Meal Planning 101: Variety Sucks

In the next 2 minutes you are going to learn why meal variety sucks and how that can be the single factor that leads you away from your goals.

Pull up a chair and hear me out please.

"Variety Sucks!" - he said.

My eyes were wide open like a kid who just heard his first swear word when I heard that. In fact, stunned because many people who I've run across told me that variety in my meals is the KEY to success.

You know what I mean don't you?

"No not that kind of variety," he said. "Meal variety. When you change your meals all the time. Everything has to be new for each meal. You get bored right? So you always have to have something different. That sucks."

Again, I couldn't believe my ears and yet, he was right.

You probably already know this...

What if you continually change your meals all the time, so it's always a new meal every day. Of course you won't be bored but what you will find impossible to do is stick with your plan and maintain a steady goal.

Obviously you can understand that makes perfect sense!

You're probably wondering if most professional bodybuilders and those who you admire have pretty boring diets.

Let's take an example of Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers or any number of other commercial diets on the market today.

Okay, you're probably wondering...

What do they all have in common?

Face it... they are all using pre-planned meals!

Don't miss a word of this...

You are never guessing at what to eat or making hasty choices without full well knowing exactly how many calories are in that meal, the protein, carb and fat contents too.

Knowing this is critical to keeping your meals targeted towards your goals. The more variety you have, the harder it will be to stick with a set meal plan to ensure you are getting the proper nutrients as well as enough calories.

And now you begin to realize that variety does suck.

Do you ever try and create a meal on the fly?

No planning just go to a restaurant and pick something off the menu only to track your meal later and find out you were way over your goal or you aren't close to your calories for the day and have to literally stuff yourself later?

Here's my confession...

My greatest success in terms of nutrition have come from a variety of pre-planned meals. 7 day meal plans where I know what I'm going to eat, what to shop for and all of them laser targeted towards my goal.

You see, variety in the food choices isn't a bad thing at all. Variety ensures we are getting the proper nutrients and ratios. It helps to have several pre-planned meals so that you aren't too bored but you know what's ahead.

Pre-planning your meals for the week lets you go shopping for the foods you need as well.

Think of how impossible it will be to just "eat" if you don't give some thought into the meals you are having to reach your goals.

Grocery shopping would be a nightmare if I didn't already know my meals well in advance.

I know your boring alarm is going off right now but it doesn't have to be that way.

Plan out your meals. The more pre-planned meals you have, the easier it will be to shop. The faster you can put together something that meets your needs.

The people who simply must have a new breakfast, lunch and dinner so they don't get bored with foods, are the ones always counting calories. They are always guessing at what meal they are about to eat if it fits their goals. They find out AFTER they have eaten it.

The successful people know before the food hits their mouth what the meal is doing for them. They already know how many calories. They know the portions. Calorie counting only had to happen once.

Think about this for a minute.

If you want variety in everything you eat and you don't want to have pre-planned meals because that just sounds too boring, then realize that might be why you aren't reaching your goals.

I'm not saying meals have to be boring and bland but you should know before hand what you are going to eat.

That's a pre-planned meal.

That's why variety in one sense of the meaning sucks!

Picture yourself with a meal plan in hand for the week with a grocery list of exactly what to buy and in what quantities. You'll know exactly what to eat and when to eat it. No more guess work. Marc David is a natural bodybuilder and author Bodybuilding Essentials. You can get info on Marc's e-book at: Beginner's Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding To get Marc's free e-zine visit JustAskMarc.com

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