A healthy eating meal plan provides a guide for planning and preparing nutritious meals and snacks that include fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains.
Choose foods low in saturated and trans fats. Reduce sugar-sweetened beverages. Serve on smaller plates or bowls to help control portion sizes.
Plan Your Meals
Planning meals for an entire week may seem time-consuming and daunting, but making an effort to select recipes, buy ingredients needed and prep food before hand can save both time and energy throughout the week while helping ensure you adhere to a healthier diet.
Planned meals reduce the likelihood of making unhealthy decisions when hungry and in a rush, according to Stewart. “If you are hungry and making snap decisions,” it can be easy to make less-than-healthy decisions, she warns.
While this meal plan is designed for an average adult needing approximately 2,200 to 2,200 daily calories, you may wish to modify it according to your own personal goals and dietary restrictions. Always consult with a registered dietitian regarding dietary needs if any exist, particularly if any health conditions require special considerations.
Buy for the Week
Make a list of meals you plan to prepare during the week and take an inventory of what food already exists in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. Doing this may allow you to identify items close to expiration and be used sooner rather than later.
A healthy meal plan requires you to consume all five food groups on a daily basis, beginning with fruits and vegetables for fruits and veggies, whole grains for fiber, dairy or fortified soy products for protein, and leftovers as lunch options.
Make the Most of Leftovers
Planning meals around leftovers can save both money and time. By intentionally making more food than necessary for one meal – such as by doubling or tripling recipes – you can have low-effort lunches stored away all week. Soup, stew, roasted vegetables, curries, dals and chili are delicious to heat up; salads, chicken breasts eggs or other protein sources work great as sandwiches or wraps in this regard too. Just be sure you have plenty of clear storage containers in the fridge so as not to lose track of any of it!
By using leftovers as part of a healthy eating strategy, leftovers help decrease food waste while decluttering the refrigerator and diverting edible products away from landfills. A cup of rice, portion of pasta or leftover meat might seem insignificant on its own but when used creatively they can transform into deliciously satisfying dinner ideas!
Portion Control
Portion control is essential to building a nutrient-rich eating pattern and maintaining a healthy weight. Beginning portion control may seem challenging at first; however, with practice it becomes simpler over time. Start by familiarizing yourself with food labels and understanding serving sizes of all your favorite meals.
Use your hands as a measuring guide when no scale is available for portion measurement. Protein portions should occupy approximately the size of your palm; carbs should fill a fist; and fats a thumb’s width. Furthermore, make sure that before each meal begins you drink a tall glass of water to help activate your satiety signal and trigger fullness signals in your brain.
Be Flexible
Establishing a meal plan can be an excellent way to reduce daily stress and lower costs. By pre-planning meals for each weekday and removing last minute decisions about what you will eat from your mind’s agenda, more time can be dedicated to more pressing matters.
Shopping with a list can make budgeting much simpler; by purchasing ingredients that can be used across meals, you can reduce unnecessary spending.
Take a close look in your refrigerator, freezer and pantry to assess what is already there and to assess any nights that might be particularly busy. Use our meal planning template and start small – maybe plan for dinner only initially. Just ensure you have some simple recipes at your fingertips should something arise unexpectedly!