I am. But I have a confession to make.
I hate meal planning.
This is especially ironic since I
make custom meal plans for my clients. I spend
hours on them.
But my own?
Nope.
Picture me standing in front of my refrigerator, sighing wistfully, with a faint hope of the Magical Dinner Inspiration Fairy/Caterer appearing in a puff of organic pastured smoke.
(This is part of my Circle of Life series.)
This week: Home Cooking
When I start working with clients, I ask them "What's one simple thing you could do to improve your health?"
The majority of them say cook and eat more at home.
Keep in mind that you may be doing AWESOME in this area (go you!) and really need to focus on others. So apply what you can and leave the rest.
Why? You probably know this already but:
- You control the ingredients and fat/salt content.
- You control the plate and portion sizes.
- You have to work to bake that giant slab of chocolate cake and are thus less likely to eat it.
So why don't you cook at home more?
Maybe it's:
- eating out at happy hour with coworkers
- feeling rushed to get dinner on the table before the kids' bedtime
- wanting to feel taken care of by having someone else do the cooking and dishes
- staring at the contents of your fridge unable to decide where to start
- feeling overwhelmed by the process of planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning up without wasting food or taking forever
There's no right or wrong answer. It's not to judge you, it's to get a starting point for improvement from where you ARE.
I challenge you to try meal planning.
It doesn't have to be fancy. It could be "Monday: soup, Tuesday: pasta," or something more elaborate with recipes.
CLICK HERE for a template to get started. You can write in leftovers, breakfast for dinner, or takeout. My crafty organized friend has hers on a whiteboard in her kitchen.
I take 15 minutes on Sunday night just to rough out some ideas. I'm allowed to change my mind! I fill in snack options so that I don't forget what fresh fruit may have gotten shoved behind the yogurt when I had to go rescue the cat from a toddler's aggressive affection.
Just give it a shot. Then tell me how it went! Seriously, I'd love to know what worked - and what didn't.
P.S. Next time -- physical activity! How DO you get your butt off the couch and to the gym?
Stacy Spensley supports overwhelmed perfectionists to stop spinning their wheels, get unstuck, and finally take action to lead healthy, kick-ass lives. She is professionally bossy and an ardent supporter of the Oxford comma.
Stacy is a healthy life coach, certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, and a member of the International Association of Wellness Professionals.
CLICK HERE to learn more about working with Stacy.
