Healthy Meal Planning

Need some tips on healthy meal planning? Fed up with living on take aways and convenience foods, but don't know where to start? Let me help...

Healthy Meal Planning

We all want to be healthy, and eating takeaways all the time is probably not the best way to achieve this. A well balanced diet will include all of the nutrients we require, and provide the energy that we need. But just what constitutes a well balanced diet?

Protein

Proteins are found in all living cells and they are sometimes called the building blocks of the body as they are essential for growth and repair.

Protein foods that contain all 8 essential amino acids are known as complete proteins and mainly come from animal origins. However don't rule out nuts, beans and some grains, such as quinoa, as a complete protein source, especially if you are a vegetarian or vegan.

Try to eat some protein at every meal. So for breakfast we could ring the changes with eggs, milk, bacon, ham or cheese. Lunch could consist of a salad containing grains, or baked beans on toast. For our main meal we could enjoy meat or poultry with potatoes or rice and lots of fresh vegetables.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates aka carbs, are often given a bad press, but they are necessary. Carbohydrate foods are easily converted into glucose, which is then transported around our bodies giving us energy.

Of course we do need to take care not to eat too many sugary foods which are known as simple carbohydrates. These are things like cakes, chocolate, cookies, sugary soft drinks, jellies or jams which can cause a "sugar high" and take your blood sugar levels on a roller coaster ride!

Instead, we should be eating more complex carbohydrates such as whole grain breads and pastas, beans and pulses such as lentils or chick peas, bananas, root vegetables and potatoes, oats and brown rice. These take longer for the body to digest, helping our blood sugar levels to remain stable. This is particularly important for those individuals that are having to follow a diet to control their diabetes.

We also need to include enough insoluble fibre in our diets. This is what used to be known as roughage. It plays the important role of assisting the movement of waste food through the intestines, and keeping us regular.

To get enough fibre you need to include plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet. This has the additional benefit of filling you up, without stuffing you with unneccessary calories.

Fats

Believe it or not, we do need to include fats in our healthy meal planning. But, as with carbohydrates, we need the right kind in the correct quantity.

The right kind? Yes, there are good fats and bad fats. I will try not to get too technical here, but at the same time explain the difference.

Unsaturated fats are the good guys. They come in two forms, Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated, both of which help to lower the bad cholesterol in our blood. You will find the mono variety in foods such as nuts, avocado, and olive oil.

Polyunsaturated fats are found in corn oil and sunflower oil along with seafood, such as salmon. These also provide Omega 3 fatty acids.

Saturated fats on the other hand are not good for us. They have the reverse effect on the bad cholesterol, raising it instead of lowering it, which in turn can increase the risk of heart disease.

Saturated fats are found in animal products such as meat, dairy and eggs.

There is another form of bad fats, known as trans fats. These are formed in commercial processes of food production and tend to be found in ready packaged products and food from fast food outlets.

By careful, healthy meal planning, you can avoid the bad fats and use those that are beneficial instead.

Vitamins and Minerals

If we eat a varied, healthy, balanced diet, then our bodies should be able to obtain all the vitamins and minerals that we need, naturally, without needing expensive supplements.

This means that it is important not to either, miss out any food groups completely, or eat too much of any one of them.

Download the 7 day meal planner

The 7 day meal planner gives you room to enter each type of food for each meal, ensuring that none get missed. It can also be used as an analysis of the food eaten the previous week, helping you to identify any dietary reactions, such as a gluten allergy. I hope you find it useful.