September 17, 2024
4.5 min read
Dieting can be hard. What if eating better was just routine?
For a culture as diet-obsessed as ours, that may sound just too easy. But studies have shown that most diets aren’t overly successful. One comprehensive study conducted by researchers at UCLA found that people on diets typically lose 5 to 10 percent of their starting weight in the first six months. However, at least one-third to two-thirds of people on diets regain more weight than they lost within four or five years, and the true number may well be significantly higher, researchers said.
Most experts, including those at the National Institutes of Health, on the other hand, recommend focusing less on diets and focusing instead on adopting realistic, healthier habits for life, as protection from serious health problems like obesity and diabetes. Healthy eating and regular physical activity can also help you manage your weight and have more energy.
If you stick with those habits, they become part of your daily routine. And, as we learned in Part 1 of Make a Plan, routines are good for us. Now, in Part 2, we’ll look at strategies to create simple meal plans to support healthy-eating routines.
If just thinking about cooking makes you feel tired or anxious, creating a meal plan is a slam-dunk recipe for success. As discussed in Part 1, reducing “decision fatigue” and removing excess choices is a good strategy to apply to any area of your life, saving you time and energy.
Meal Planning Tips
Search the Internet for meal plans that fit your needs—budget, low-calorie, heart-healthy, family-friendly, or for specific diet needs, such a gluten-free or diabetic. You might want to experiment with a few different plans to find one (or more) that work for you.
The National Institutes of Health recommends that any meal plan should emphasize:
- vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products
- lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts
- limit saturated and trans fats, sodium, and added sugars
- control portion sizes
Other tips for meal-plan success:
01
Use your calendar
Creating meal plans can be done electronically using an app like mealime that syncs your preferred diet, recipes and grocery shopping. But even an ordinary notebook can help you sketch out a week’s worth of meals and a grocery list.
Designate an hour during the week to plan the next week’s shopping and meals.
- For example, you might make Thursday your meal planning day, when you review recipes and make a grocery list.
- Friday is shopping day.
- Sunday afternoon is meal-prep for the week ahead.
Look at your work and family calendar to see what days in the coming week will be busiest to make sure you have a meal plan for those days.
02
Keep it simple
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every week: Rotating four or five simple, go-to weeknight meals—think of chicken or fish tacos, lentil soup, or a hearty salad topped with a lean protein as examples—that are easy and quick to prepare will increase your odds for success.
- Plan for leftovers: Double a dinner recipe and you’ll have a week’s worth of lunches, too.
03
Shop smarter
Experts at Northwestern Medicine advise taking the time to plan trips to the grocery store gives you the opportunity to think about what healthy foods and meals you can incorporate into your everyday life.
- Ordering groceries online will keep you out of the grocery store and away from snack-food distractions.
- As you prep your meal plan’s grocery list, take a quick inventory of the refrigerator, freezer and pantry shelves.
04
Stock up
Have it on-hand
- Keep basics like garlic, onions, potatoes, olive oil, low-sodium marinara sauce, mustards, vinegars, beans, quinoa, rice, pasta, and cans of tuna and tomatoes on hand.
- Eggs, dairy or plant-based milk, cheese, fruits and vegetables are the basis for most meal plans, too.
- Frozen fruits and vegetables are easy and affordable stand-ins for fresh.
05
Use your weekends
Make the best use of your free time
- Plan to stock up at the grocery store on Friday or Saturday morning, then use a couple of hours of the weekend to wash and chop fruits and vegetables, or make a batch of soup or a casserole.
- Freeze what you won’t use that week, and you’re set for nights when you’re just too hangry to think straight.
Bonus Recipe!
Make a batch of these breakfast burritos over the weekend and feast on busy weekday mornings, or whenever you need a quick meal (breakfast for dinner anyone?).
- These burritos are good for three months in the freezer and reheat within minutes in the microwave.
Breakfast Burritos
Total Time: 35 minutes • Servings: 4
Image and recipe courtesy EatingWell
Ingredients
- 12 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded serrano pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 6 (8 inch) whole-wheat tortillas
- ½ cup shredded pepper Jack cheese
Directions
- 1. Whisk eggs, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
- 2. Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-low heat. Add serrano and paprika; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add spinach; cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the eggs and cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggs are mostly set, about 5 minutes,
- 3. To assemble burritos, place each tortilla on a sheet of foil. Add ½ cup scrambled eggs to the bottom half of the tortilla, then divide cheese evenly (about 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon per burrito). Roll snugly, tucking in the ends as you go. Wrap tightly in the foil and freeze for up to 3 months.
- 4. To reheat, unwrap a burrito and transfer to a microwave-safe plate. Cover with a paper towel and microwave on Medium (or 50% or Defrost) for 1 to 2 minutes. Microwave on High until heated through, about 2 minutes. (Alternatively, bake foil-wrapped burritos at 375°F until heated through, about 25 minutes.)
Awesome information. Thank you!!!
Thanks
I enjoyed the article , recipes I will try .
excellent information
Thanks this was helpful as i start my.plan
Very good recipes and ideas how to stick to plan
Great recipies and ideas so hard to stick to plans this is great
Thanks!
Thank uou
Not a bad article