Eating Healthy Foods – Preparation is key

Prepare your food for the week: Dinner

We make our worst food choices when we are hungry (starving!) and unprepared.  Add “rushed” and “stressed”  to that, and you are asking for disaster.  Preparation is the key to habitually eating healthy foods.

If most of your food choices are done at the last minute with whatever you can find, chances are, you are overweight and malnourished.

No time?  Join the club.  Ok, seriously, does anyone not have to face the challenge of feeding themselves (and their children) healthfully at the end of a long day?  On a budget?   Challenging is an understatement.

Get in the habit of planning ahead.  Being prepared is KEY!

Suggestions for healthy eating for the whole family:

• Grill, bake, or broil all of your meat for the week in advance. Throw chicken on salads and leftover steak on sandwiches or in stir fry later on. If you prepare, cook, and store food on Sunday, you should be able to skate until Thursday.
• Chop up veggies and pre-make salads, so they are quick and easy for everyone to grab. Wash and cut fruit. Always have a veggie tray ready to go.
• Get the kids involved.  Investing family time into food prep on the weekend ensures a healthy selection when hunger strikes and time is limited.  Nothing is more important than teaching your kids how to eat well.
• Learn to grab and go.  Store your lunch on the go in containers and have them stacked in the fridge ready and waiting.  You will save a bundle on fast food and have a preselected serving size full of healthy stuff.
• Bag snacks and have with you at all times.  Measure out nuts, fruit, veggies, trail mix, etc, and have them stored in your purse, briefcase, or desk.  You should never go more than 3-4 hours without eating a little something.  Any longer than that and you send the wrong signals to your body.
• Avoid “grazing.”  Establish regular meal times and stick to them as best you can.  Unless you are underweight, eating all day long is NOT a good plan.

If most of your food decisions of the day are planned in advance, you can successfully navigate proper nutrition, have greater success at eating healthy foods, and avoid the empty calories that stick like glue!

 

 

Visit Jerny Rieves’ website, MindBody Unlimited, for more nutrition information.