It's Time To Take Back Your Life

Tag: choosing your foods

Meal planning for quick and easy meals

Meal planning for quick and easy meals is without a doubt one of the most time consuming parts of eating healthier. The only thing worse that this is, the actual meal prep itself. Let’s face it, planning, shopping and then prepping can take an entire day. Who has a whole day to dedicate to this? There is an easier way.

When you plan, you will want quick ideas. For this, you will need to re-think your way of cooking. For me, cooking was more of an art than a necessity. I would spend hours in the kitchen for one dinner, but that was when I cooked the good old southern way. Those days are now gone. I am focused on nutrition now.

What is your why?

You have to ask yourself “what is my why”? This gets you clear as to why, now what is your goal? You have to set an achievable goal. Ask yourself these questions:

  • What is my goal?
  • How can I get the most bang for my buck in the way of nutrients?
  • How can I cook or prepare quick easy and budget friendly meals?

My Goal

First of all, my goal was simple. I needed a diet plan that would support my nutritional goals of eating healthier and losing weight. Some things I needed to forgo were wine, cheese, ice cream and really most dairy altogether.

I was always heavy on the meat and startches, so I needed to add more fruits and vegetables in my mix, and cut the additional salt. Okay, I had my first base covered. I had a specific goal and kept it simple. I have my why and goal covered.

My nutritional needs

I knew that if I incorporated nutritionally dense foods, it would help my body repair itself and provide the nutrients it needed to stay healthy. So, I focused on getting the most bang for my buck. This would provide the much needed nutrition for energy and weight loss. If you need a list of those top nutritional foods, you can find them at the link below:

I also needed to save money on my grocery budget, so I followed the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen rule of buying produce. This will save you money, while forgoing those cancer-causing pesticides. Click the link below for that list:

Quick and easy meals

I knew my cooking style had to change overnight. I needed to let go of my three and four course meals and focus on meal planning for quick and easy meals. This meant incorporating things like smoothies and oatmeal with fresh fruit, during breakfast and lunch, and cooking “one pot meals” or all-in-one meals for dinner. See my post below for one-pot meals:

Success comes down to having a plan and working the plan

I knew planning, shopping and prepping could not be done for me all in one day. I just simply ran out of stem and didn’t prep. I thought, “I will do it tomorrow” and tomorrow never came. Groceries go to waste like this, so a new plan of action had to be born!

I decided I would meal plan my quick meals during the week and would make a full shopping list for each of the two stores. I would also take inventory of my panty, refrigerator and freezer for the foods I needed.

I had my lists for both stores. You might ask, why two stores, why not just one? Well the reason is two-fold. First, our supply chain hasn’t recovered and my stores do not always have the things I need, so I am forced to make a second stop. Second, you always want to look at the ads for cost-savings and add those to your cards so you can take advantage of those extra digital coupon savings.

My Plan

This meant on Thursday, when the ads came out I would research and load everything I need to my digital coupons for money saving ideas. Friday night, I would clean my refrigerator out, and take inventory of anything I might need. I would make my lists for each store. If I had time, I would look to on-line healthy recipes or a book for inspiration. I may not follow the actual recipe but it will give me a guide. I tend to make my meals a bit healthier.

Then, when Saturday/Sunday rolls around, I grab my lists and keys and head out the door. Inventory was already taken from my refrigerator, pantry and freezer and lists are in hand. This keeps me from purchasing unneeded items and spending more money than planned. Let’s face it, groceries have gotten so expensive, we need all the help we can get in this area.

When I get home, I unload, wash and stock things away. Remember, the refrigerator is already clean and ready to go from the night before. I go directly into the prep of washing, cutting and containing, what I need for the days ahead. This would typically give me about 5 days of easy food ready to go for a quick toss. Realistically, I can prep and cook any dinner in 30-45 minutes and this included clean-up.

Now this will take some getting used to. It will take time to perfect your craft, but you can teach an old dog new tricks, so stick with it. You will find quick and easy ways to get healthy and nutritious foods in your body, without spending an entire day cooking.

Being successful at eating healthier is 80% of our getting healthy journey. If you can master this, then you can add walking (or the exercise of your choice), for the last 20%. All of this together is going to equal a healthier and hopefully lighter you.

Alicia

Shopping the perimeter

Shopping outside the perimeter has long been a strategy of many diets. It is said that all the nutritious foods are located on the outer walls around the store. This still holds true to this day.

Where to go

When gathering your food, you will want to mainly be in the produce section, and the frozen food section of any store. There are thing like spices, beans, olive oil, broth and alternative milks that you will have to go into the inner isles for.

You need to be careful to not fall into the old traps of processed foods. Chips, sodas, diary and meat do not need to be a part of your list, unless you are consuming meat and seafood. Even then, only lean cuts and small amounts.

Setting a budget

You need to go to the store with a budget that fits your household income. Only get what you need for half the week. Make it a habit to go to the store twice a week. This will take care of fresh produce.

If you get produce for the entire week, it might go bad before you have an opportunity to use it. That is why it is best to shop by a list and plan your meals in advance.

Comparison shopping

I once did a comparison. I shopped on the outer isles of the store getting fresh produce and meats, and then on the inner isles picking up more processed foods. The fresh was actually less expensive than the processed, and a heck of a lot healthier.

After all, have you seen the prices of food this day and time? Ice cream is almost $10 a half gallon. Eggs are $7 a dozen. Chicken has skyrocketed and sometimes is more expensive than beef. Chips are almost $5 a bag, and the bags have gotten smaller. Canned veggies and beans are $1.25 to $2.50 a can. We are not even going to talk about cleaning supplies, Kleenex or toilet paper. Sodas are almost $5.00 a six pack. It is crazy what the prices of groceries have become in today’s economy. You literally cannot get out of a grocery run for less than $80 and that is walking out with only a handful of bags.

It is going to be a bit of work and organization on your part, but you have to pay attention to the ads and what is on sale at what store. The days of going to one store for all your needs is nearing extinction. To get what you need, takes a trip to two, if not three stores, unless you live in a rural area.

If you can afford to have your food delivered by InstaCart, Amazon or one of the grocery stores, go for it if you think you budget can handle it.

I will say mine cannot. I had my groceries delivered one time and that was during my chemo, when I was so sick, I could barely stand up. You have to pay for the delivery, then tip. It can get costly.

If you don’t like to shop, your best bet is to order you food and have them bring it to your car. The only problem is you get home and need something for dinner that they didn’t have. Supply chain interruptions are still a thing. We have never truly recovered.

Prepare for the week. Make a list and only get what is on your list. This will keep impulse buys to a minimum. The only thing I might deviate from is more fruits and veggies, especially frozen.

I never said going on a diet was going to be easy, but don’t let that discourage you!

Alicia