You’ve made the commitment. You’ve joined a gym, locked in a schedule as to when you are going to workout and now it’s GAME ON!

Now, why are you eating that ice cream? (or cookie, or cake or fill in the blank with other random foods on the naughty list!)

That’s what happens to a lot of us. We start hitting the burpees, the TRX, some serious yoga sessions and slowly but surely, we start throwing some of our favorite CRAP foods down our gullet, and as much as we love the tasty treats as they hit our buds, inside, we know it can’t be helping us meet our goals. Whether those goals be packing on muscle, losing belly flat, or some combo thereof, you simply MUST have a solid plan of eating right in order to reach your workout goals. But…

WHAT THE HECK DOES EATING RIGHT EVEN MEAN!!??

The world of eating right is a confusing one indeed so for the purposes of this post, we will stick to some basics that just about everyone can agree on:

• Drink-water is your choice. Not diet soda (not diet ANYTHING, ever) not milk, not beer…WATER.

• Processed foods-toss em. If it comes in a box or a bag and has a BEST BY date of more than a week or two out, it is probably filled with preservatives and other junk that will move you further from reaching your goals.

• Meats/Fish-choose wild fish and free range or organic meats. Wild caught fish contain less harmful chemicals than farm raised and will be higher in nutrients. The same is true of organic or free-range chicken and beef. Even still, limit your protein servings to about 4 oz. and focus on fresh VEGGIES as the bulk of the real estate on your plate.

• Organic fruits and veggies-While fruits do contain sugar, the fiber they contain offsets this so stick to real fruit NOT juice. As for veggies, LOAD UP! Their combo of low calorie/high nutrient makes this category fantastic for helping one to lose fat while ensuring you are eating enough nutrients to keep your body working optimally.

Now that we have established some GO TO guidelines, EATING RIGHT is just about a little planning, and consistency. Here are some tips to help make sticking to the plan as easy as 1-2-3, no matter what your schedule is like:

1. Eat when you are hungry, then stop-Overeating is easy to do, but if you eat high quality foods as suggested above and only eat until you are satiated, you can lower the chances of eating too many calories throughout the day.

2. Snack, but only on the good stuff-good stuff meaning nuts, a piece of fruit, maybe a scoop or two of almond butter. Stay away from anything advertised as LOW SUGAR, LOW FAT etc. You may think that some of these foods are “healthy”, but those buzz words simply mean there are additives in there to take the place of real fat and sugar. (studies show that if you really want something sweet, eating something with a little REAL sugar and fat is better than a man made “franken food” with fake sweeteners and fake fat).

3. Meal plan-It is incredibly easy to go online, grab some MEAL PLANNING trays with lids, and plan some healthy, tasty meals for the coming days. A small piece of protein, a side of healthy vegetables, and a piece of fruit. Taking just a little time to plan out your meals can be the difference between eating right and giving in to hunger and hitting your local fast food drive through.AND, if you think meal prep won’t fit into your schedule, now you can simply order from a meal prep company (Conquer Fitness Preps have some great healthy offerings) and just have the meals delivered weekly…all you do is heat and eat!

So, there you have it. Don’t waste your workouts, make them WORK by supporting all that sweat inducing, muscle pumping activity with a solid plan of eating the right foods, not eating too much of them, and you will be on your way to reaching your fat loss and fitness goals!