Do you often wonder what your trainer eats and how he or she stays looking so fit? Well I can’t speak for all of them and how they stay fit but I can share with you the day in the life of Monique. First, I have to admit that I’m a freak for eating balanced and regular
meals (four to five times, every three hours).

I do hope though that through my sharing my strict schedule and eating regime, it can help you to see how easily you can improve on your day-to-day eating habits. Your eating habits are somewhere around 95.9% of your body’s change or lack of change when trying to lose weight/body fat (not the same things).

For starters you can’t do the typical dieting thing, “I’m going to cut out bread for a week…” or “I’m just eating protein until I loose five pounds…

and the list goes on. You must make a decision that makes your fitness training should relate to your overall health and well-being for this lifetime.

So for me it begins with thinking about foods I like. Other important questions are What is easy to prepare? What is easy to store? I ask myself these questions and then I begin “planning”.

Planning is where most people miss the boat. They go into the market and just pick up a bunch of aimless, nothing…and when you arrive home you still have no real meals to prepare and nothing really balanced to eat, just a bunch of stuff/junk.

The key is to plan ahead, know when you will make the time to prepare a couple of meals for storing in the frig. for the coming week. Know what you can prepare that will be balanced and easy to quickly heat up or simply throw together. An this begins with a simple shopping list.

My shopping takes place around the outer perimeter of the market: this is where all of the produce, meats/fish, dairy and deli are found (in most markets). The isles are where you will find all of the processed foods and some essential grains.

Once I’ve established a health-conscious shopping list, I create meals as I shop.
Throughout the week I plan a day in advance and sometimes the entire week at a glance.
Invested in a six-pack cooler to carry in my car for those days that are truly on the go. I can easily get a salad and snack in one of those coolers for rushed days. To be more specific, my basic shopping list is as follows:

Monique’s’ Shopping List (for a week of meals)

1. Broccoli
2. String Beans
3. Celery
4. Bell Pepper (red, green and yellow)
5. Jalapeño Pepper
6. Onions
7. Garlic
8. Tomatoes
9. Spring Lettuce
10. Bagged Spinach
11. Sweet Potatoes
12. Cucumber
13. Kiwi
14. Nectarines
15. Granny Smith Apples
16. Pears
17. Blueberries
18. Lemons
19. Limes
20. Oranges
21. Ground Turkey
22. Boneless Chicken Breasts
23. Salmon
24. Bagged Salmon/Tuna
25. Turkey Slices
26. Plain Yogurt
27. Provolone Cheese
28. Eggs
29. Quinoa
30. Oatmeal
31. Almonds
32. Walnuts

There are at least five meals per day for one week in the shopping list I have shared with you here. I hope that the following can help you to get started on the right path to health and wellness. Eating this way helps me to sustain energy and brain-power and keep my girlish figure.

Example Meals for the Day:
Meal 1 (most important meal of the day)
Oatmeal, three Egg whites, Blueberries

Meal 2 (three hours later)
Salad with bagged salmon and lemon juice

Meal 3 (three hours later)
Plain yogurt, kiwi, almonds

Meal 4 (three hours later)
Broccoli, sweet potatoes and grill chicken breasts

Meal 5 (if hungry before bed)
Slice of pears with a touch of yogurt

In the coming weeks I will share with you what I had to eat each day in my life. I will include some realistic little quick meal ideas, some of my favorite recipes and some little tricks of the trade that can keep you eating healthy, balanced and often enough to spark your metabolism to burn fat and have fun while you do it.