We all know that meal planning is an amazing way to stay on top of your dieting goals and save time throughout the week. But like anything involving health and wellness, it can easily turn from a positive thing to a negative one if you’re not armed with the right tools and mindset. Through proper nutrition and food optimization are undoubtedly good for you, obsessively counting calories and macros can lead to feelings of body negativity and self-shaming. Luckily, there are some simple things you can do to prevent that from happening, and we’ve got all the best tips here!

• Remember the Many Benefits of Eating Well—It’s not just about how you look! If you spend your time formulating the right diet for your unique needs, you’ll see a few health benefits that go beyond losing weight or bulking up. For example, a low-FODMAP meal plan can improve your overall health and well-being by eliminating negative digestive side effects, such as gassiness, stomach pain and diarrhea. When you eat the right things, you’ll have more energy so you can conquer the day and meet all your goals. In addition to positive changes to your physique, eating well can help you:
  • Reduce risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke and cancer.
  • Reduce gastronomic issues, including gas and diarrhea.
  • Strengthen your bones and teeth.
  • Build up muscle and facilitate recovery after a workout.
  • Boost your mood and enhance your energy levels.
  • Enhance memory, sharpness and cognitive function.
  • Lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
• Focus on Nutrition, Not Calories—One great way to approach meal planning is to focus on creating well-optimized, balanced meals, rather than counting calories. As you probably already know, many low-calorie foods are full of unhealthy additives, while some of the healthiest ones are shelved because they’re full of calories and fat. But calorically dense foods are good for you, especially if you expend a lot of energy throughout the day. Some of the most nutrient-rich yet high-calorie foods include avocados, nuts and granola. While they may not help you cut calories, they can pump the body with much-needed nutrients and fuel to help you reach your goals, so you definitely don’t want to skip over them.
• Start with an Elimination Diet—If you experience any kind of digestive issues whatsoever or believe that what you eat may be affecting your overall health, you may want to spend a discovery period trying to figure out what’s causing your distress. For example, if you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or functional abdominal pain, the foods you eat may be causing you serious gastric upset, which means you’re probably not properly absorbing the nutrients in your food. Following a low-FODMAP diet for a few weeks can help you identify your triggers so you can build an IBS diet plan that works for you. Once you know what’s safe for you, you can build up a meal planning strategy that optimizes every food to its fullest without worsening symptoms.

• Don’t Deprive Yourself—Why is it that when we attempt to follow super-restrictive diets for long periods of time, we often find ourselves failing? It’s because, often, these kinds of diets aren’t realistic, and that sets us up to feel shame when we don’t succeed. To prevent this from happening, take the “everything in moderation” approach. Allowing yourself to enjoy the food and drink items you enjoy as an occasional treat will help prevent you from feeling like a failure when you occasionally allow yourself to enjoy. Be sure to include food items you love in your meals so you don’t feel like you’re just counting down the days until you can eat something enjoyable.
• Consider Meal Planning an Act of Self-Care—As previously mentioned, healthy eating is actually correlated with mood. Eating well has the unique ability to boost your spirits because some foods have the ability to stimulate the production of neurotransmitters in the brain, such as dopamine and serotonin. At the same time, they also help you settle into a happy state of mind because they fuel your body with energy so you feel up for working out and other activities. The key is to eat balanced meals that supply you with the right amount of nutrients and energy so you don’t feel sluggish. Meal planning also eliminates stress and decision-making fatigue throughout the week. If you already know what you’re going to eat for three meals a day, you eliminate a ton of decision-making at any given moment!
• Think of It as a Time Saver—In addition to the incredible benefits you get from enjoying healthy, well-balanced meals, pre-planning what you eat ahead of time can save you a lot of time and effort. With meal planning, you generally prepare all your meals at once in a single spree, saving you time throughout the week on prep and cooking. It helps to think of it as more of a weekly chore, alongside things like cleaning the kitchen and doing your laundry.

Food Is Fuel

Meal planning is one of the best ways to keep yourself on a nutritious, well-balanced diet plan as you go about your busy life. To make the most out of it, you need to approach it in a way that helps you build a strong self-image and bolster body positivity. These great tips will help you reap all the benefits of thinking ahead so you fuel the body and your self-esteem at the same time!