So how do I begin meal planning?? This is one of the most common questions that I hear from my challengers AND patients at the pharmacy when we discuss healthy nutrition.
When I began focusing on my nutrition a few years ago, I avoided meal planning because I thought that it was a waste of time and that I didn’t need it. I just didn’t want to take the time to learn about meal planning because I thought that I could handle it all without planning. This was quite strange because I’m a total planner in most areas of my life.
When I finally began meal planning – even if it was just a few days at the time – I saw drastic improvements in my eating habits. Drastic improvements in how I felt. And of course, I lost weight.
I want to share with you how exactly how I began meal planning with 5 simple tips. These tips will help you also embrace meal planning and begin yourself!
So let’s get started!
1. Know your nutrition goals. Know how much you need to eat each day. How many servings of protein, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats do you need each day?
2. Create a master folder or electronic file with all your favorite recipes and your family’s favorite recipes. Pinterest is a great way to keep track of recipes – just be cautious of the unhealthy choices!! Eating the same foods each week IS NOT BAD. I eat many of the same foods each week – especially breakfast & lunch – it’s simple for me, it’s less that I have to plan and it still satisfies me. Healthy people often keep the same foods in their weekly rotation just because it’s simple and they choose nourishing foods that they love.
3. Make a master grocery list of your staples that you need each week (proteins, almond milk, eggs, fruits, veggies, nuts/seeds, whole wheat breads/pastas, quinoa, etc). Then all you have to add to your list are the specific ingredients for what you’ve planned to cook that week. Shop from your grocey list – if it isn’t in the house, you won’t eat it and you’ll stick to your meal plan.
4. Write out your meal plan – either electronically then print OR write on paper. Keep it posted in the kitchen.
5. Do as much prep work as you can on one or two days of the week so that your week is easier!
This begins my work schedule change and I’m SUPER excited to get back to normal with my work schedule! I’m switching back to a normal shift rotation and cannot wait to feel back to normal again too!
You know those healthy things that you know you need to do, but just don’t make time to do?
This week, I’m FINALLY doing one thing that I KNOW I need to do for my own health. I'm excited about finally cooking this bone broth recipe. Bone broth is amazing for our health and has been on my to-do list for years now. So at the end of this week, I'll be making bone broth. And this is going to become a weekly habit for my health.
The benefits of bone broth are tremendous. And if you have any type of intestinal condition, broth is a tremendous catalyst for healing of the intestines and helps with nutrient absorption within the intestines.
Here are just a few of the benefits.
Cooking this bone broth for about 24 hours ensures that it is easy to digest and helps the intestinal tract heal from any inflammation.
Broth is FULL of minerals, dense nutrients and amino acids.
Broth helps support and boost the immune system with all of the dense nutrients.
Broth contains collagen and gelatin that cooks out of the bones to help our intestines heal and decrease inflammation.
The collagen in broth helps with joint lubrication and health.
Broth contains glucosamine and chondroitin to help decrease joint inflammation.
The collagen also helps keep our skin looking healthy.
The gelatin from the bones helps to restore the strength of the gut lining and helps fight food sensitivities.
Broth also helps keep our metabolism functioning at its best.
I’m going to share the bone broth recipe that my family uses. It’s the Brasco Broth recipe created by Dr Joseph Brasco.
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken – organic is best
3 quarts water
2 to 4 tablespoons of sea salt
4 to 6 tablespoons of coconut oil
8 carrots (organic is best)
6 stalks of celery (organic is best)
2 to 4 zucchini (organic is best)
3 medium white or yellow onions
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 inches of grated ginger
5 cloves garlic
1 large bunch of parsley (added 30 minutes before the soup is finished)
Directions:
Place all ingredients into slow cooker and cover with water. Simmer soup for 24 hours at low setting on crock pot. Remove chicken from bones and add chicken meat back into the soup. Once broth has cooled, skim off layer of fat from top.
