meal planning for beginners
Figuring out what to eat every day, while juggling work, kids, school, etc., can be difficult and stressful. Without a plan, it can be easy to stop at the drive-through on the way to work, and to throw in the towel and order delivery for dinner. This is where meal planning comes in.
Meal planning often evokes feelings like “it steals my Sunday,” “it’s boring,” or “I don’t know where to start.” While it’s true that meal planning may not be sexy, it’s one of the best things you can do for your future self. And it doesn’t need to be complicated or take up a lot of time. Meal planning can help save money, cut down on food waste, and to eat healthier, more nutritious, meals. Here are some tips:
Start small - identify the one meal per week that would be the easiest to prep ahead of time (maybe that’s breakfast) and, once you’ve mastered that, add in prepping your weekly lunches.
Plan your snacks - meal planning can include your snacks too. Have healthy options that are easy to grab-and-go. Try to aim for a balance of protein, carbs, and healthy fats in each snack.
Make a list - before you go to the grocery store, be sure that you’ve planned out some meals for the week and the ingredients you’ll need. If you need help with this part, there are multiple apps out there for meal planning and generating grocery lists. You can search “meal planning apps” on Google and find the one that works for you.
Batch prep a staple - pick a lean protein option and make a whole lot of it! Grilled, baked, or pulled chicken, lean ground beef, turkey, or chicken; these are easy to make ahead of time and add different things throughout the week for variety.
Fruits and vegetables - wash, cut, and store these (as needed) as soon as you get home from the store. This way, when your week gets crazy, it’s one less thing you need to do. This also helps to make the healthy choice the easy choice as already-prepared veggies and fruits are easy to grab for snacks or to add to meals.
Invest in food storage containers - get a variety of sizes so you have them for meals, snacks, and to store those batch-prepped items. You can opt for plastic and/or glass; however, glass is best for meals that you’ll need to reheat in a microwave.
Get a lunch box - sounds obvious, but having a lunch box makes it a lot easier to stick to your plan, and to transport those meals you’ve worked hard to prep.
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to meal planning, so experiment and find what works for you. The important part is to just get started - as the saying goes, if you fail to plan you plan to fail. It’s also not going to go perfectly every week, and that’s okay; this doesn’t mean you should stop - that’s just life and nobody is perfect!
Anyone can be successful with meal planning. If you’re feeling overwhelmed about getting started, the DeNovo nutrition coaches would love to help!
Get started here: https://denovocrossfitappointments.as.me/
