Steps to Eating Healthy

The key to eating healthy foods

The key to eating healthy foods is having healthy foods to eat, every day. The way to having healthy foods to eat takes just a little planning and preparation. Follow these easy steps to help you have healthy meals every day, and save money too!

Planning

Plan a weekly menu
Look at your schedule each week and plan meals accordingly.
Be realistic about how much time you have to prepare breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. For example, don’t plan to make a time-consuming meal for dinner when you are running kids around in the afternoon or have to work late that day, etc. This may lead you to just run through a drive-thru instead of cooking. Instead, plan a quick, easy to put together meal, like crockpot tacos, that take only minutes to assemble.
Look at cookbooks or websites for meal ideas. Figureweightloss.com has some great recipes!
Check grocery store ads for sales and coupons – this is a great way to save money and to see what is fresh and in abundance for the week.
Write down each balanced meal (especially lunch and dinner) for the week on a calendar.
Balanced meals include protein, vegetables and/or fruit, grains and dairy.

Plan quick, healthy breakfast foods

Plan quick, healthy breakfast foods that always include protein for those busy mornings. Ex: Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, high protein (low carb) drinks, eggs, ham, etc.

Plan for lunch: Make extra dinner to use as leftovers

Plan for lunch: Make extra dinner to use as leftovers for lunch or have easy to assemble ingredients, such as low-sodium lunchmeat and low-carb tortillas to make a quick wrap.

*Tip: Save your weekly menus and rotate them out. Be sure to note where to find the recipes you use.

Make a grocery list to shop for the week

Check the refrigerator, freezer and pantry for ingredients you will need to buy for the week based on the menu you made

Grocery Shopping

Don’t shop hungry! – It is easy to buy too much or make poor choices when you are hungry
Only purchase what is on your list – this will help keep food cost down and keep you from grabbing something unhealthy just because it looked good at the moment.
Keep most of your shopping around the perimeter of the store. Most of the processed, high sodium foods are in the middle aisles.
Read food labels and compare key nutrients, like protein, carbohydrates, calories and sodium.

Preparation

Plan 1 -2 hours on the weekend to prepare for the week

Boil eggs to use for breakfast, snacks, egg salad.
Wash and cut up fruits and vegetables ahead of time will help during those rushed mornings or evenings.

Cook large batches of food and freeze into single portions

Low-carb muffins/pancakes: make double batch and freeze in a single layer or between wax paper. Can defrost in seconds in the microwave.
Cook a whole chicken, pork roast or beef roast in a crockpot with a little stock and any seasonings you like. Remove meat and cool. Discard bones, fat and/or skin. Shred meat, and freeze in single portion size freezer bags or spread out on a cookie sheet (in batches if necessary), place in freezer for 10 min., then place in a large freezer bag (this method makes it easy to defrost and pull out as much or as little as you want at a time).

Make meals work double duty

For example: Grill extra chicken for dinner and pair with roasted veggies. The next evening, use the leftover chicken and veggies for a stir-fry or use to make chicken quesadillas.

Keep a few pre-cooked foods on hand that can be put together for a quick and easy balanced meal when time is at a minimum

Frozen vegetables – these are just as healthy as fresh and without the sodium that is in canned vegetables
Pre-cooked chicken breasts or shrimp – use these to make quick fajitas or stir-fry
Canned beans – use for fast and easy quesadillas on low-carb tortillas, or use as a side dish. Make sure to rinse beans when possible to reduce sodium intake.

Remember: Once you have a planning and preparation system in place, you will save time, money and calories in the long run!