Do you ever get home from work on a busy weekday, at 8:00 or even 9:00, and realize you haven’t planned
anything for dinner? I know that feeling, the “I don’t feel like making
dinner, let’s order pizza” feeling that we all experience from time to
time. Let’s focus on some meal planning that involves healthy
eating.
You can do some basic things every weekend to insure this doesn’t
happen to you. Use some time on Saturday or Sunday to shop, prep, cook, and
enjoy a great sit-down dinner together with your friends or family — all the
while getting your fridge ready for the week. When you wake up Monday
morning, you will feel better about the week to come, and you will really
thank yourself when it comes time for dinner.
1) Plan the Exact Number of Meals Needed
You may not need to plan every meal. Some meals will come easily to you, some meals you may eat out, and some meals may be already prepared for you. So, it’s more efficient to only focus on meals that you usually struggle to get right, and put your time and effort into those. Figure out how many meals you will prepare at home, and then
plan them out. Meal planning doesn’t have to be complicated. Just thumb through
some favorite recipes, create a shopping list, and prepare ahead what you
can. Meal planning gives you an opportunity to control exactly what kind of
nutrition you will be getting in your meals, since you get to decide ahead of
time. Many recipes on line now have nutritional data, and even shopping
lists.
2) Go Grocery Shopping & Make it
Intentional
Do one round of major grocery shopping on the weekend to restock all your
essentials and get what you need for your meal plans; except do it with the
intention of sticking to your healthy eating commitments. Go with an
organized, well thought out list that supplies your meal plan and serves your
healthy needs. Set an intention to read more ingredient labels, and try a new
super food or whole grain that you have never tried before. If you plan to
pick up fresh produce, fish, or other perishable items during the week, put
the mid-week trip to the store in your calendar and treat it like a real
appointment. Otherwise, you may get home and find you are shorthanded, which
can lead to a call to the pizza man. Prioritize this task and make it as
important as the other things in your calendar.
3) Set Aside One Hour for Meal
Prep
Use this time to prepare anything in your meal plan that can be done ahead
of time. Some examples are cooking grains, cooking legumes-beans, sauces that
can be stored, salad dressings, peel onions and garlic (but don’t chop until
you use them), shell peas, juice lemons and limes, and make ahead seasoning
mixes. In the professional cooking world, this is called “Mise en Place,”
which is essentially all the stuff the chef needs to quickly execute a dish
when ordered, without spoiling the freshness or quality.
4) Stock Your Smoothie Station
When you are getting your morning ready or running out the door to a
meeting, you may not want to take three extra steps to find the ingredients
you need for a good smoothie or protein shake. Set up a station right next to
your blender, and stock it with enough of the things you need to get through
the week. Store your perishable smoothie ingredients in one place, together,
in your refrigerator where you can see and reach them easily. If your
smoothie contains more than one dry product (protein
powder, flax meal, and turmeric, for example) then consider making
pre-portioned bags of “dry mix” that you can just dump into your shake when
it comes time to make one.
5) Create Healthy Snack Bags or a Shelf at
Work
Cut up some vegetables, make or purchase some hummus, bake a loaf of your
favorite healthy bread, divide up portions of your favorite nutrition snack
bars, make snack sized bags of mixed up raw nuts and seeds, anything that can
be easily transported and-or stored next to your work station. Keep your
snack bag near you all the time. When you get hungry in between meals, reach
for your snacks!
6) Prepare a Healthy Sipping
Beverage
Most people love to have a beverage to sip on sitting around. Look at the
proliferation of cup holders in our world. You can even get a sofa with cup
holders imbedded into the armrests! Unfortunately for many, this comes with
consequences. Too often that sipping beverage is loaded with ingredients that you may be wanting to eat less of or avoid altogether. And, liquid calories in disproportionate amounts can hinder any weight loss goals you might have. You can remedy this by preparing your favorite healthy beverage ahead of time, and
then storing it in daily personal travel bottles. My favorite is to steep 4
bags of green tea and 2 bags of another herbal tea in an iced tea maker, then
infuse fresh fruit and a lemon. You can also add your favorite powdered
nutritional supplements, like electrolytes, essential amino acids, or a greens powder.
One of the most important, very basic things I teach my clients is
this: Keep the foods that support you
within arm’s reach whenever possible. Or in other words, make sure your environment supports your goals. Your environment includes your home, your workplace, and any other place you spend a lot of time (like your car, for example).
By following these basic tips over the weekend, you can ensure that what you need will be
there for you when and where you need it, whether it be at dinner time in
your kitchen, or out on the go doing what you do in the world. You will not
only enjoy the process of eating more when better prepared, but you will also
start to feel the difference physically and mentally when you make your food
logistics a top priority in your schedule.
If any of this has resonated with you, and you’d like do dive into more healthy skills and practices that will support your best health and wellness outcomes, you may be interested in one of my nutrition coaching programs. You can chat with me and learn more about what is possible with a free discovery-coaching call. I look forward to helping you!