The Tribune

Health coach Ethan Quant, of Elite Wellness Solutions, has succeeded in his weight loss journey and now wants to share his methods with the Bahamas in an effort to foster a culture of wellness and conquer the obesity epidemic.

I learned many things on my health, wellness and fitness journey. Things that I thought were impossible for me to do at one time now have become an integral part of my daily routine. We know that a healthy lifestyle includes proper diet and nutrition. Food was a huge thing for me to tackle, and if I am being honest, it’s still one of my major challenges today.

One of the things I learned was that the key to staying consistent with healthy meals is to meal prep. This refers to the preparation of your meals in advance. These days most people lead busy lives with obligations to your job, children, family, household and extra-curricular activities. Without adequate meal prepping it’s difficult to follow your health programme when you’re always on the go.

Before you begin to meal prep, ensure you have adequate and proper storage containers and space to keep your food in. These containers can be glass or Tupperware and should be sized according to the amount of food you’ll be preparing. If you’re relatively new this meal prep concept you might want to start off with prepping meals for roughly two to three days in advance. Then again, if you really want to save time in the kitchen you can prepare your meals for the entire week.

The food items you purchase from the grocery store and cook should be based on a meal plan and food list (Elite Fitness provides one). The time you spend prepping along with the amount of food you prepare is entirely up to, just remember the idea is to simplify healthy eating for yourself. And not all food requires pre-cooking. Prepping in advance can come in variety of ways. You can cut up your herbs and vegetables, clean your fruits and season your meat in advance, for example.

Now you should prepare your meals be tasty to you. After all, you do want to enjoy your food. Feel free to use those various healthy seasonings, spices and sauces that you love so much. If you’re preparing lean protein such as chicken breast, you can prepare two to three variations of it at the same time. And this can be achieved through seasoning and using sauces like mustard, ketchup and BBQ sauce.

Once you’re finished prepping, have your storage containers ready. Always make sure you have a food scale and measuring cups and spoons to ensure you’re eating the correct portions. Each day before you leave your home you can pack the relevant meals and snacks for that day and then trying to find the right food to eat throughout the day will be a problem of past.

• Health coach Ethan Quant, of Elite Wellness Solutions, has succeeded in his weight loss journey and now wants to share his methods with the Bahamas in an effort to foster a culture of wellness and conquer the obesity epidemic.