How to Meal Plan Over the Holidays
Holidays are a hectic time, and if you didn't make a plan for healthy meals, this is when waistlines suffer and the dreaded holiday weight gain rears its ugly head. If this sounds like you, it's time to come up with a strategy.
I'm all too familiar with the roller coaster that is the holiday season. Family obligations, office parties, shopping crowds and a hungry family can cause so much stress that it's tempting to just say, "I'll get back on track in January." However, weight gain isn't the only downfall to this strategy. Decreased energy levels, chronic headaches, bloating, gas, acne, mood swings and an increased toxic load are just some of the effects of throwing your hands up in surrender to the season of cheer.
So what can be done? How is it possible to stay on track during this time of year without pulling out your hair and breaking the bank? I have a few meal planning strategies that I've put into practice over the years and have found ultimate success with. Whether you give all of these tips a try or just a few, simply making the effort can have profound effects on your motivation and success.
1. Remember that some is better than none.
Many people feel overwhelmed by the idea of planning out breakfast, lunch and dinner for themselves or their families. Has this ever happened to you? You go to the grocery store, buy a few proteins, a few fruits and veggies, and maybe some snacks, thinking, "This is good for the week."
Then, about mid-week, you're sick of making the same thing over and over, or you run out of something you thought you had enough of. You end up ordering takeout, pizza or hitting up happy hour for dinner with your friends.
If this is the case for you, just remember that some is better than none. Try only planning dinners Monday through Friday. Having to worry only about five meals instead of 15 -- not counting weekends -- can take away a lot of stress. And, if you make extra, some of those healthy dinners can turn into healthy lunches the next day.
There are also services available that can plan your meals for you. For example, my health coaching practice Whole Green You offers a holiday meal planning program that provides a grocery list, recipe guide and one coaching session over the phone. All you have to do is go to the grocery store to get everything you need for two weeks of healthy breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Remember, even if you can only commit to healthy dinners, you can save yourself a few pounds this holiday season.
2. Optimize your food combinations.
Learning how to combine the correct types of food for optimal digestion can not only help you lose weight, but can increase your energy levels, eliminate embarrassing gas and bloating, and reduce your toxic load. Simply put, when your digestive system doesn't have to work as hard to break down food, it can focus on other things like ridding the body of toxins, shuttling nutrients to your muscles, strengthening the immune system (flu season is here!) and using fat as fuel.
To optimize digestion, eat fruit alone, and try to keep it to just breakfast. Fruit tends to ferment in the gut as the stomach digests it. If other foods are eaten on top of fruit, it can slow the digestion process, creating gas and bloating as it continues to ferment without passing through to the next stage of digestion.
It also helps to combine proteins with greens and low-starch vegetables. Avoid pairing protein with high-starch foods, which can be paired with greens and low starch vegetables. Whole Green You provides a downloadable handout that describes how to combine food simply.
3. Cook once and eat twice (or more).
If you cook a large dinner, the leftovers can make a great healthy lunch. Try putting leftovers on sprouted whole grain bread, or separate the leftovers into ready-to-go containers for lunches for the rest of the week.
You can also use leftovers to create completely different dishes in no time. For example, when I make a pot of brown rice, I make at least seven or eight servings. If I have rice and beans for dinner, I'll use the leftover with salsa, a handful of mixed greens and a little cheese in a whole wheat wrap for lunch the next day. Then, I might use some leftover brown rice and frozen mixed veggies to create a vegetable fried rice the next night, and a brown rice porridge with berries for breakfast. The possibilities are endless and require only a little imagination.
4. Recruit.
They say that time is money, so if what you really want is more time, you may have to spend a little more money. There are numerous services out there that will do all of your grocery shopping for you -- it's as easy as creating a shopping cart on the Internet.
For a slightly cheaper option, try recruiting the neighbor kid to do your grocery shopping. Do you have children that are ready to start learning about responsibility? Send them to the grocery store with your list. If you get members of the whole family to write down their top five meals and its ingredients, you won't even have to plan the meals yourself. It's important to remember that you don't have to do it all. If you have the money, pay someone to do the cooking or the prep work for you.
Most of all, stay motivated this season. Utilizing even a few of these tips a couple times a week can save you pounds and stress. Make a plan, get support from family and friends, and then sit back and enjoy this time of year. Remember what you are grateful for and how far you have come. Happy holidays from Whole Green You.
Sarah Haskins is the founder of Whole Green You, a holistic health coaching practice that specializes in helping busy men and women around the country increase their energy, improve their relationship to food, lose weight, deconstruct and control cravings, and reduce their toxic load. As a U.S. Army veteran with 11 years of active duty service to her country, Haskins' holistic nutritional approach has been implemented with many U.S. Army soldiers to enhance their focus, energy and athletic ability both on and off the battlefield.
