As the school year starts and Fall routines settle in after summer break, it’s a great time to refocus on your health and wellness goals. For many, this season is an opportunity to prioritize balanced eating habits. Whether you want to increase your fruit and vegetable intake or cut back on takeout, meal planning can reduce stress and help you stay on track. Today’s blog post will cover how to plan and prepare nutritionally balanced meals, along with some recipe ideas for tasty lunches and snacks.
What Is Meal Planning and Meal Prepping?
Meal planning is deciding ahead of time what meals and snacks your household will need for the upcoming week, leading to a grocery list of only what you need. Meal prepping is the act of cooking and preparing meals and snacks for the upcoming week to have as a grab-and-go option.
There are many ways you could utilize meal planning and prepping. Planning could look like:
- Making a menu for the upcoming week
- Using a grocery list to get what you need
- Cutting up meat and/or vegetables for cooking later in the week
- Having individual-sized meals in airtight containers for use throughout the week
- Preparing snacks for the week
- Washing, cutting, and/or portioning fruits and vegetables
What exactly meal planning looks like for your household will depend on the needs of the people living there. Working with a dietitian can help you understand your nutritional needs, and get recipe ideas based on you and your family’s goals and lifestyle.
How do I Plan Balanced Meals?
It’s important to note that every individual has different nutritional needs. We will look at the basics of nutrition to take into consideration, but you can speak with your dietitian to see if there is anything specific you need to take into consideration.
When deciding what to include in your meal plans or menus, there are a few key categories to fulfill:
- Protein
- Carbohydrate
- Fat
- Fiber
When we combine these nutrients together, we set ourselves up for a satisfying and satiating meal. As stated above, everyone has different nutritional needs. You may need to adjust the portions of these nutrients for each meal. In general, you should aim for:
- 1-2 cups of a high fiber, low carbohydrate vegetable (such as broccoli, greens, carrots, peppers, etc.)
- 3-5 oz of protein (aim for lean protein)
- ½ to 1 cup of grains (aim for whole grains for a little boost of fiber and unsaturated fats)
- ½ to 1 tbsp fat (olive oil, butter, nuts, etc.)
A quick note on snacks: Don’t be afraid to prepare and pack snacks! Some days you may need them while other days you may not. This is because each day we need a different amount of energy (calories). Being prepared for snacks can help you be more confident in your nutrition for the day and can be a good way to increase your fruit and healthy fat intake!
Other Benefits of Meal Planning
Meal planning can come with a host of benefits other than having balanced meals ready for the next few days. Let’s take a look at some of those benefits.
- Saving Time – Preparing meals ahead of time requires more organization. This leads to spending less time before work throwing lunch together, or if you tend to grab food from a restaurant it saves you time from ordering and traveling to and from the restaurant from work. Meal planning reduces the number of times you have to go to the grocery store by knowing exactly what you need for your meals and snacks.
- Saving Money – By creating a meal plan you’re able to create a grocery list that contains only what you need. This cuts back on impulse buys and food waste. Meal prepping also decreases the amount of money spent on eating at restaurants or convenience stores.
- Less Stress – Besides worrying less about the time and money commitment it takes to eat food prepared out of the home, you will likely also be less stressed when getting ready for work as you won’t have to worry about what to take for your meals and snacks. At dinner time, you will also already know what you’re going to cook rather than trying to prepare at the last minute, or worry about using food before it spoils. Meal planning helps to decrease decision fatigue and that dreaded question that pops up several times a day, “what do I make to eat?”.
- Confidence – Meal planning increases your confidence in the food you’re eating. Being prepared for your meals and snacks is one of the best ways to help you meet your nutritional goals. When you set aside time to create a menu, grocery list, and prepare meals, you are more likely to put your goals ahead of convenience, and feel great about the choices you’re making!
How Do I Start Meal Planning?
Beginning to meal plan and prep can be overwhelming. Here are some basic steps to start!
- Create a Menu
It may be beneficial to first start with 3 or 4 days rather than a whole week. Grab a notebook or a menu template (find one online or check out our printable templates). Be sure to plan for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. It may be helpful to list our portions as well to aid in the next step. Alternatively, perhaps you just want to focus on preparing 1 meal per day, let’s say lunch for work, or just dinner time recipes since you know you’re pressed for time in the evenings.
- Create a Grocery List
Use your menu to help! Write down all the items you will need to prepare the meals and snacks on your menu. Next, take your list to the kitchen. Mark off all items you already have at home. Check your fridge, freezer and pantry. You can now rewrite your list to only include what you need to purchase. If it helps, you can also organize this list by grocery store aisle.
- Get to the Store
Next stop: grocery shopping! You are prepared with your list in hand and ready to pick up your items.
- Unloading and Washing
While unloading the groceries at home, set aside any produce that needs to be washed. You can safely wash your fruits and veggies to use later if you’re not going to start cooking right away.
- Start the Prep
Some people find it easier to set aside a couple hours to do the prep work and/or cooking. When you’re ready to start cooking, prepare your meals and store them in airtight containers. If your meal needs to be heated up to be eaten, be sure to store each serving in a microwave safe dish. Most meal prep will need to be stored in the refrigerator, but some items may be able to stay at room temperature.
- Ready to Go
You’re now ready for your meals! When the time comes, pack them up and off you go!
It’s important to know that there will be growing pains with starting to plan and prepare meals when you’re not used to doing it, just like with most things in life. If something doesn’t go right the first time, don’t let it bring your motivation down! Review what went wrong and adjust it next time.
Recipes for Meal Prepping in Advance
Here are a few of our favorite recipes for simple, delicious meal prepped meals!
Are you ready to start planning and preparing your meals for the work week? Let us know what recipes you and your family enjoy for meal prep. Out of ideas or need more inspiration? Speak with one of our dietitians for more ideas that can be individualized to your taste preferences, lifestyle and health goals!
