All the chatter about how restaurant calorie counts are unreliable makes me grateful that as I have modified my diet I’ve moved away from restaurants and prepared foods and cooked my own.
It’s really, REALLY hard to eat nutritious, vegetable-rich, filling food if you’re relying on the freezer case or fast food. I really relied on those Weight Watchers Smart Ones and Lean Cuisine meals when I was starting out, as they were easy, cheap, premeasured–heck, they even had the points on them!
But they aren’t very filling, not especially tasty, and they sure don’t have much in the way of vegetables. As I made a conscious effort to include more vegetables, I looked for easy ways to include them.
But you say, “I don’t have time to cook”? I say to you, as a full time working mother of twin boys, that if I can manage to cook so can you. If you have time to watch even one of those cooking shows a week, you have time to make at least one great dish that can nourish you and your family for days to come.
It does all start with planning. Every Saturday, before I attend my Weight Watchers meeting, I decide what we’re going to eat for the week and make a list of all the ingredients I’ll need to make those dishes.
I find too much choice to be paralyzing… when presented with more than a few options, I throw up my hands, especially at the end of a busy day. If you’re one of those, do your weekday self a favor and take choice out of it by deciding on the weekend what the menu will be.
Too hard, you say? You don’t know what you’ll feel like three days from now? I’m so busy during the week that I don’t have time to think about what I feel like eating. But if variety is the spice of your life, plan for that, too!
Start small-maybe just one dish, using lots of prepped materials such as a roasted chicken or baked tofu and prepared lettuce. Add some low-fat tomato sauce and whole wheat noodles, a laughing cow wedge or two, and you’ve got several meals on hand, all healthier than anything you’ll get at Jack in the Box. Cook those noodles on Sunday, and warm them up during the week with the sauce or the cheese, throw on the chicken.
Add some steam in the bag broccoli and russet potatoes, and you have even more choices. Potato with broccoli and cheese, broccoli and pasta with cheese… lots of options from just a few ingredients!
What are your healthy meal standbys?
