Plan Ahead: Step One to Attain Your Goals

By Melanie Yelland

If you want to change your unhealthy habits but feel like doing so is a daunting task, don’t worry you’re not alone. Making a change to any routine can be difficult and slow coming—especially if you don’t know where to start.

So whether your goal is to eat more fruits and vegetables, cut back on your fast food consumption, or maybe even loose some weight, it will be challenging to stick to a new health plan if you don’t, well…plan!

Gaining enough motivation to start a new diet regime can be difficult enough; by planning your meals in advance, you increase your chances of actually following through with your goals—so you end up with results, and not just your good intentions!

Seems like a lot of work though, right? Here are a few more benefits of planning ahead to show that it’s really worth it:

You’ll Avoid Making Poor Food Decisions When You’re Hungry: Creating a meal plan in advance takes away the stress of trying to make healthy decision in the heat of the moment; you’ll likely be less inclined to start eyeing up those unhealthy temptations because you’ll already have a meal in mind…or even pre-made and in-hand!

You Can Outsmart Your Cravings: If you know that you tend to get a sweet tooth in the mid afternoon, instead of trying to ignore the craving—and potentially giving into the surrounding temptations—plan to have an ‘emergency snack’ on-hand that will satiate your craving. A homemade oatmeal cookie made with applesauce instead of butter is a great alternative to a purchased baked good.

You’ll Maximize Your Money: Meal planning is an excellent way for ensuring you get the most of the groceries you buy. The shelf life of some produce can be only a few days, so plan to use that leftover spinach you bought for today’s salad in tomorrow’s omelet and the next day’s sandwich. You’ll likely reduce your food waste and, therefore, waste less of your money too!

E-mail us if you want a meal plan template that you can print off, fill out, and track your progress with. If planning your entire week seems too difficult, just plan a few days at a time! Or just contact us at nutrition@wisegourmet.com, we can help.

 

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