Meal planning can help you get organized when it comes to healthy eating, and meal prep can help you stick to your plan, and ensure that you always have go-to healthy foods available, a key part of weight loss. Since meal prep and meal planning go hand in hand, we are going to talk about how both can work with your lifestyle to help you lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle.
Do you find yourself hitting frequent roadblocks when it comes to weight loss, and feel like your body is working against you no matter what effort you put into your weight loss plan? If so, you are not alone. Many people get stuck when it comes to losing weight, and part of that often comes down to nutrition. Nutrition plays such an integral part of successful weight loss and overall health, so much so that nutrition is thought to play an 80% role in weight loss success with the other 20% being exercise. What you feed your body matters, and it matters in a big way! However, it’s not always easy, especially when you are balancing dozens of different things each and every day. This is where meal prep and meal planning comes in, two big components of successful weight loss.
Meal planning can help you get organized when it comes to healthy eating, and meal prep can help you stick to your plan, and ensure that you always have go-to healthy foods available, a key part of weight loss. Since meal prep and meal planning go hand in hand, we are going to talk about how both can work with your lifestyle to help you lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle.
Let’s jump in and talk about five ways meal planning and meal prep can be two game changers when it comes to successful weight loss.
5 Ways Meal Prep can Help You Lose Weight & Live Healthy
#1 Include a Variety of Ingredients to Your Diet: When you take the time to meal prep, you can be more mindful about the foods you are adding to your diet. If your goal is to include more fruits and vegetables into your recipes, you can make a plan for including nutrient-dense recipes into your diet each day. You can also switch up your meal plan weekly or monthly, and stick to seasonal foods to make sure you are getting a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods into your diet.
#2 Stick to Your Plan: Meal planning and prep allows you to stick to your healthy eating plan since you will always know what you are going to eat. You don’t have to worry about coming home from work and wondering what you’re going to eat for dinner. Instead, you can look at your meal plan, and know exactly what you’re going to make. This makes healthy eating so much easier and makes it less likely that you are going to pick up something unhealthy on your way home.
#3 Save Money on Your Grocery Bill: Believe it or not, meal planning can actually help you save on your grocery bill. Try making a meal plan for an entire month, reusing many of the same recipes each week. By doing so, you will be purchasing the same ingredients each week, and if you choose recipes that all include similar ingredients, you will not only save time on meal prep but money as well. When you save money on your grocery bill, you can allocate that money elsewhere such as money to go towards an exercise class to help you stay fit and active throughout the week.
#4 Cut Back on Impulse Food Buys: Have you ever been to the grocery store and impulsively bought something you know you shouldn’t necessarily be eating? Let’s be honest, we have all been there! However, when you meal prep, you can help cut back on those impulse buys by knowing exactly what you are going to purchase each week. With meal prep, you don’t leave much room for unhealthy eating so long as you make a plan with healthy recipes. If the food isn’t on your meal plan, you are less likely to buy it.
Bonus Tip: Never go shopping hungry! Impulse buys often happen when you go to the grocery store starving. Not only will you be more inclined to purchase something no very healthy, but you will rack up much more money on your grocery bill as well. Be sure to eat before you head out to the store.
#5 You will Snack Smarter: Snacks can be a big pitfall when it comes to weight loss as there are tons of unhealthy options out there. While snacks are often viewed as unhealthy, there are healthy ways to snack, and snacks that can help stabilize your blood sugar between meals. This is where meal prep comes in. The more you prep your snacks for the week, the better. Try making little snack packs of nuts, and seeds, and have fresh cut fruit available in the fridge to grab and go. Making fruit parfaits with full-fat unsweetened Greek yogurt, fruit, and granola also serves as an excellent grab and go snack option to enjoy between meals.
Bonus Tip: Another tip when it comes to snacking is to put all of your healthy snack options right in the front of your fridge. When you are hungry and looking for something to eat, you will be more likely to grab the healthy choice right in front of you as opposed to that sugary snack you would generally reach for.
Looking for a way to streamline your healthy eating without having to put much effort in at all? Here at New Vision Nutrition, we offer fresh and fully prepared meals that will be delivered directly to your door that will not only help you lose weight, but it will also save you lots of time.
Check out the different meal plan options here, and see what plan will work best with your weight loss goals.
