Three Steps to Easy Meals
/The biggest complaint or struggle I hear from people is that they don’t have time to cook healthy foods.
That’s a true hurdle and concern. The truth is, it takes intention and work and you have to want it. As I talk about in my Manifesto, YOU have to be the person who makes a choice to eat different or think different or act different. It doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen without intention.
Now, you can choose to see this reality of having to be intentional as a hardship, or you can see it as a gift. There are millions of people who don’t have access to healthy food or their food supply isn’t dependable. So, the fact that we get the choice of how we will eat and fuel our bodies is a huge gift.
I don’t say all of this to guilt you or make you feel bad, I just want to remind you that if you view this choice as a gift, you will take it more seriously.
Three steps to Easy Meals
Make a choice: going off of what I was just talking about, it’s up to you. You have to make the choice. Are you going to eat a plant-based diet? Are you going to stop eating processed food? Are you going to start meal planning? Whatever you want out of healthy living, you get to choose. Honestly, the hardest step in making changes to your life is getting out of your own way. You have to be willing to change. We aren’t always good at making changes because we get in our own heads and don’t know how to get out of routines we set. But! What if you set a new routine? Then, once that routine is established, it would be hard to break it. So, the first step to making healthier food choices, is actually making a choice to make a choice. And to be honest, doesn’t that make it feel a little bit easier? You just have to decide it’s what you’re going to do. You ready?
Keep it simple: now that you’ve decided to make healthier food choice, the next step is to keep those choices simple. When browsing recipes online or on Pinterest, don’t pick recipes that take hours or have 20 ingredients. If I look at a recipe and I have to go buy more than 5 items in order to make it, I won’t do it. I want recipes that don’t require me to buy too many new products and that don’t have a massive ingredient list. Find recipes that are simple. The less ingredients, the less work it will take to make the food, meaning the less time you have to commit to it. If you haven’t yet, make sure you download the five FREE easy weeknight dinner recipes. These all have 10 ingredients or less and are super simple! The less work the recipe is, the less prep you’ll do and less time you’ll spend at the grocery store.
Download below!
Take stock before you shop: the best thing you can do to simplify your meals, is use what you already have. Before you look up recipes or go grocery shopping, take stock of what you already have in your home. Look at what basics you have, vegetables, proteins, etc. And try to pick recipes that fit with those items. If you find a recipe for taco bowls, but have none of the ingredients, but a refrigerator full of squash and lettuce, consider recipes that would use the items you already have. The next thing you can do is learn how to make swaps in recipes for things you already have. So, if a recipe calls for steak, but you have chicken, use the chicken. If a recipe calls for black beans, but you have pinto, use the pinto! Simplify your life so you aren’t always going out to buy more food. Use what you already have!
When you implement these small steps, it will make it easier and simpler for you to make healthy meal choices and over time, it gets easier! I promise. After time, it will become your second nature. Don’t forget to download my five free easy weeknight dinner recipes! They all have 10 ingredients or less and are packed with nutrients!