Meal Planning

Sticking to a Meal Plan

When you’re trying to lose weight, to build muscle, or improve your health, good nutrition is important.  A healthy meal plan can help you to nourish your body and provide it with the essentials it needs to perform at its best.  Making a healthy meal plan part of your lifestyle can help to set you up for success with your fitness goals.

A meal plan can teach you how to balance meals or how to fuel your body.  We know that consistency is important when it comes to health and fitness.  

If you have not recently followed a meal plan, be sure to follow the healthy meal planner for a week or two on the following page: https://www.growyoungfitness.com/recipes

Here are a few tips to help you be successful! 

Be Realistic- 

Following a nutritious meal plan can have many health benefits, however, it’s only going to work if you want to do it.  You are more likely to follow a meal plan that is realistic for you and your lifestyle.

We all have different needs, different goals and different bodies.  This means there is no such thing as a perfect diet.  Once you make that shift in mindset, there is less pressure on yourself to be perfect when following the plan. 

Just aim to eat healthy and follow your meal plan without feeling as though you have to give up your favorites.  Look for balance. Enjoy those favorites in moderation if you wish, but try not to give in to every single craving.  Soon you’ll have built up those mental muscles that make it easier to resist cravings when they arise. 

Resisting the cravings does get easier, and if you want to lose weight, over time, you will need to give up some of those things and become more strict with it.

Shop Smarter-

When you have meals already planned, you might find you only need to grocery shop once or twice a week.  Shopping less means less junk food in your cart on each trip.

Avoid those junk food isles!

Have a shopping list ready and grocery shopping can become less hassle too.  You will be less tempted to fill your cart with convenience foods or unhealthy snacks and you will have everything you need to prepare healthy meals at home.

One of the best ways to stay on track with your meal plan is to spend some time each week on meal preparation.  Taking an hour or two to prepare vegetables and fruits in advance can save you so much time over the week.  You simply grab the washed and chopped veggies and add to healthy dishes or use for snacks.  Having some fruit washed and ready will make it easy to grab for your lunch.  Also, if you store fruit in separate freezer bags, it makes for a quick, healthy smoothie.

Following the healthy meal plan  on https://www.growyoungfitness.com/recipes can take time and practice, so remember to be patient with yourself.  Don’t be upset with yourself if you slip up.  Persistence can really pay off even if it takes a few tries, keep at it.