Fail to Plan & You've Planned to Fail.
I was reminded of this during the past weekend while we were on the road. For the most part the traveling days were fine (I packed apples, clementines, almonds, water, etc. to snack on.) But then we were in the city with events to go to and access to yummy, yummy, different food that we don't get in our small mountain town, well, I fell off the bandwagon a bit. I did make a pit stop into Whole Foods to get bananas, almond milk, sushi, salads, etc. But we ate some not so healthy stuff too (think birthday cake, scones, lattes, beer & pizza). So, I'm ready to get back into our healthy eating routine this week.
And with the amount of hunger generated by working out HARD everyday coupled with my desire to only suffer through grocery shopping with Henry in tow once a week, I am a big meal planner. I used to just plan dinners, but am now having to plan for breakfasts & lunches that are a bit more involved than toast with almond butter or cereal. If I don't have healthy food options at home, takeout food (often unhealthy) becomes the norm. But if I plan for healthy meals & snacks for the week, then that's what we do - we eat healthy.
So, start with taking an inventory of what you have on hand (whats in the pantry - for example do you have a big box of whole wheat couscous), look in the pantry and empty out the fridge of old food and crappy food. Start fresh for the week. Now, based upon what you have on hand, start thinking about some meals you could make for the week ahead. Flip though a recipe book (I keep a small binder on the counter of all of my frequently used and loved recipes) and start jotting down grocery items you'll need.
Then you make a shopping list that includes healthy breakfast options such as quick cooking oats, corn tortillas for breakfast tacos, and Ezekiel bread with natural peanut butter. Load up on protein like eggs, which you can hard boil for easy packing, protein powder for shakes, fresh fruit, etc.
This week, we've got the usual eggs & veggies for breakfast, protein shakes for post workout, big salads with lean protein for lunch and the following dinners.
Monday - Rice, Beans, sauteed Veggies
Tuesday - grilled blackened salmon, brown rice & edamame
Wednesday - out
Thursday - slow cooker steak & veggie fajitas
Friday - whole wheat pasta w/ homemade meat sauce and large salad
Saturday - turkey chili
Sunday - leftovers
What's on your menu this week?
2 comments:
my husband and i were just talking about revamping our grocery budget and thus our meal planning...i have a very small pantry area and therefore not too much stock piled but we want to see if we can eat well, mostly organically on 1/2 the money we usually spend. right now i have a turkey carcass in pot simmering itself into soup, also on the menu is sweet potato burritos, leftover roast beef sandwishes.
sounds good... we are having sante fe soup, Parmesan chicken, and I am going to try my hand at a pork tenderloin.
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