Planning your meals and snacks is a proven strategy for eating better and improving health.
Though this does take some time, it doesn‘t have to be time intensive.
In this blog, I share some tips to help you and your family eat more healthfully:
1-Make a Rotate and Repeat Plan
Did you know that most nutrition experts end up repeating their good-tasting meal and snack ideas week to week?
When you find meals and snacks that are affordable, easy-to-prepare and healthy, this repetition makes building healthy habits easier.
This takes the guesswork out of the hundreds of food decisions you need to make each day.
Before you know it, grocery shopping also becomes a breeze.
Have patience as you try new meals and snacks to find the ones that work best for you and your family.
For more easy-to-prepare, healthy meal planning ideas, check out my latest self-help book, Six Factors to Fit: Weight Loss that Works for You!
2-Fight Boredom with Theme-Based Meals
Themed meals break from the typical American fare that is big on meat and starchy carbohydrates like white pasta and potatoes and not so big on less calorie-dense foods, such as vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains.
Theming your meals allows you to more easily achieve the following nutrition goals that support healthier eating:
- Use more plant-based foods, like vegetables, salads, beans, nuts, seeds
- Choose higher-fiber and better-quality whole grains
- Select leaner protein sources
- Incorporate some healthy fats
More plant-based eating can also help you achieve better health!
Here are some themed meal examples that can be repeated with varied ingredients week to week:
- Whole Grain Thin Pizza Night
- Taco, Chili or Make-Your-Own Burrito Bowl Night
- Stir-Fry Night
- Soup & Sandwich Wrap Night
- Entrée Salad Night with Protein Toppers (like fish, seafood, chicken, veggie or turkey burger, falafel, tofu or tempeh)
- Garbage Salad Night (use leftover salad greens, vegetables, canned chickpeas, proteins, grains)
- Breakfast Anytime Night
Know that other more familiar themed meals, like Pasta Night (whole grain), Burger Night or Fish Night can also be adapted to fit this format.
3-Use Leftovers as Salad Toppers
Instead of eating your leftover meal just as you had previously (you know it won’t taste as good!), I encourage you to recreate it.
In our home, we keep bags of dark greens such as arugula and spinach – and within minutes we have a healthy meal on the table using your home-cooked or restaurant leftovers.
Whether it’s leftover chicken, fish, seafood, vegetable pasta, stir fry dishes, falafel or even thin pizza cut up in small bites like croutons, you can top a salad to create a tasty, healthful meal.
If you’re a meat lover but feel too stuffed when finishing oversized portions served at restaurants, take half home and use sliced meat as another salad topper.
Don’t forget to add some additional favorite salad toppings such as cut-up colorful fresh vegetables and fruits, avocado or nuts, while also topping with a flavored olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
The goal is to balance your dependable meal plan with having room for novelty and experimentation.
RK
Robert Kushner, MD
