September 20, 2017 · Written by Foodtolive Team
6 Clever Tips for Planning a Healthy Diet for Your Family
Planning a healthy diet for a family is a challenge as you must not only make it well-balanced. You have to come up with fun meals that will ensure your kids eat their veggies. Don’t forget about cooking times and other details that can interfere with you getting healthy meals on busy workdays. With these tips, you’ll be able to avoid common pitfalls and both plan and actually stick to a healthy diet.
Planning a Healthy Diet: Simple Tips
1. ‘Make’ breakfast in the evening
Skipping breakfast is a taboo, so you must make sure your entire family eats theirs. If your time is limited, double-check that you have all ingredients prepared the night before. This includes chopping fruits/veggies for a smoothie, pre-soaking oats, etc. Check out our healthy breakfast ideas for some inspiration.
2. Prepare your snacks in advance
Snacks usually are the ‘unhealthiest’ part of a diet. In order to suppress the itch of buying some junk food, have healthy snacks on hand at all times. Make sure you add their preparation to your schedule when planning a healthy diet. The lack of time is the main reason why people choose a vending machine over making toasted spiced chickpeas or healthy shredded coconut cookies. You should also have some nuts and dried fruits at home, as these snacks don’t need preparation.
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3. Pre-cook legumes and whole grains
When planning a healthy diet, you’ll notice that you might not have the time to cook your meals from scratch every day. The problem is that whole grains and legumes, essential ingredients of a good meal plan, don’t cook fast. You can solve this problem by pre-cooking a batch of them on weekends. Cooked beans and lentils usually keep for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge. Whole grains and most seeds also last 5-7 days. You can add those ingredients to salads for lunch or serve them with some rich sauce and grilled veggies for dinner.
4. Pack your lunches after dinner
Another common temptation that breaks a healthy diet is to get some ‘not-so-healthy’ takeout or sandwich for lunch. If your reason is not enough time to make a healthy meal before work, pack your lunchbox the night before. Check out these great lunch ideas for work.
5. Get fruit for dessert
Eating fruits for dessert is healthy and their prep takes very little time. Add the fact that they are good for weight management, and you’ll see how this dessert is truly the best everyday option. However, planning a healthy diet means not only designing a menu, grocery list, and cooking schedule. This also means planning your budget, and eating a fruit treat every day might be too much for some families. Restricting more fancy desserts to special occasions will also help you save some money as they aren’t cheap to make.
6. Set aside a ‘meal planning’ time in your schedule
Finally, never forget that planning a healthy diet takes time. Clear an hour (or more before you get used to it) in your weekly schedule so you can dedicate your full attention to planning family meals.
