My fifth tip to having a healthier diet is to accept meal prep. Meal prep includes choosing weekly recipes, making a grocery list and shopping, chopping food, and taking the time to put the ingredients together to cook a great meal. In other words, eating at home and making the food yourself! And that takes planning, or preparation, to achieve.
Why is this important? For the same reason you should make your own snacks. Because it’s the only way you have control over what you’re eating. Meals are obviously important and anyone in the nutrition field will tell you that eating out is not great for your health. There are some exceptions of course, a higher-end restaurant may actually specialize in healthy meals.
But let’s be honest, we want to go out more often so most of us just want cheap, tasty, and convenient food right?! You notice that list doesn’t include “healthy”! Even the CDC points out that restaurant and processed foods are where we get most of our excess sodium from. But that’s just sodium.
WebMD reports that “Two new studies find that the average restaurant meal provides diners with most of the calories, fats, and salt they require for the entire day”. They said “meal”, meaning one. Ouch!
What I’m saying is that healthy eating requires some work. So that means taking a few extra steps to make a good meal at home. But it’s the meal prep that people don’t care for so much! It means planning ahead but once you get used to it it’s not as bad as you think. So here are my tips to help you get started.
Planning is the first step
The first step to meal prep is planning your meals for the week. Benjamin Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”. And yes, this applies to food too! You’ve got to accept planning ahead in order to take control of your health.
Failure to plan meals is why so many people end up going out to eat or getting take-out. I’ve talked to many people that admit that they don’t even think about dinner until they’re driving home from work. That leads to feeling stressed and rushed, which then leads to grabbing whatever is easy, which usually equals unhealthy.
To keep us healthy, I sit down once a week and decide what my husband and I will be eating for our upcoming meals. I get the recipes out then I make a grocery list of all the items I need for them. This little chore really doesn’t take me much time either.
By doing this, I know exactly what to shop for and I don’t forget anything. And it also keeps me from buying a bunch of extra junk I don’t need.
Related article: What does it mean to “eat healthy”?
Stock up on staples
It’s always a great idea though to stock up on staple items when they’re on sale (like rice, beans, canned tomatoes, etc) so you have them on hand for later. There are certain things I use so often I don’t need them on my list. But I might as well save money and plan ahead for future meals.
This also helps when I’m unexpectedly busy one day and don’t have time to cook. I know there will be something I can throw together from my staple items.
Planning ahead for your weekly meals will just make your life easier in the long run! If you take the time up front to meal prep this way, you won’t be stressing out later trying to figure out what to eat. After practicing this habit for a while it gets to be second nature and you won’t know how you ever managed before!
Make a list and stick to it!
The next step in meal prep is to make a grocery list and stick to it (except for those staple items)! If you have any interest in having a healthier diet then I think this is another must.
Having a list helps you with discipline. It keeps you from buying random processed food items that look good at the moment but aren’t good for you.
I don’t like to have things in my house that I don’t want myself eating. And this really is my best strategy for keeping my eating, and weight, under control! So by using a list, I get only what I need for healthy recipes without a bunch of “treats” hanging around tempting me!
That way, when I have a “craving” or I just “feel like” I want to eat, there’s nothing but healthy food in my house to munch on! This is what I call the pre-planning part of meal prep! Always know what you’ve got to eat for every meal or snack.
One more great tip is to never go to the grocery store when you’re hungry! This trick will also help keep you from buying junk on impulse just because it looks good at the time. Have a list made and go shopping after you’ve eaten a meal!
Related article: 10 Motivational tools to maintain weight loss and health.
Get in the habit of chopping and measuring
The way to eat healthier is to eat whole, natural foods. Real ingredients are always best since they have no unnecessary additives, preservatives, colorings, etc. They’re also the foods filled with all the immune-boosting vitamins and minerals that so many of us are short on.
But since these are “whole” foods, you need to accept the part of meal prep that includes chopping and measuring ingredients. Too many people just can’t accept taking the time to chop vegetables to make a meal. But again, once you get used to it it becomes normal.
You could avoid this part of the prep by buying pre-chopped food. It costs more but it would still be cheaper than paying for restaurant meals.
I’m committed to eating a whole-food, mostly plant-based diet for my health. So I generally prefer to eat real fruits and veggies when they’re available. But buying frozen or canned for convenience or out-of-season items isn’t a bad choice at all if it keeps you eating healthier.
I always buy frozen berries for my morning smoothies and I also always buy canned tomatoes because I hate chopping tomatoes! But I generally stay away from prepared meals except for specific occasions, like traveling. So you need to figure out what works best for you to keep you on track for a healthier diet.
