Its pretty common for people, in any line of work, to work their butts off during the week and then when the weekend comes around, to relax and not even want to think about anything work related. The unfortunate thing here is that this can happen to a Sunshine Coast Personal Trainer too!
And this can be a dangerous thing I’ve found, especially since the nature of my work is also a lifestyle – I spend all week motivating, training and educating clients on exercise and nutrition which is great – but then I get to the weekend and have trouble motivating myself to keep up with my own exercise and nutrition habits.
I needed to do something that kept me in a healthy lifestyle frame of mind over the weekend, instead of thinking after a long week at work “whoo hoo! It’s the weekend – Foxtel, chocolate and lollies here I come!”
So I worked out a few tricks to help me through the weekend that made healthy meals enjoyable and not like work at all! So I changed my meal plan slightly to incorporate things that seem special, or a little out of the ordinary – meals that I wouldn’t take the extra time to make during the week.
For example, instead of my weekly breakfast of porridge and a protein shake I’ll make protein pancakes with sliced strawberries and a drizzle of maple syrup. (click here to see the recipe for Protein Pancakes). Instead of my weekly morning tea of a protein shake and an apple I’ll have smoked salmon, tomato and cucumber rice cakes (click here to check out the recipe for Salmon Rice Cakes)
Afternoon tea gets changed from a tuna and nuts to a caramel fudge flavoured protein bar (which tastes pretty close to a chocolate bar without all the calories) and half a punnet of strawberries – yum!
I already love my lunch (rice, grilled basa seasoned with lemon pepper and steamed veggies) and dinner (steak and steamed veggies) so they stay the same over the weekend except for my free meal evening – pizza! I prepare these meals on a Monday night and have them ready to go in the fridge or freezer for the week. It really does pay off to have your meal ready for you in the freezer over the weekend – I usually find the longer it takes to prepare a meal the less likely im going to stick to the plan if I haven’t done the preparation beforehand.
I’ve found that making these simple changes that still fall within Sculptlife’s nutritional guidelines (click here for your free, no obligation consult and find out how we can help with your fitness and figure goals) makes my weekend meals feel just that little bit more special. You’d be surprised how much more enjoyable healthy eating can be over the weekend when you look at it from a lifestyle perspective – lets face it, no one wants to feel like they’re on a ‘diet’ – so make it fun! Think outside the box! This weekend for breakfast I’m going to have a fruit salad – strawberries, rockmelon, watermelon and apple – with a protein shake. Yum! I might also do something with oven baked garlic zucchini and grilled eggplant…mmm. Check out our recipes for something different you might like to try!
I’d love to hear your favourite figure friendly meals!
Have a Happy Healthy Week! 
Yours In Health & Fitness
Sascha Aiono
