Chalk Talk #3 – A Word On Preparation

Some people want to be bigger. Some want less body fat. Everyone wants to be stronger. There’s a recurring theme with all of these goals: they can’t be accomplished by merely going to the gym. Performance, aesthetics, fitness, or health are all optimized by doing more than just a training session.

Today’s Chalk Talk briefly touches on the importance of preparation. How can you better prepare your nutrition? Training sessions? Mobility? Sleep? Relaxation? Post your answers to comments along with what you’ll do to improve.

6 thoughts on “Chalk Talk #3 – A Word On Preparation

  1. I dig the videos. Keep jamming on those and I know they’re easier than writing a full article.

    I like to do 1 epic cooking night per week and cook 10-12lbs of meat on cookie sheets and in casserole dishes for the upcoming week. I pair that with a bunch of chopped veggies (tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers) for a big ass salad for lunch and then microwavable veggies (brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus) and sweet potatoes for dinner. I stick with the bulletproof coffee for breakfast. Makes it pretty easy and affordable to hit 3k calories w/ 200g of Protein/day. I’ll toss in shakes if I get busy or just as a desert/treat when I feel like it.

    • 10 – 12 pounds at once is hardcore. I usually make stuff for half the week days at a time and cook again on Wednesday night. It just depends.

      I remember making a joke a few years ago about “not having time for vegetables” but they really are easy to have, especially when you eat them fresh. Then most of them (like brussel sprouts and broccoli) you can put bacon grease on them and cook them in the oven for a bit.

  2. I also usually cook a ton of meat on the weekend for lunch and dinner during the week. There are also a few days during the week where I maybe won’t have time to cook up breakfast in the morning, so I’ll make an egg/meat/veggie casserole of some sort the night before. Hit up some mobility work at night while watching TV or studying or even between classes.

    Justin, are those hash browns hand cut or the Simply Potato ones? Looked gooood as fuck.

    • Those are Simply Potato. I’ve made them from white potatoes before, but it’s just a little more time consuming and the consistency is slightly different. Though, the packaged stuff has a few chemical ingredients, but they aren’t too bad.

      I don’t think most people understand breakfast food can be made the night before. I always make eggs/bacon the night before. Eggs keep in the fridge just like anything else. Americans have such a weird stigma about eggs.

  3. “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

    What you’ve said here is spot on. I’ve found trying to make an entire week’s worth of food is a little bit too ambitious, so I usually make food for Sunday-Wednesday on Sunday, and Wednesday-Saturday on Wednesday. On Sunday I’ll prepare the Wednesday-Saturday meats by dividing them up into freezer bags with the marinade in them. On Tuesday morning I’ll take them out of the freezer so that they’re ready to cook on Wednesday. Obviously the exact day might switch a little bit depending on what I have going on that week. I don’t make breakfast in advance though. My routine is to set my coffee maker on delay the night before, upon waking I’ll put 3 or 4 eggs in a pot of water on the stove, shower/shave/get dressed for work, and then quickly take the eggs off, cool them, put them in a baggie and take some fruit and/or yogurt with me to work. I eat the eggs and fruit while reading my emails. I’ve grown to not really enjoy boiled eggs, but I just sort of pop em like medicine. A little green tobacco sauce goes a long way.

    Another pro tip: use a vacuum sealer machine. I got one of these several years ago for storing game meats I’ve killed, but now I also use it to store entire meals in the freezer. I’ll pre-cook chicken or another meat, add some frozen veggies to it, and then seal it up. That way I’ve got my own “tv dinner” when I need it. I also use the vacuum sealer to store meats with marinades. I’ll buy a large amount of meat from Costco and then divide it up into portions, add some marinade/brine or whatever (buttermilk is amazing) and then put that in the freezer.

    Also, make NPR your su chef. I keep a little radio in the kitchen. I like NPR because they have interesting stories and almost no commercials.

    • I assume you meant tobasco sauce. Tobacco sauce would be hardcore.

      I’ll have to get a vacuum sealer machine.

      I also listen to NPR when cooking. Most of the time it’s tolerable, and if not I’ll switch to various podcasts.

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