There’s an old saying about abs being built in the kitchen. Any bodybuilder can tell you that a commitment to clean eating goes well beyond maintaining a beach body 6-pack. Just be careful how much time you invest in food preparation. A study prepared by graduate students at Ohio State’s University of Public Health suggests there’s a tradeoff between time spent in the kitchen the how long you train at the gym.

Analyzing data on more than 112,000 adults who responded to the Census Bureau’s American Time Use Survey between 2003 and 2010, researchers determined that the average man spends 17 minutes preparing food and 19 minutes exercising. The average for women was 44 minutes of food preparation compared to 9 minutes of exercise. Every 10 additional minutes of food preparation raised the chance that you’ll decide not to exercise that day by 3%.

True Strength Moment: To save time and effort, you can prepare a week’s worth of meals all at one time. Store these small mini-meals in resealable containers or storage bags in your refrigerator before packing a day’s worth into a cooler. This helps eliminate restaurant temptations while leaving you with more time for training.