course, and don't plan to be gone for too long).

•  Use the slow cooker so that meals can cook while you work, and this way you can still squeeze in the gym after work instead of worrying about meal prep.Try these recipes from Slender Kitchen.   

  Slow cooker Bison Stew

• Be mindful when making choices. Ask yourself how you feel after ordering takeout-- typically I feel like I :  

a) wasted money,
b) wasted calories
c) overate.

Before you make a last minute pizza delivery order ask yourself: Will I regret this tomorrow? That being said, be sure to eat every 3-4 hours so that you aren't starved and at risk for making poor choices at the end of the day.

•  You can cook a good meal in the time it takes to order delivery and for it to get to you. A quick stirfry or omlette makes for a wonderful, nutritious and affordable dinner.

•  Keep staples on hand that will last in the fridge and can be used for a variety of meals. 

• Vegetables like carrots, onion and celery can be used for roasts, omlettes, stir frys, soups and more. Squash, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, and green beans also have a long shelf life. Canned beans or lentils, tuna, and eggs should also good choices to keep around. I hear a lot of people say their vegetables go bad before they eat them, so choose veg that will last for a days. You can still sautee wilted kale or spinach.

• Keep some ground meats vacuum sealed and frozen. These don't take up much room in the fridge and are available at  Bespoke or Cumbraes. These take minimal time to defrost and cook up quickly. I've done ground meats with spiralized zucchini and other veggies that I've had on hand for a quick one pan dinner. Ground meat can be used in stuffed peppers, meatballs, or pasta sauce and chili. I use everything from chicken and turkey to buffalo and venison.

If you are going to eat out, here are some of my favourite healthier choices around Liberty Village:

Koja for sushi-- great seaweed salad, kimchi, and handrolls or sashimi. I always leave here feeling great. Also love the purple rice.
Fresh for great veggie dishes. I love the baby Beach bowl.
Kupfert & Kim another great choice for veggie and gluten free food. You'll luck out if they have kombucha on tap!
Maizal affordable and fresh Mexican. Love the quesadillas, and most are gluten free (try the mushroom and cheese)
Local for $2.50 tacos on tuesday from 3-6. Get them gluten free to shave on some calories (and they taste better this way). I get three fish tacos, which you can't make for that price,
Metro has BBQ chickens on for 7.99 on tuesdays. Take off the skin if you wish, and you've got multiple meals without the hassle of cooking.

Also check out some local meal delivery services:
Prepd
Foody Fit

Hopefully you have some strategies to keep your meals on track through January and the rest of 2017!