Menu Planning for Healthier Eating
Cooking every day gets boring for many of us, especially when we’ve been doing it for so many years. It’s hard to come up with new ideas of what to make and keep meals healthy while also tasting good.
This past week I was working with a client who was feeling overwhelmed by her unhealthy food choices and she was exhausted by the idea of grocery shopping and cooking meals.
We got around this by making a few lists of various foods and turning these list into a menu plan for the week, which we then made into a grocery list.
Here’s how it works:
Start by making a list of all the lean proteins that you enjoy as well as some you don’t love but would be willing to eat (e.g., chicken, turkey, seafood, tofu, tempeh, eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc.)
Red meat is deliberately left out of the list above because it’s not a lean protein. That doesn’t mean you can’t have it, only that you’ll probably be healthier if you eat less of it.
Next make a list of all of the fruits and vegetables you can think of. Try to include a variety of colors and different types. For example, vegetable categories might include:
Leafy greens - lettuce, spinach, chard, collard greens, etc
Cruciferous - broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts
Starchy - potatoes, carrots, parsnips, corn, peas
Add in healthy fats (e.g., nuts and seeds, avocado, chia, hemp hearts, etc)
Include some whole grains (e.g., brown or wild rice, lentil pasta, whole grain bread, etc.) but try to limit the amount of food that you eat from this category.
Once you have your list of foods, check your calendar for the upcoming week. There are always going to be easy days to plan and cook and days that are super busy.
If you can plan ahead, you will have food ready for your busy days without having to do any work on those days.
Plan and Prepare. This is the stage that makes everything work, but does take some very worthwhile effort.
Use an existing calendar or create one for yourself with rows for breakfast, lunch, dinner (and snacks if desired).
Use your list of foods to create meals within each row and column.
Then create your grocery shopping list for the week based on the meals you plan to make.
Cook your meals on the days you have more time and use leftovers for meals when you’re busier.
For example, you may have extra time to cook on Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday but other days are quite busy. Use your non-busy days to create meals you can eat as leftovers and even freeze for future meals that will require no effort.
Here’s an example of a possible menu plan for the week:
Action Step:
Use the sample menu plan above to think about how you could plan your meals for the week, especially when you know there are busier times that you won’t have time to cook.
Plan in “treat” meals and meals out and eat healthier foods around these.
Notice how your body feels when you are consistently eating more healthy foods!
