Busy Mom Tips: How To Eat Clean
As a busy mom it can feel overwhelming to plan out clean eating meals for an entire week. Isn't it just easier to get frozen, pre-prepared meals and order out? For a long time I thought that was the case. I put garbage into my body and I felt accordingly. Luckily, I discovered that it IS possible to successfully shop and eat clean as a family, it just takes a little bit of work up front.
Below is a description of the process that I use, and recommend to my clients.
Step 1: Meal Plan
You can have a big time trainer, own every fitness program on the market and have a fancy gym membership, but if your nutrition is off kilter, then it's all for naught. 80% of your results come from your nutrition and the other 20% comes from exercise. This is why you've probably heard this saying 1,000 times..."You can't out-exercise a bad diet". It's true!
It's very easy to find reasons to NOT eat like we should....my kids kept me up last night, I ran out of time, or I don't have money to buy healthy food. Well, it costs a whole lot more to take care of a sick person versus a healthy person. You have so much more energy to play with your kids and do the things that you want when you are healthy and vibrant. When you get regular physical activity and proper nutrition you can live your life to the fullest. One of the ways that I make sure to keep myself and my family on track is through sitting down each Sunday, making a meal plan, grocery shopping and then taking the time to prep my snacks for the week.
Does this take me all day? No, I've gotten it down to a science and I would say the process of planning all my meals and compiling a grocery list takes 30 minutes. I use a template on my computer that I just update each week. After the meal plan, I just check the pantry for anything I might need, and jot down my grocery list.
This is an example of my meal plan. I share this with my clients every week. A big part of my program is planning. You cannot be successful until you have a focus. This plan gives you a starting point. When you know what you are eating each night it takes the guess work out. You know that you have something in mind already and there is no room for the common excuse "I don't know what to make so lets just eat out".
Step 2: Shopping
After I do my meal plan I usually head to the grocery store the next day. I start my week at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Whole Foods is where I buy a lot of my produce and meat, and Trader Joe's for almost everything else. Later in the week I'll go to Target or back to Trader's to fill in anything that I may have missed (which sadly seems to be every week).
Some items on my grocery list this week was:
Eggs (grass fed)
Greek Yogurt (plain) - 0% or 2%
Apples (Green and Red)
Bananas for my Shakeology
Berries - Blueberries, Raspberries and Strawberries
Kale (kale chips), Spinach, Spring Mix Salads
Cucumbers
Avocados
Almond Butter
Strawberries
Almond Milk
Quinoa
Corn Tortillas
RX Bars (Whole Foods)
Ground Red Meat (Vegetarian Fed)
Step 3: Prep
On Sundays, if I have the groceries already I will also do prep. I'll do the following: roast veggies, cook quinoa, shred rotisserie chicken, hard boil eggs, portion out veggies and fruit for snacks.
Typical snacks for me are:
Apples and 2 tbsp all natural peanut butter
Berries and unsalted almonds (14)
Veggies and hummus Always Shakeology for afternoon or breakfast snack. Sometimes I'll have it for a main meal
Do you want to learn more about meal planning and preparing food? Do you want to know how you can change your lifestyle, lose weight, have more energy and fuel your body for energy and not just for comfort? Join my 30 day Clean Eating and fitness closed online support group. In this exclusive group I will teach you one on one. How to grocery shop, plan your meals and be successful. Everything from eating out, traveling, surviving parties and more!
It all starts with you and a choice to make the change! Join me starting February 15th on the best journey of your entire life!! A healthy one!
