America runs at a lightning pace. Even if you’re retired, there’s so much to do! It’s no surprise that fast food is a $200 billion industry in the United States. Fast food is too often unhealthy and expensive. To top it off, people tend to get the same thing over and over.
What if there was a way that you could find time for healthy, homemade meals each day? How could you achieve this miracle?! The secret is to take a little bit of time each week to plan your upcoming meals. By spending as little as 15 minutes weekly, you can save yourself hours! And that’s just one benefit.
Boost Your Diet
By scheduling out your meals, you’ll give yourself a better chance at maintaining a healthy diet. The first step is to pick healthy recipes and meals and to determine the ingredients you need.
Once you’re at the store, you can pick healthier options, leaner meats, and fresh produce. This way, even if you tweak the recipe, you’ll be working with healthier ingredients.
By failing to plan ahead, you’re more likely to just grab something quick, i.e., fast food. Why’s that? If you haven’t planned ahead and gotten the groceries to eat healthy, you’re more likely to settle for junk food when you’re tired, as many of us are by the end of the day.
By failing to plan ahead, you’re more likely to grab something quick, i.e., fast food.
Expand Your Culinary Horizon
Not only is planning out your meals healthier, it helps you to try new foods. When you plan your meals, you can easily add a new recipe each week.
If you’re trying to eat healthier, this is a great move. Keeping your diet fresh is a smart way to combat diet boredom, one of the reasons diets often fail.
For example, have you ever made homemade pasta? You could expand into fresh lobster ravioli! What about a flavorful paella? It may seem complicated, but by planning your meals, you’ll have the ingredients, the method, and the time. All that’s left is to enjoy the meal!
Save Some Cash
Anyone familiar with budgeting will know the virtues of planning. The link between scheduling meals and saving money is well established. It allows you to know what ingredients you need, reducing waste.
You can also see what’s on sale that week and plan meals around it. Checking out the savings in your store’s weekly circular can give you some direction on what meals to try out. Many even include coupons, which can help you stretch your dollar even further.
By creating a weekly game plan, you’ll end up saving calories, dollars, and time.
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It can seem like an impossible task to work time into your day to schedule your meals for the week. But by creating a weekly game plan, you’ll end up saving calories, dollars, and time. To twist an old saying, “you have to spend time to save time.”
