Making a Meal Plan

How easy is it for you to set a goal and reach it? Dream of changing your eating but never do? Start on the right path but stray? Overwhelm yourself, which discourages you from continuing on? THAT IS ME! I had a plan and goals but nothing concrete or that kept me on track. I got lost in the dream of healthier eating but really woke up to eating a cheeseburger from Mc Donald’s in the morning. The answer was meal planning! It’s easy to make healthy choices every now and then but how do you make them all of the time? MAKE A MENU.

Making a menu is simple, easy and best of all, A PLAN. Your plan. A guide to follow to keep you on track. Make it detailed, it makes it easier to follow. Even if only one meal on it is the healthier option, it’s a start and we all have to start somewhere. Trying to do too much can be overwhelming, burn you out and ultimately cause the quits. To combat that, start slow, start smart. Give yourself a fighting chance to make it stick.

Making healthier choices than you do now can be quite the challenge, one that isn’t always easy. Whenever I decide it’s time to start eating better foods, less processed more natural foods, I find it much easier with a written out plan. Not just a simple plan but one controllingly (totally not a word) spelled out.

When I make my plan I write out breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner for all 7 days of the week. If you don’t eat that much that’s fine. I have it all written out like this so that when I find myself hungry, I’m not searching the cabinets, pantry and refrigerator for something to eat. I’ve already got something I can go to. It helps keep me from binge eating or unhealthy food decisions I’m trying not to make. See it below:

 Meal Planning and Grocery List (pdf)

I work Monday through Friday so I would start my week on Sunday because that is the day that I would meal prep lunches and snacks for the week. The great thing about the week is that it can ‘start’ on any day. We don’t all work the same days or hours, make your plan work around your schedule. You could even start by picking a ‘non-processed’ food day. Build it to make it work for you. Don’t follow someone else’s schedule, let theirs be theirs and make your own. March to the beat of your own drum. There’s plenty of people that do it better than you and that have mastered healthy eating habits but that doesn’t mean that what they do will work for you. Hell, you might even find that this doesn’t work for you. I fall off and have to get back on, sometimes that falling off period could be months to a year. You get comfortable in life and just kind of kick back and enjoy the flow but no matter how long it’s been, that doesn’t mean you can’t ever get back to it.

What’s healthy? The least amount of process and additives. Read ingredient labels, I’m a stickler for that. I always read the labels but that doesn’t mean I won’t put the item in my cart just because it has something on it I can’t read but still know isn’t good for me. But honestly, what is in the food you eat? My son loves peanut butter sandwiches, his dad buys processed peanut butter and I buy the all-natural kind, the kind that only has salt and peanuts. Because he was so used to eating Skippy, he thought my Laura Scudders’ brand was not real peanut butter! **insert face in hand** Healthy eating habits aren’t easy, especially when it’s not something you are used to doing but they can be learned and they can stick, if you let them.

It starts with one, choose an ingredient to stay away from in your foods, once you get used to buying foods without it, move on to another one. So on and so forth. Read a label and don’t know what an ingredient is? Google it. Here’s some everyday ones we see below:

·         Hydrogenated oils: a process that turns liquid unsaturated fat (good fat) into trans-fat (bad fat) which is used to extend shelf life. So basically this process takes good fat and turns it into bad fat so that it lasts longer.

·         High fructose corn syrup: made from corn syrup, the chemical process to make it separates the natural bond between glucose and fructose and is sweeter than regular sugar. It’s not natural but in so many things.

·         Dyes: ever look at an ingredient label and see Red or Yellow on it? Those are colorings added to a lot of processed foods. Red Dye 40 used to be made from coal and is now made using petroleum. It is used to give foods a more appealing look. But does it really have to be pretty? It all comes out the same!?!

Those are just three ingredients, there are SO many more in processed foods. What is in the applesauce you buy, is it just apples on the label? What about your peanut butter? Ever look at the labels on meat? I only buy lunch meat and bacon that are all natural, no nitrates or nitrites. Although natural, they are unnaturally processed in meats to help prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. That sounds good and all but too much of it can lead to unwanted health risks. Also, eating meats with nitrites in it gives me a headache.

Ingredient labels are also listed highest to lowest. The first ingredient you read is what is most present and the last one is the least present. Granted you don’t know how much of each is in it but compare what you are buying to the ingredients, are there more in it than necessary? There’s times I’ll look at a label on something and think, I can make this at home without the added extras, like packaged guacamole.

The beauty of your meal plan is that once you’ve got it written out, you can make your grocery list from it. What do you need to make everything on it? Makes it easier to stay on track at the grocery store and not buy extra things you don’t need. Just make sure you don’t go hungry!