You want healthy eating to be simple, am I right? Yet, when you think about making changes in how you feed your family, or *gasp* meal planning, it might seem overwhelming and exhausting.
I get it, when I did a recent Google search on "tips for healthy eating" it was like pandora's box opened and out came all the tips/tricks/hacks...you name it. Where to even start?
Well, let me simplify it for you. Because by just doing this one thing I guarantee you'll start to think about healthy eating differently. It's called...planning.
But not cumbersome, over the top, craziness. No, we're talking - super simple, doable, and sustainable. That's what I'm all about. And I have a feeling that's what you need.
A brief example from a place many of us have been before - budgeting. Have you ever wanted to start a budget? You know, to see where all that hard earned $ goes every month. All the resources I've read on this topic say to first pay attention to where your money is going. You can't start allocating your resources differently if you don't know what's already happening. When first starting to create a budget, most experts recommend taking the time to write down or catalog where all your 💴goes for 2-4 weeks, or even longer.
I'm not a budgeting expert, however I know you get where I'm going with this idea. Becoming aware of what you're already doing is the first step towards knowing the direction you want to go.
How does this apply to healthy eating? First, start by writing down what you eat for a couple weeks. Grab a piece of paper, make an easy table, and just quickly map it out. You could even do it now for the past week. What did you have for breakfast/lunch/dinner and snacks? Then do the same next week.
By simply writing down what you are already having I bet you will start to notice a few things. Are you having veggies every day? What about protein? If you skip lunch what happens to dinner or snacks later that day? What days do you end up getting take-out most often?
After two weeks you'll start to see some patterns. This is where we can start to make small pivots towards making healthy eating simple(r). Next week, I'll talk about what those small pivots look like.
Because healthy eating can be simple when we give ourselves the resources we need and planning ahead really helps!
Action step: Write down everything you've eaten this week and next. Breakfast, lunches, dinners, and snacks. That's it. Let's figure out what is on your plate right now. Quick tip - be sure to write down what is actually on your plate, not what you wish or what theoretically could be on there. Honesty is the name of the game here.
Healthy habits here we come.