Trainer Tuesday with Heather Donoho

Question: What is the best way to begin doing meal prep?

Answer: I always tell my clients that if they fail to plan, they plan to fail.  This is exceptionally true when it comes to nutrition.  Some people have certain nutrition goals, such as eating a specific number of calories or ratio of macronutrients.  Others have specific foods they are looking to avoid, such as dairy or processed sugars.  Many of us bring at least one meal with us to work each day, and many of us are also busy parents with families to cook for.  The best answer for all of these scenarios is to take one day a week and do some basic food preparation.  In the easiest form, food prep can consist of simply cutting up some fresh fruits and vegetables and storing them in individual containers that are easy to grab when you want a snack.  More advanced meal prep could consist of pre-cooking chicken breasts or mini turkey meatloaf muffins to take for lunches, as well as an egg casserole to make breakfasts a breeze.  At my house, I precook and put into containers all of our lunches and snacks, as well as make a few different breakfast options such as egg white and veggie muffins, smoothie packs for the freezer, and overnight oats.  I don’t always make ahead dinners, since I do like to find time to cook fresh foods each day, but I do plan a menu of various dinners so I’m not tempted to order a pizza at the end of a long day! I buy a variety of healthy foods each week and rotate the things I prep cook so we have variety and don’t get bored with our meals.  I let my family give input on what kinds of foods they would like for snacks and dinners too, so everyone is happy! Taking just a few hours each week to meal plan and prep has saved our family so much time and money in the long run, as well as helped us all stay healthier!

Question: How can busy moms find time for fitness?

Answer: Put simply, you have to make it a priority! As a working mom of two young boys, I know all about being busy…and tired….and feeling like you always have a million other things to do! When my boys were babies, I found the only way I would get a consistent work out in was if I scheduled it just like I scheduled their nap times, dinner time, and playdates.  I set aside a time each day that was devoted to nothing else except fitness and wrote on the calendar exactly what I was going to do each day- whether it was a work out video, a class at the gym, a run with a friend, or lifting weights in the garage.  It always felt good to be able to cross off that I met my goal that day! For me, I was most successful if I fit in my exercise either early in the morning when everyone was awake or after the kids went to bed.

Another way to fit some exercise into your day is to include your children! My boys love to have “races” around the block.  We have approximately a 400 meter stretch around our street and we take turns sprinting and then resting when it’s the next person’s turn.  Doing this for 20 minutes is a great exercise! We also have a bike trailer and jogging stroller that I will use to run or bike to the park whenever the kids want to go play, instead of being lazy and driving there every time.  We also play a game where I pick an exercise we can all do (such as squats or jumping jacks) and let the kids pick how many repetitions we will do of each exercise.  (This can also be played when watching TV together during the commercials) We string a few exercises together and get a good workout in while having some quality family time!

Want to get your questions answered?

Please post below or email your questions to ankenyia2@anytimefitness.com.

Want to join Anytime Fitness or meet with a trainer such as Heather?  Call us at (515) 965-4246.