Planning your food every day is one of the biggest keys to making sure you are staying on track with your eating. But to be fully prepared you first have to make sure you actually BUY all the food you need. This really is the first step of all when changing up how you eat.
So here’s an overview of what you need to buy and approx how much.
PROTEIN
Buy plenty of this, you can cook up a lot at a time and store in your fridge for convenience. Quality is important, the meat is only as healthy as the animal it came from. You’ll need something from below for at least 3 main meals per day, for 3-4 days (assuming you’re shopping twice per week). So that’s 9-12 servings in some combination from the foods below.
Buy: 9-12 servings from below. (Pick 4 from below and buy 1-2 of each. Some will last you 2-3 serves depending on what you purchase) Adjust accordingly if shopping for extra people.
- Free Range Organic Eggs
- Free Range Chicken (breast, thighs, roast, drumsticks, mince)
- Lamb (roast, diced, chops, cutlets, mince)
- Beef (steak, mince, diced). Grass fed is best.
- Fresh fish
- Prawns, shellfish
- Canned tuna in olive oil
- Whey protein powder
VEGETABLES
Buy plenty of vegetables. Organic is best when possible, however any vegetables are always good so don’t let that stop you. Some are easy to eat raw – like baby spinach can be eaten right out of the bag if you’re short on time!
Buy: You’ll need to cover 3 meals per day minimum for 3-4 days, so that’s 9-12 serves. Pick 4 things from below; each one should serve 2-3 times. Adjust accordingly if shopping for extra people.
- Spinach
- Bagged baby spinach leaves
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Sweet potato
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Capsicum
- Mushrooms
- Onions
- Pumpkin
FRESH FRUIT
Buy plenty of fruit. Organic is always best, but if you can’t get it regular fruit is still good. You’ll need 2-3 serves a day so that’s either 1 whole piece of fruit, half an avocado, or half a cup of berries.
Buy: 9-12 serves to last you over 3-4 days, you could have 1-2 serves of each one below, or buy more of your favourite ones. Adjust accordingly if shopping for extra people.
- Apples
- Banana
- Fresh strawberries
- Fresh Bluberries
- Frozen Berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, mixed berries)
- Grapefruit
- Grapes
- Orange
- Lemon
- Avocado
NUTS
You’ll only need to buy these every couple of weeks. The rawer and less interference it has had by humans the better. Unsalted is better
Buy: 1 big bag of each, or more of whichever is your favourite. (remember don’t just eat the same thing every time though, mix it up and add variety.
- Almonds
- Cashews
- Brazil nuts
- Hazelnuts
- Walnuts
OILS
You’ll only need to buy these things once every 2-3 months. Keep in mind when you cook or heat up oils it changes the structure, the most stable oil under heat is coconut oil so that is the healthiest to cook with. It also tastes great and has many health benefits. Fish oil should be a staple supplement in everyone’s diet, there are just so many benefits that you’d be mad not to take it.
Buy: 1 big bottle of each. This should last you a while. Top up when needed.
- – Extra virgin olive oil (good for salad dressing, mixed with herbs/spices)
- – Avocado oil
- – Coconut oil (go to any health food/organic shop). Great to cook with, and blended in shakes.
- – Flaxseed oil (good in shakes)
- – Fish oil or krill oil. (Can be in capsules). This should be staple supplement for everyone.
FRESH HERBS & SPICES
Great to add variety into your meals, whilst keeping it healthy. Get creative and play around with different combinations to see what you like best.
Buy: A bottle/packet of each. These should last a while. Top up when needed.
- Basil
- Chives
- Dill
- Parsley
- Pepper
- Chilli powder
- Cinnamon
- Cumin
- Curry Powder
- Garlic (garlic powder)
- Ginger (ginger powder)
- Onion powder
- Oregano
- Paprika
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Thyme
- Turmeric
MISCELLANEOUS
These are things that don’t fall clearly into any other category. You don’t NEED them in your diet, but you might like to add them in. Buy when needed.
- Organic coffee
- Green tea
- Stevia sweetener (instead of sugar)
- Xylitol sweetener (instead of sugar)
- Raw organic honey
NON FRUIT OR VEG CARBS
(Limit these if fat loss is your goal, but if you must…stick to the list and best to eat on training days). If you do buy bread to eat from time to time, pop it in your freezer, you shouldn’t be able to get through a whole loaf before it goes stale.
- Bread (spelt, dark rye)
- Rice
- Quinoa (pronounced ‘Keenwah’)
- Wholemeal pasta
- Potato’s
- Oats
So there you go, print this out before you go shopping and you’ll have everything you need to prepare your food evey day.
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