Planning Overlooked secret of a Healthy Diet
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for trying to keep a healthy diet is unplanned meals!
Too often when you need to make a quick decision about what to eat, you choose convenience at the expense of nutrition. Subconsciously, you may even be making food decisions at the last minute as an excuse to break your diet.
The solution is easy ... planning your meals ahead of time, you can avoid junk food, save money and feel better about yourself. Follow these simple tips to help you:
1. Make time for breakfast:
Battling the alarm clock for a few minutes of extra sleep might seem innocent enough. But many times getting a late start means missing out on a healthy breakfast. If you get up a few minutes early and eat a balanced meal, you'll actually feel more energized throughout the morning.
Traditional breakfast foods like cereal with skim milk, whole wheat toast, fruit and even eggs(actually egg whites) score high nutrition marks. These foods are also healthier than the Danish pastry, doughnut, or candy bar you're gonna grab mid-morning to quiet your grumbling stomach. Stock up on foods for three or four quick weekday breakfasts that you can make and eat in minutes. Or, brown-bag your breakfast if you don't have time to eat at home.
2. Bring your own snacks:
Resist the call of the vending machine by planning your snacks for the day. Choose snack foods that will fill you up and fill in the blanks in your diet. Bring only as much as you plan to eat for one or two snacks to avoid unconscious nibbling.
3. Look ahead to lunch:
The best way to make sure that you'll have a healthy lunch that you like is to make it yourself. Before you go to work, raid the fridge for leftovers! Use what's left from the previous night's salad to garnish a sandwich. Stock up on healthy cans of soup for a quick and easy lunch option. Bring in fresh fruit for dessert instead of weighing yourself down with fat-laden cookies. If you don't have time to bring in your lunch to work, collect take-out menus from lunch spots that have healthy options.
4. Create a food first aid kit:
Experts recommend not going more than five hours without eating - sometimes you can't help the delay. Find a place in your desk to stock up on vegetable juice, dried fruit and other non-perishable foods to hold you over when you can't eat on schedule. If you're traveling, bring along a brown-bag emergency meal, with an energy bar, nuts and a beverage just in case you don't have time for dinner.
5. Plan a week's worth of dinners:
Dedicate a bit of weekend time for planning the week's dinners. Shop for or prepare main courses that can be divided into individual portions and refrigerated or frozen. Use leftovers as time savers, eating at a restaurant with big portions ... bring half home for the next night's dinner.
6. Make a shopping list and stick to it:
With a shopping list, your less likely to make impulse junk food purchases. If you are going to pick up any snacks or sweets, write them down ahead of time and choose only one or two (preferably with no trans fats). Browse through the market circular ahead of time to find out which foods are on sale or in season. Cooking with seasonal fruits and vegetables is a great way to add flavor and nutritional value to your meals.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for trying to keep a healthy diet is unplanned meals!
Too often when you need to make a quick decision about what to eat, you choose convenience at the expense of nutrition. Subconsciously, you may even be making food decisions at the last minute as an excuse to break your diet.
The solution is easy ... planning your meals ahead of time, you can avoid junk food, save money and feel better about yourself. Follow these simple tips to help you:
1. Make time for breakfast:
Battling the alarm clock for a few minutes of extra sleep might seem innocent enough. But many times getting a late start means missing out on a healthy breakfast. If you get up a few minutes early and eat a balanced meal, you'll actually feel more energized throughout the morning.
Traditional breakfast foods like cereal with skim milk, whole wheat toast, fruit and even eggs(actually egg whites) score high nutrition marks. These foods are also healthier than the Danish pastry, doughnut, or candy bar you're gonna grab mid-morning to quiet your grumbling stomach. Stock up on foods for three or four quick weekday breakfasts that you can make and eat in minutes. Or, brown-bag your breakfast if you don't have time to eat at home.
2. Bring your own snacks:
Resist the call of the vending machine by planning your snacks for the day. Choose snack foods that will fill you up and fill in the blanks in your diet. Bring only as much as you plan to eat for one or two snacks to avoid unconscious nibbling.
3. Look ahead to lunch:
The best way to make sure that you'll have a healthy lunch that you like is to make it yourself. Before you go to work, raid the fridge for leftovers! Use what's left from the previous night's salad to garnish a sandwich. Stock up on healthy cans of soup for a quick and easy lunch option. Bring in fresh fruit for dessert instead of weighing yourself down with fat-laden cookies. If you don't have time to bring in your lunch to work, collect take-out menus from lunch spots that have healthy options.
4. Create a food first aid kit:
Experts recommend not going more than five hours without eating - sometimes you can't help the delay. Find a place in your desk to stock up on vegetable juice, dried fruit and other non-perishable foods to hold you over when you can't eat on schedule. If you're traveling, bring along a brown-bag emergency meal, with an energy bar, nuts and a beverage just in case you don't have time for dinner.
5. Plan a week's worth of dinners:
Dedicate a bit of weekend time for planning the week's dinners. Shop for or prepare main courses that can be divided into individual portions and refrigerated or frozen. Use leftovers as time savers, eating at a restaurant with big portions ... bring half home for the next night's dinner.
6. Make a shopping list and stick to it:
With a shopping list, your less likely to make impulse junk food purchases. If you are going to pick up any snacks or sweets, write them down ahead of time and choose only one or two (preferably with no trans fats). Browse through the market circular ahead of time to find out which foods are on sale or in season. Cooking with seasonal fruits and vegetables is a great way to add flavor and nutritional value to your meals.
7. Know which fast food picks are healthiest:
Sometimes it's tough to avoid fast food. But if you're going to indulge ... don't let it wreck your diet. Get menus from your favorite chains, or look at their Web sites, to learn which menu items are promoted as healthy. Some things to look for:
- Choose grilled chicken, not fried (be sure to ask)
- No special sauces
- When you're having Mexican food, use salsa rather than sour cream and guacamole as a topping
- Use lower fat dressing on your salad
- If the salad comes with chicken or shrimp, make sure they're not breaded
- If you get a burger, go with the smallest size.
- Be aware that a healthy fast food meal may not be very filling, so plan to fill in with fruit and vegetables later in the day.
- Avoid value meals (they seem like a good buy), the extra calories the French fries add is no bargain.
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