What are your Go-To Meals?

Every morning, you go to the local coffee shop and you order that calorie-loaded latte before work. You know it’s probably making your belly bigger, but it tastes good and it is convenient. For lunch, you order takeout with your coworkers. You try to get a salad but inevitably there are some fries and chips you can’t keep your hands off of. Dinner may be some fast food too since you’re too tired to even think about what to cook let alone do the actual cooking.

You see your fit friends on Facebook and Instagram showing off their meals while you sit there thinking that you couldn’t possibly stay disciplined enough to eat what they eat. That’s nonsense though. You can totally do it. You just need to find your “Go-To Meals.”

Your Go-To Meals are the simple and easy (and still tasty) meals that you always have ready to make/eat. You may not realize it, but you likely already have a ton of these Go-To Meals, some healthy, some not so much. The great thing is that you can make all of your Go-To Meals fit in your nutrition plan to help you with your goals (fat loss, muscle building, or health/maintenance). 

Hell, I eat mostly the same meals every day for breakfast and lunch. I keep a rotating menu for dinner to get variety. You don’t have to be a gourmet chef and make elaborate meals. Just keep it simple. Here is how to do it:

Beginner

Think of a couple meals you could eat for each breakfast, lunch, and dinner that you wouldn’t get sick of that go well with your goals. Then rotate them as you prefer.

Fat Loss Breakfast Examples:

1. Protein shake with apple 
2. Eggs and veggies

Muscle Building Breakfast Examples:

1. Protein with oats and peanut butter and milk
2. Meaty Omelet with extra egg whites and whole grain toast / fruit

Fat Loss Lunch Examples:

1. Turkey and ham sandwich with an orange
2. Cottage cheese and apple sauce

Muscle Building Lunch Examples:

1. Double stacked turkey and ham sandwich (with added 2% cheese) with an orange and side of baked chips
2. Overnight oats with Greek yogurt, berries, and protein powder

Fat Loss Dinner Examples:

1. Big Ass Salad (basically your favorite lettuce with veggies and lean meat topped with EVOO and vinegar)
2. Grilled chicken with broccoli 

Muscle Building Dinner Examples:

1. Lean ground meat (beef or turkey) with red beans and rice and avocado
2. A couple of grilled chicken breasts with broccoli and a baked potato (or two)

Advanced

1. Determine how many calories and what macronutrient percentages you should be eating for your goals. To make your life easier, here’s a calculator below that you can use (courtesy of Coach Slyvon’s calorie calculator on VonBlancoFitness.com).

2. Next, divide your macronutrient numbers up by how many meals you’re going to eat per day. You can also do the apps MyMacros+ or MyFitnessPal.

3. Start making meal templates for yourself based on that number.

For example, someone shooting for 2000 calories with 30% protein, 40% carbohydrate, and 30% fat eating 4 meals per day would be eating 38 grams of protein, 50 grams of carbs, and 17 grams of fat per meal. A sample Go-To Meal for this would be about 2 scoops of protein powder, 2 bananas, and 1/4 cup of nuts. 

It’s okay to be boring as long as you don’t hate your life. Most people eat the same crappy high caloric foods day in and day out. Might as well eat healthful foods and be boring. 

You also don’t HAVE to be boring. Sure, I am boring for most of the day but as I mentioned, I have a good rotating menu for dinner. This also leaves room for eating out as long as most of my meals of the week were fine.

Here are some of my Go-To Meals

My breakfast pretty much every day. I sub the nuts for nut butter often times.

Double stacked turkey sandwich for lunch. Side of fruit not shown.

One of my standard dinners. Big lean sirloin with baked potato and broccoli. 

Another dinner favorite is my red beans and rice with lean ground meat and avocado.

By the way if you notice a pattern, I have a relatively high intake of protein, with good sources of fiber, and healthy fats. 

Want the easiest route?

Just set up a meal prep service like Trifecta Nutrition. You can choose your preferences and then get your Go-To Meals sent straight to your door on a weekly basis. Yes it is a touch more expensive, BUT well worth it in my opinion.

You can also choose the a la cart menu and choose your favorite items and mix and match. Go here to check it out.

Take away:

Find your Go-To Meals and stick with them.

Branch out after you get the hang of a few rotating meals for each breakfast, lunch, and dinner.