Planning Healthy Meals for the week

Making Healthy Eating Automatic

     One of life's biggest challenges in these times is how to eat healthy with a busy schedule. With so many ready made meals and take out at the ready, the thought of cooking from scratch at home can be intimidating. It can also seem like it would be more expensive.  Where to start?

     For me it has become important to eat right for health reasons. I am prone to joint and back pain, migraines, acne, and carry too much weight. My other motivation is avoiding more serious diagnosis such as Type II Diabetes, Obesity, Arthritis/Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Depression, Anxiety, Heart Disease, and Neuropathy.  I find when I avoid processed foods & sugars I can avoid pain and other symptoms. 

     These things are what has motivated me to take on a Whole Foods Plant Based (WFPB) approach to eating. Removing as much processed foods, especially sugars from my diet has made a great difference.  I feel more energy, I sleep better, my skin is much clearer, I am able to reduce my weight, and decrease the symptoms of Neuropathy. There is a lot of information available through documentaries on WFPB eating, based on many studies done such as The China Study which shows tremendous health benefits.

     In starting it was important that I find recipes so the foods I eat were interesting and flavorful. Having a minimal background in real cooking (heating up frozen entrees used to be the staple), I felt finding recipes that had minimal ingredients as well as steps, so they weren't too complicated, made me the most motivated.  Looking at WFPB cookbooks like "Forks Over Knives" and joining the Food Revolutions Whole Life Club have given me an abundance of recipes to work from.  Having so many to choose makes eating never routine or boring.

     Also cooking primarily with plant based foods was new to me. I had really no background in what to do with vegetables other than from frozen or canned and "heating" them up. It has been a great amount of fun to work with and eat foods that I have never tried before, like butternut squash, and avocado. I have found I really enjoy meal preparation and cooking. It is meditative, and relaxes me. 

     With my work schedule I have at least one day off before working three in a row, so I use that one day to prepare 2-3 dishes at a time. These can then be divided up into separate dishes for me to take to work. Making and bringing my own lunches to work is not only healthier, but saves me a great deal of money from purchasing lunch in the cafeteria! So before my day off comes, I select 2-3 recipes I plan on making. I can grocery shop on either the day before my day off (after work) or the morning of my day off, and pick up any key ingredients. 

     Over the months my shopping list has gotten shorter as my supplies of herbs, spices, and other staples needed for cooking and baking have accumulated. Now my lists primarily include the fresh plant foods I need and items to restock (like vanilla) or a new item I didn't have on hand before. Being able to plan for 3-4 days at a time makes sure that the fresh ingredients are used in a timely manner and are not wasted.

     I will be expanding on planning, preparation, and sharing some great tips and recipes in the my upcoming blogs so stay tuned! And if you have any great ideas or information you would like to share please leave some comments!

Bless you and Take care!

Tina 

Redwood Whole Health Coaching