The main goals of meal planning are to save time, money, and effort while making sure that meals are balanced, nutritious, and aligned with your personal dietary goals or preferences. Nutrition is such an important part of overall health and wellness and can affect many other aspects of health if maintained poorly. Meal prepping can be very beneficial and helpful in making sure you are prioritizing a healthy, balanced diet daily!
Time is usually a factor against us, we never seem to have enough of it. Unfortunately, nutrition is something that might take a hit when you’re pressed on time. Meal planning simply means organizing and preparing your meals ahead of time. Many people will have a meal plan for a week at a time. When I meal plan, I usually premake one or two meals that I can have readily available when I am low on time in my day. This helps me avoid going to get fast food or turning to frozen, processed, quick foods. Having something that you have already made and can simply reheat makes eating healthy much easier.
Meal prepping can be super simple. I start with choosing a base, such as pasta, rice, quinoa, or rice noodles. Then, I choose a protein. There are so many different and easy options to choose from, and I like to switch it up. Ground beef or turkey, chicken, and shrimp are usually my go-tos! Then, I choose some veggies to throw in there. Here are some examples of some of my meal planning favorites:
- Rice, veggie, and protein bowl: cook white or brown rice in a rice cooker or on the stove, saute some veggies (asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, etc.), and cook chicken or shrimp on the stove
- Quinoa salads: cook some quinoa in a rice cooker or on the stove, and add some spinach, kale, cucumber, red onion, carrots, tomatoes, kalamata olives, and feta cheese (quinoa is a good source of protein if you are looking for vegetarian options!)
- Pasta: cook some pasta, cook some protein (ground beef, turkey, or sausage work well), saute some veggies (mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, peas, etc.), and mix together with a pasta sauce of your choice! I usually use just a tomato basil sauce.
When you meal plan, look into some recipes that work for you and your dietary needs, and make a grocery list. When you have all of the ingredients, you can start prepping! Some people just like to prepare the ingredients by getting all of the slicing and dicing out of the way, so it is easier and quicker to access vegetables and other components. Personally, I like to prepare my whole meal in advance so that I can just pop it in the microwave and be on my way! Once I have the meal prepared, I put it either into one big container or into several smaller containers to make it easier to access or take with me on the go. Meal planning is such an easy way to save some time in your busy schedule and make healthier choices!
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