“Preparation is the Key to Success”
-Alexander Graham Bell
I am 100% NOT a planner. In fact, I like to say that I am a professional procrastinator. I tend to work well under pressure; and I am not just saying that. I am often told by others that they cannot see how anything I am working on will come together in time (read that as I drive many people crazy with my timelines!) and yet it always does. I drive them and myself crazy, but it works out. However, this does not go for food. I am often scrambling to throw together meals last minute and never seem to have what I need on hand. Ultimately, at least once or twice a week, if not more, I run out and grab something already prepared or frozen meals to heat up quick. Basically, things chock-full of salt and other ingredients not so fabulous for our bodies.
This week though, we discovered the benefits of meal planning and prepping. Following the lesson, we were tasked with meal planning for the week (better if 2 but I wasn’t about to get crazy! Small steps remember) and creating a shopping list based off the meals we planned out. Yes, I know grocery lists are nothing new but when you really sit down and work them out to match your meals, you can plan to buy in bulk to cover more than 1 meal, figure out what ingredients you can swap for healthier options, and you end up buying just what you need. I found myself better prepared for a week of healthy eating after ensuring I stocked up my fridge and pantry with healthy options and fresh ingredients.
Another benefit to planning out your grocery list: potential to save money; and who doesn’t like saving money!?! Knowing what you need before heading to the store allows you to look for coupons. Also, planning to purchase bulk items saves on cost. Having a list to stick to keeps you focused on only grabbing what is needed. Knowing what you need then eliminates browsing to a point meaning you are not drawn to grabbing extra items; unless you end up in Aldi and find yourself in their Aldi Finds aisle, then no list can help you; but I digress. Planning out my list helped me take stock of what I already had on hand and know what I needed and how much of it, also helping to eliminate food waste. I also could see what ingredients I needed to purchase later in the week to ensure they were fresh for cooking/eating.
Once I had everything home, it was quick and easy to separate things and begin prepping. Though I didn’t prepare meals days ahead; that is something I want to work on; I did prep snacks. Cutting up celery, peppers, and other vegetables does not take long but when I am in the mood for a snack, I don’t want to spend more time prepping while hungry. This is where I often diverge from healthy choices. I want to grab and go. By prepping snacks for a few days at a time, I am more successful at sticking with healthy choices because they have become grab and go. Furthermore, prepping ensures my family has easy to grab snacks; which is essential with young kids who are always hungry!
Each week that passes shows me how easy these changes are, and how easy they are to implement for life. I am not missing the added salts and sugars, I am not hungry throughout the day anymore, and I am not feeling exhausted all the time. I actual find heavily salted foods or overly sweetened snacks are now too salty and/or sweet for me. This makes cravings much easier to handle because my cravings are switching to whole, natural, healthy foods like bowls full of berries.
Now being more confident in my eating and snacking habits, I am excited to work on next week’s session topic, adding physical activity in. Yes, this is discussed and encouraged from day 1, but as I have said before, I am an “all or nothing” type person with getting healthy and it has never worked for me before. This time I wanted to take a different approach, giving myself time with each change to really commit it into my daily life. I am taking this journey at a walk to not overwhelm myself but I am definitely ready to pick up the pace a little and see what comes next on this health journey.
If interested in learning more about the program, follow the link below to our Eat Healthy Be Active page: