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The only way to guarantee you’re primed for maximum fat loss is to ensure you’re having meals and snacks at regular intervals throughout the day. While it may not sound like such an easy task, it’s much easier when you take a few minutes to plan your meals the night before or earlier in the day. (The night before is almost always the best option because being in a rush can make this impossible.)

Since you are short on time and a three course meal most likely isn’t an option, the key for you is to PREVENT hunger. Most of us go overboard on how much we eat because we wait until we’re starving. This is a big, big mistake that leads to overeating, food coma (tiredness) and eventual fat storage!

Step 1: Make a list of grocery and convenience stores on the way to your work. In doing so, you’ll know what your options for meals and snacks are ahead of time. Convenience stores are great for a quick protein bar or shake, while larger grocery stores usually have a deli that will make a sandwich to your specifications. (If you’re opting for the deli sandwich, go with low-fat mayo, avoid the oils and avocado, and opt for whole grain breads whenever possible.)

Step 2: Take out a small piece of paper, like a yellow sticky, and write down the times of your normal breaks and lunches during work. You want to do this so you know when you’ll have the opportunity to eat or have a snack. If you go in at 4:00 PM, for instance, you would typically have your first break at 6:00, your lunch at 8:00 and a second break at 10:00. (Not having breaks at regular intervals is against the law.)

Step 3: Next to the time of each break on your piece of paper, write down what you’ll be having to eat at each break. See the example below:

3:45 – Meal prepared earlier in the day (eat on the way to work)

6:00 – Protein bar (picked up on way to work or previously in bulk)

8:00 – Healthy lunch at local restaurant or meal from home

10:00 – Meal replacement / protein shake (picked up on way to work or previously in bulk)

As a side note, you really should have something to eat on your way to work to ensure you’re not going too long between meals. Some quick healthy snacks you can have are: a hand full of nuts, some low-sodium beef jerky, a piece of fruit, or, if you have the time, you can have a meal previously prepared at home. (These make great snacks at your break time as well.)

Eating at regular time intervals will not only help to keep you feeling energized and alert, but it will also prevent your body from going into “Fat Storage” mode. (Fat storage mode is a primitive survival mechanism our body uses to prevent starvation. This typically happens when we skip meals or go extended periods or time without food.)

Note: You should be having a snack or meal every 2.5 – 3 hours to keep your metabolism revving in high gear. This will help to ensure you’re burning the most body fat possible throughout the day!

“Should I add protein bars or shakes to my diet?” is one of the most common questions I hear almost every day. These can both work great if you have a tight schedule, don’t have time to prepare a meal or need something quick while you’re on the go, but they are not always the best choices for the following five reasons:

1) Many have a lot of added sugar and / or are high in fat, which makes them almost as bad as drinking a milk shake or eating a snickers bar. A good bar or shake should have:

At least 15 grams of protein
No more than 4 grams of sugar
No more than 4 grams of fat
No more than 200 calories.

If the bar or shake has more calories, it is a meal replacement. In this case, you really need to watch the carbohydrates as many can have upwards of 40 grams, which usually adds an excessive amount of sugar and calories. If you do opt for a meal replacement bar, it should have no more than 300 calories. Any more than that and it may end up exactly where you don’t want it!

2) Most “low carb” bars and drinks substitute artificial sweeteners for the sugar they take out, which basically leaves us no choice but to “pick our poison” (artificial sweeteners vs. sugar). Consuming fewer carbs sounds good in theory, of course, and it is since our goal is to lose weight, but we don’t REALLY know what artificial sweeteners do to our bodies in the long run.

This is why minimizing our intake of artificial sweeteners is always a good idea whenever possible. (Not to mention they’re in almost everything else we eat and drink!) Examples include: Splenda, Sweet n Low (saccharine), Equal, Truvia, etc.

Truvia, by the way, is NOT natural! Run the words “truvia side effects” through any search engine and you’ll discover that it has caused its share of problems. According to multiple sources, common side effects include: diarrhea, bloating, gas, constipation, hard stools, headaches, dizziness and fatigue. I experienced the bloating personally.

3) Beware if you’re lactose intolerant or don’t tolerate soy protein very well. Almost all protein bars and shakes include whey, casein, soy protein or a combination. If you’re lactose intolerant and you’re choosing whey or casein, you want to make sure your shake has lactase enzymes in it so your body doesn’t react to the milk sugar (lactose). You can also take lactase enzymes if you have them.

4) All calories are not equal. When we eat chicken, beef, fish, eggs or some other solid protein, the digestion process creates a “thermogenic” or calorie burning effect because our body has to break it down to extract the nutrients it contains. If we eat 200 calories of chicken breast, for instance, about 20 – 25% of those calories will be burned up in the digestion process leaving us with only about 150 – 160 to burn due to the thermogenic effect.

Bars and shakes, on the other hand, are more easily digested so they have less of a thermogenic effect. A 200-calorie bar or shake may only require about 5 – 10% of the calories it provides to digest. This leaves us with 180 – 190 calories left to burn, which is more than the chicken.

5) Whey and casein proteins are sensitive to temperature and break down when exposed to extreme temperatures or when cooked. (Meaning the quality of the protein is compromised.) This applies more to bars than shakes because the majority are usually cooked somehow, whereas shakes are typically mixed with water or some other liquid.

Personally, I don’t eat protein bars very much these days (unless I’m in a tight spot and it’s a better choice than anything else in sight) because of these reasons, and I only drink 100% Whey Protein Gold Standard by Optimum Nutrition before and after workouts to ensure I’m giving my muscles the protein they need to ensure recover. Other than that, I always eat solid sources of protein such as beef, chicken and eggs.

I choose this particular brand because: a) whey protein has a very high amino acid profile (meaning it is an excellent source of protein), b) it includes lactase enzymes as I don’t tolerate lactose well, and c) it is lower in sugar and uses fewer artificial sweeteners than most other brands.

How to plan meals when you’re short on time or in a hurry

Should I add protein bars or shakes to my diet?

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