Last Updated on September 29, 2021
A meal plan is a list of the meals that you will eat for a certain period. You can create one weekly or monthly.
They’re easy to make, but they need some foresight and food prepping to be effective. First, decide when you want to schedule your meal plan. When should it begin and end? Then decide how many meals you want each day and what kind of food you want to eat to meet your daily intake of micronutrients, macronutrients, and calories. After those basic steps, the only thing left is to shop for groceries and cook!
How to Create a Successful Meal Plan for Special Occasions
There are many special occasions that require meal planning. A perfect example is a wedding. For this occasion, you can use a wedding menu card to showcase what you’re serving.
A menu card should:
- Provide detailed information about the meals and any alternative food choices
- List all the ingredients in each meal
- Offer a drinks menu to complement the meals
How to Prepare Healthy Meals for a Special Lifestyle Diet
Some of the most popular lifestyle diets are Paleo, Keto, and gluten-free.
Here is a quick overview of each diet:
- The Paleolithic diet follows foods eaten by our ancestors during that era. It includes meats, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. Sugar and processed foods are not allowed.
- A keto diet is a low-carb and high-fat diet. A person who follows this diet should consume less than 20 grams of carbs daily. Keeping your body in the metabolic state known as ketosis allows you to burn fat for energy.
- A gluten-free diet means eating food with little to no gluten. Bread, for example, is a common source of gluten.
After you’ve done your research on the best lifestyle diet for your health concerns, then you have to figure out a meal plan.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to go through a list of recipes for the diet you like. Select meals from a recipe roundup then decide when you will eat your chosen dishes during the week.
How to Eat Clean, Healthy Meals All Week
If you live a busy life, meal prepping might be the ideal solution for you. The benefits of meal prepping include saving time and money as well as eating healthier
Finding nutritious foods that taste good takes a lot of time and effort. Unfortunately, we often don’t have enough time during the week to focus on eating well. By default, we grab what we can that’s within easy reach. If we’re at work, it’s easy to go to a deli or a diner, and if we’re at home, we grab snacks from the pantry or refrigerator.
Assuming that you work from Monday to Friday, then this is how your meal plan and prep might go.
On Saturday, you plan out your meals. You then shop for food or place an order with an online shopping delivery service.
On Sunday, you cook everything you will eat for the week. You will need plenty of containers to store each meal — so that you pull out one meal at a time from the refrigerator during the week.
Planning ahead allows you to have healthier foods on hand from Monday to Friday. Since each meal is in a separate container, you only have to defrost and warm up the food.
You’ll never have to wonder what you will eat for dinner when you get home from work. And you’ll never settle on eating unhealthy foods because you’re too tired to shop or cook.
The Easy Way to Live & Eat Well
Maintaining healthy eating habits is easier with meal preparation By setting up your meals ahead of time, you will be able to control what and how much you eat. Meal planning and prepping is a habit that’s worth starting — and keeping.
