A Nutrition Plan for a Healthy, Happy Future
We’ve written this article because of the importance of our health. If we have the right plan and the motivation to make a difference, then a healthy happy future awaits.
“The greatest wealth is health” – Virgil
So let’s preserve our health by doing something about it!
Decision to make a change
When making the decision to eat healthy and improve your nutrition, the first hurdle that people typically encounter is that it can appear expensive at a glance. That’s then quickly followed by how difficult it is to cook a wide variety of interesting meals. The good news is neither of these first impressions are true, and the great news is that we can help you with both!
Creatures of habit
We’re all creatures of habit whether we like to admit it or not, and yes there’s a spectrum, but the familiarity-loving habitual being is there within us all to some extent.
With this in mind, the likelihood (which has been proven by research) is that people tend to eat the same foods repeatedly week by week. It’s like the 80/20 rule but in this case it would be – 80% of our consumption comes from 20% of all the foods that we eat. This should make creating a nutrition plan relatively simple.
We do it and so can you!
We eat lots of delicious food every week and it only costs us around £50/$75 each per week so it’s relatively inexpensive, especially when you consider how important our health is. If we treat ourselves and go out for food then it would be more expensive than that. There are lots of nutritious and delicious recipe options and hopefully you’ll have found some on our website.
Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail
In order to give you the best possible chance of success in your nutrition voyage then a little preparation is needed. This quote has always resonated with me ‘Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail’ and we try to adopt this policy everytime we start something new or before setting out on a new adventure. If you invest a little time at the beginning (planning a basic meal plan) then you’ll find that it’ll save you lots of time (thinking about what you can eat/prepare) in the long run and you’ll be more likely to stick with it too. Imagine starting a journey to an unknown destination without a map (or GPS), you just wouldn’t do it, so why start a nutrition journey this way?
The Plan
When we initially started our nutrition journey (many moons ago) this is the process that we followed and it’s worked out well so far.
1. Start by making a 7 day healthy, delicious and (of course) nutritious meal plan that you would be willing to stick to every week. This isn’t the only foods that you can eat going forward, but a foundation of nutrient-dense meals to build upon.
2. Make sure you create the plan in pencil, on a large piece of paper and with lots of space around each entry. This will come in handy later on. If you’re creating it digitally then you won’t need to consider the above.
3. One of the most undervalued parts of a healthy meal plan is hydration levels. This doesn’t need to be added to the plan however if you have a way (mobile phone) of reminding yourself to drink a glass of water every 2 hours, this is a great way to start a healthy habit. If you stick with this, eventually you won’t need the reminders at all!
4. It’s definitely easier if you’re sharing the journey with someone, but even if you’re not there are still delicious and nutritious recipes available to you and whoever you co-habit with. You’ll be doing their health a favour aswell, if you cook for them! Check the MyNutriCounter website for recipe ideas.
5. Make a shopping list of all your ingredients then go and get it (even if that just means turning on your computer and clicking a few buttons)!
6. After your first week you’re now in a position to decide whether you want to repeat the same meal plan or change it slightly. If you want to add a new recipe/meal, this is where the space you made comes in nicely, then you can add the new food/recipe to your meal plan. You can change the meal plan as much or as little as you want, the purpose is to give you a robust nutrition structure that you can always rely on.
7. Set a reminder every week to spend a little time to ensure you’re prepared for the week ahead and focussed on your goals. These tiny changes will keep you on course to achieving whatever you set out to do!
This is a trial and error process which you’ll evolve over time, but it’s the first step in making positive change towards improved long term health. You might not be able to see the difference bite by bite, but it will be happening and you just have to trust that the global research into nutrition is accurate and will be beneficial for you, your family and friends.
Once you create the plan, before long you’ll be eating better with less work and for less money. Sounds good to me!
General Tips
When making your weekly plan try to eat a variety of colours (and that’s not from skittles but from natural foods) which ensures you will get a good balance of nutrients.
Our bodies need about 40 different nutrients to maintain health which is why it’s important to consume nutrition-rich foods on a regular basis. Some nutrients are required in relatively large quantities which are known as macronutrients such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Micronutrients are needed in smaller quantities and include vitamins, minerals and trace elements.
Beige foods are typically bad for you.
If your food goes bad then it’s typically good for you and if it doesn’t go bad that’s typically a sign to avoid.
There are some things that could help make your cooking life easier, like investing in some kitchen equipment such as a food processor, blender, slowcooker etc. All these accessories will speed up the cooking process or will reduce the amount of managing each recipe needs, but they aren’t essential just ‘nice to haves’.
Don’t worry if you’re not confident in the kitchen, this is a great opportunity to improve your culinary skills and experiment at the same time, if you want to. You can follow our step by step recipe guides which should help. Just remember, every expert was once an amateur.
Thanks for reading and if you have any questions we’re here to help!
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