Fall schedules are in full swing and I’m hot on a mission to help you dial in your meal planning system so prepping & eating healthy meals will easily become part of your normal routine. But first, why does this even matter?
The truth is, without going into each day or week with a bit of a plan, chances are so much greater that you're going to wind up choosing what to eat out of convenience or desperation.
Perfection is not the goal. Not everyone fits the mold of:
- planning 7 days worth of meals on Saturday
- doing hours of prep on Sunday afternoon
- and flawlessly executing said strategy throughout the week
That's not real life for most of us! What I hope to teach you is a system that you can tweak and adopt until you find your groove, and through that:
- ditch the "it's 5pm and I have no idea what we're eating for dinner" stress
- save money by not wasting food and eating out
- improve the health of your family by eating more meals prepared at home
- more easily reach your health goals
But before we get into the planning & prepping strategies, and before we venture out to the grocery store and start throwing items into our cart, it's crucial we review what is supposed to be on our plate!
Ideally, every meal you eat will contain four things:
healthy fat + protein + fiber + color
#llwscorefour
Building your plate with these four things will help you:
balance blood sugar = no crazy energy and mood swings
calm hunger hormones = put a stop to endless snacking
keep your digestion on point = eliminate bloating and gas
show up all radiant and glowy = our body is made of the goodness we provide it
As you're doing your meal prep, keep these four things in mind. Here are some of my top recommended sources from each category:
HEALTHY FAT: extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter and ghee, avocados, and allll the yummy nuts and seeds like macadamia nuts, almonds, walnuts, flax seeds, and pumpkin seeds.
PROTEIN: eggs, chicken, turkey, salmon, grass-fed beef, tuna, bison, and vegan protein powder.
FIBER: endless amounts of non-starchy veggies including cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, bell peppers, an array of leafy greens & herbs; starchy veggies like sweet potatoes and squash are in this category too, along with gluten free grains like rice, oatmeal and quinoa; legumes & beans if you tolerate them well, and fruit, my favorites being berries, apples and citrus fruit.
COLOR: different colors in our food represent different nutrients, so it's important that we are eating the rainbow! This can be as simple as throwing some chives on your eggs, a handful of pomegranate seeds in your salad, and adding bright orange peppers to your stir fry. Pay attention to the colors in your food and try to see how many you can hit in a day.
If you want to see 200+ examples of what a meal looks like with all four categories, just search the hashtag #llwscorefour on Instagram for some inspiration!
With this strategy in mind, meal planning becomes an effective tool to help you reach your goals.
Check out my free guides and resources for additional information. As always please feel free to contact me with any questions, I would love to chat!