How to Eat Healthy During the Week
Trying to eat healthy during a busy week can be really hard. Not having enough time to prepare a meal at home can result in you just picking something up for dinner that probably isn’t the healthiest choice but is quick and easy. I have found that planning ahead of time is really the most important way you can stay on track during the week but I do have some other helpful tips I would like to share.
1. If you don’t plan your meals at all, trying to change your habits and plan all of them may be very difficult and ultimately lead to you not being successful. So start slowly, if you never plan what you are going to make for dinner ahead of time, or eat out most of the time, pick out two meals you would like to make during the week prior to going to the grocery store, so you can buy all the appropriate ingredients and won’t be running around last minute realizing you need something.
2. Use your freezer! If you are making quiche for example, and only need one, make two and freeze the extra. That way on nights you are very busy, you can just pop a pre-made homemade quiche in the oven. If you don’t know how to make a healthy quiche I do have a recipe here.
3. Have a quick and easy go to meal that you know you can prepare in a flash. If I know there is a night coming up where I probably will only have a few minutes to prepare a meal I make sure I pick up some portobello mushrooms and reduced fat feta cheese so I can make stuffed mushrooms… you can find my stuffed mushroom recipe here.
4. Make sure you stock your fridge and pantry with healthy ingredients. You can’t make something healthy out of nothing, and may end up ordering pizza if you have nothing to work with. I always have brown rice, quinoa, whole grain pasta and black beans in my pantry. I also usually have an emergency can of tomato sauce too. In my refrigerator I always have fresh veggies and fruit, milk and reduced fat cheese. And in the freezer I like to have some proteins such as chicken or fish and some frozen veggies in case I run out of fresh ones.
5. In addition to buying fresh fruits and vegetables that I keep in the fridge, I also purchase a couple that I know will last longer, so if I don’t end up using them this week, I can use them next week. I hate when foods go bad…so wasteful! Sweet potatoes, butternut or acorn squash, and red potatoes tend to last a lot longer so I like to keep 1 or 2 of those on hand.
6. Make something new out of your leftovers. For example, last week my husband made fish with brown rice and black beans and plantains. He accidentally made too much rice and beans so the next day I added some spinach and mozzarella to the rice and beans and used it to stuff a baked sweet potato I happened to have on hand… and it became a brand new meal!
Hope my tips help!
Hi, my name is Caryn, and I am a registered dietitian nutritionist in Miami, Florida. I was born and raised in Ohio and have 2 girls under the age of 5. I am a busy working mom who used to have an hour long commute to work, so I know how hard keeping up with healthy habits can be. I am a lazy cook, so I hate overly complicated recipes and doing dishes. Just toss everything in one pot....right?
That sweet potato meal sounds delish!!
Thanks Stacey! It was delicious…. There is a pic of it on my Instagram feed if you want to check it out
That sweet potato and left over beans and rice sounds really good. I must try that. It’s easy enough.
Also I am really going to try to follow your suggestion about eating healthy during the week. I have to make a life style change that must include eating right. thanks