Related article: Are you getting enough nutrients for good health?
We’ve all grown up with ready-made food that doesn’t require any effort to prepare. So getting used to taking the time to chop and measure can be a hard habit to start. But sometimes you just have to start something and allow it to develop into a habit over time. Then it becomes easier.
Keep it simple with recipes
Having said all that, meal prep at home doesn’t mean that you have to spend hours in the kitchen. I don’t want to be in the kitchen constantly, so I try to keep it simple with my recipe choices. Sometimes they contain a lot of herbs and spices for flavoring, but the main ingredient list is usually quite short.
I also make sure that I make meals that will last at least a couple of days. We don’t mind eating leftovers and they usually taste better the second day anyway. This saves me from slaving away in the kitchen every day.
Here’s an example of a favorite simple recipe that I got from Sweet Peas and Saffron:
-
- 4 cups sweet potatoes, cubed
- 11 oz can of corn (or your own that you froze last summer!)
- 19 oz can black beans (or the ones in your freezer that you cooked)
- 19 oz can diced tomatoes in juices (or cut up a couple yourself)
- 1 cup red onion, diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 4-5 cups stock (I always use less because I like a stew consistency)
- ⅔ cup uncooked quinoa
- You can add 2 Tbsp lime juice at the end of cooking if you like
Directions: Put all the ingredients in a slow cooker and set it on low for 4-6 hours (depending on your cooker). Check on it and turn it off when the quinoa and the sweet potatoes are tender. They can both get mushy if you cook them too long! It makes a lot but you can freeze this afterward if you don’t have many mouths to feed.
This is one of those dump and forget-about-it recipes that I love because it makes my life simpler. We mostly need easy recipes like these to get us through the week when we’re busy. So try to find a few of these first then occasionally try something a little more involved for a special meal.
Make meal prep more fun
To make meal prep more fun try multi-tasking or getting your family involved. It shouldn’t just be your job if you have an entire family to feed. Make it a family affair by having your kids or spouse grab the ingredients for you and teach them how to chop too!
This can be “family time” just like any of the other fun activities you do together. You can catch up on what’s going on with them while you prepare a meal. It will also give them an idea of what goes into preparing good food and a better appreciation for the work involved.
But if it is just you in the kitchen, then put your favorite music on as a way of relaxing after work! I do that but I also love to listen to interviews or podcasts while I’m working in the kitchen. There are so many ways to make this a better experience for yourself if you think outside the box!
So why not just eat out?
Statnews.com says that “92 percent of popular menu choices exceed the threshold of calories for a normal meal”. And they’re just talking about the main entrees! That doesn’t include the drinks, appetizers, or desserts you may also order.
There are always extra calories hidden in restaurant meals. And it’s also easy to fall into the trap of overeating in a restaurant because everything is so tasty and served in larger portions!
Related article: What to drink (and not drink) for better health.
Recommendations for daily calorie intake for adults vary depending on gender, age, activity level, and other factors. But in general, 2,500 calories a day is the average recommendation for active men, and 2,000 calories a day is the average for active women.
Americans also don’t need any extra sugar in their diets, but restaurant desserts can certainly deliver more. At a recent dinner out with family, I noticed that one dessert was 1100 calories and another dessert was 2,460 calories! The second one was meant to be shared. But still!
And yes, you could just make sure you always choose the healthiest option when you go out. But are you really going to do that? This is so much harder than you think! You’ll most likely want something different or “special” when eating out. I even find this hard to do after practicing healthy eating for over 10 years! For me, it’s just better not to eat out very often.
My final thoughts
I like to follow Michael Pollan’s advice on eating:
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
He just means to eat real food, not fake. Don’t stuff yourself full. And focus more on plants rather than animal foods as your main source of nutrition.
For an optimal immune system, I want as many vitamins, minerals, and fiber as I can get, which primarily come from whole, plant-based foods. This is why eating at home is a must for a healthier diet! You want to have control over how many calories you’re eating, plus the salt, sugar, and fat you’re getting with each meal.
Related Articles: Eat foods without labels.
Unfortunately, most restaurants use too many of the wrong things in order to keep us coming back. And processed foods contain few if any of the things our bodies need, but plenty of the things we need to avoid!
Just start by finding a few healthier recipes to try. Then plan and prep one or two of them each week and get used to some chopping and measuring. Work your way up from there. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
If you can accept some meal prep as a normal part of life, you and your family will benefit in more ways than one. It’s a mindset change more than anything. But once you get used to it it’s surprisingly simple!
Let me know in the comments below if you’ve started to transition to eating more at home and how it’s been for you.