When you are busy and constantly on the go, it is easy to slip into the habit of eating unhealthy convenience foods. But with just a little bit of preplanning, you can set yourself up for success. Use the weekends to prepare for your week of healthy eating. Plan ahead for the best results. If you plan, you'll be more likely to stay in track with your healthy eating goals.
Do One Bulk Shopping Trip
Quick trips to the grocery store to buy just one or two items can cost you extra time, and money. They can also lead to more impulse purchases and reinforce unhealthy habits. First, take the time to create a meal plan for the week ahead. Then, make a list of all the ingredients you will need to make the meals on your list. Do one bulk grocery trip on either Saturday or Sunday, and purchase all the ingredients you will need to prepare healthy meals for the week. This will not only save you time, but also allow you to properly prepare for nutritious meals all week long.
Pre-cut Vegetables
Once you have done your weekly shopping trip, it is time to get some prep work out of the way. This will help make meal prep a breeze throughout the week, and also ensure that you have healthy snacks at your fingertips.
Pull out all the vegetables that you purchased and wash them. Then begin to cut them up and prepare them for the week ahead. You may want to dice onions to use in an omelet, or cut up broccoli florets or carrots to snack on throughout the week. Refrigerate or freeze them to keep them fresh until you are ready to use them.
Pre-cook Meat
Whenever possible, pre-cooking your meat can help speed up your weekday meal prep time. Brown ground turkey and have it ready to be added to soups or sauces for a quick meal. You can also bake chicken ahead of time, and just reheat it when you are ready to eat.
Pre-portion Snacks
Having appropriately sized meals and snacks is the key to effective weight management. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to resort to purchasing expensive pre-portioned snacks. It’s perfectly easy to create your own pre-portioned snacks to save both money and your waistline.
Take the cut up vegetables that you have already prepared and place them in snack size baggies or small containers. You may want to pair them with a healthy dip, such as hummus. You can also cut up fruit, and have it ready to eat as well. Take cubes of cheese and a handful of pretzels, and place them in bags so you can easily grab them on the go.
Plan for Success
With just a little bit of pre-planning, you can ensure that you are consuming nutritious foods throughout the week. By handling most of the shopping and food prep on the weekend you will be able to quickly prepare meals on busy weeknights. Planning ahead gives you better results so you are more likely to reach your weight loss goals!