When it comes to bodybuilding recipes, if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s to be prepared. I sound like a boy scout, don’t I? By ‘prepared’, I simply mean cooking your meals well in advance, at least the day before, but preferably two or even three days in advance, if you have the time (and fridge space!).

Let me explain why this is so important and why it can make such a difference in your bodybuilding progress.

how many meals

Like most bodybuilders, you certainly follow a high protein diet and split your daily intake into at least 6 meals a day. Breakfast is probably porridge/oatmeal (maybe some sneaky honey!) with some fruit. Mid-morning snack (or brunch!) usually made up of cottage cheese or peanut butter with rice cakes. Regardless of what you choose, the first two meals of the day are usually not cooked meals. This still leaves you with the need to prepare at least four cooked meals per day.

Now, if you stop preparing your meals just before you’re ready to eat them, you’ll quickly tire of preparing individual meals four times a day. But worse than that, this approach often falls prey to the convenience that you run out of time and end up grabbing something fast.

It’s all gone Pete Tong

At best, this fast food will upset your macronutrient balance for the day (tell me you at least have an idea of ​​your daily macronutrient breakdown). At worst, you end up eating something unhealthy, highly processed, and/or full of unwanted calories.

I know from personal experience how often this happens when I haven’t prepared my meals ahead of time. I start the day with good intentions and an idea of ​​what I’m going to eat, but invariably I get distracted and/or feel pressed for time and resort to grabbing something quick, usually for two days’ worth of meals.

This happened to me way too often, so I decided to start putting a little effort into preparing my meals the night before. I usually cook all four meals as one and divide them into separate portions. I find it much easier than trying to prepare four different meals for the day.

Second meal, same as the first

So I can cook, say, 900g of chicken, add a bit of flavor and divide it into four equal portions along with a portion of fresh vegetables with each meal. A bit boring eating the same food four times a day, but hey, that’s the life of a bodybuilder for you. Also, preparing all your meals in one makes calculating your daily intake of protein, carbohydrates, etc. much easier. You’ll quickly find that preparing your meals the night before becomes a routine, and you’ll immediately see many of the benefits below.

• Achieve desired amount of daily macronutrient breakdown
• Minimize hunger pans. If your food is already prepared, you should be able to eat it at the scheduled time.
• Minimize junk food. Having foo prepared means you won’t have to grab the unhealthy sandwich and chips!
• Have greater control of daily caloric intake
• You generally feel more in control of your diet. When preparing his food, he knows exactly what he is eating beforehand. This gives you a sense of power over your diet.
• Last but not least, I don’t need to stress the importance of proper control of what you eat for bodybuilders, control your diet and your progress will explode.

The last word

With all the best intentions in the world, unless you prepare your meals, you’ll have a hard time exercising complete control over what you eat. Do not let the inconvenience for your reason not feed properly. Prepare your meals at least the day before and you will see instant improvements in all aspects of your training.