Week Four: Meal Planning
Last week we focused on what eating well is truly about. Your session 3 BTYSP Tasks were to complete your daily tracking, weigh yourself daily, measure foods and assess portion sizes and redesign your plate and food pyramid.
Eating Well
The secret to smart shopping is to plan meals and make a list. Planning out a week’s worth of meals may seem like a chore, but can save you time and money in the long run.
Menu Planning Steps
- Scan the weekly circular for deals and to get some creative ideas.
- Look through your pantry and take inventory what you already have.
- Using the same method we used for planning out your plate last week, do the same method for planning each meal:
- Pick 1 protein
- Pick 1 starch
- Pick 2 veggies and fruit (or one of each)
- Fill in your shopping list with the necessary ingredients to make each meal.
Quick tips
- Use leftovers wisely! You may get 2 nights worth of meals out of one well planned menu plan.
- Make it a date. Make every Wednesday homemade pizza and salad night and every Thursday vegetarian night for example. That takes the guesswork out of planning meals for at least two nights each week.
- Make everything but the kitchen sink. These nights tend to fall the day before a much needed trip to the grocery store! By keeping a well stocked pantry, you can be prepared when you need a quick meal.
- Recycle menu plans and lists. After you’ve made menu plans for a few weeks, they essentially turn into your own individualized set of meal plans. Keep staples on hand.
Take the Supermarket Superstar Quiz
Now that you have your list, let’s see how savvy you are!
1. When I shop I bring a shopping list
a. always
b. sometimes
c. never
2. My grocery list contains
a. it is full of the items on my meal plan that I have created.
b. Items I put on in a hurry right before I head out to the store.
c. nothing because I don’t keep a list.
3. I go to the grocery store
a. no more than once a week
b. several times per week
c. almost daily
4. When I go grocery shopping
a. I am never hungry.
b. I am usually a little hungry, so I eat a little snack on the car ride over.
c. I am usually really hungry.
5. The majority of the food comes from
a. the perimeter of the store.
b. an even mix of the perimeter and center aisles.
c. the center aisles.
6. Reading labels
a. is something that I always do.
b. is something that I sometimes do.
c. is something that I never do.
7. Sale items
a. are in my bag only if they are healthy.
b. are generally in my bag because they are on sale, but I also try to check to see if they are healthy.
c. are in my bag no matter what because they are on sale.
Check out the blog this week for the answers!!
When looking at a nutrition label where should your eyes go first for information?
- Calories
First, check the serving size and servings per container. How many servings will you eat? If you eat more than one, be sure to multiply that number by the calories (the next line) to determine the actual number of calories you’ll consume. Does the calorie count fit into to your meal goal of 450 calories? Foods with 40 calories or less per serving are considered low-calorie; those with 400 or more per serving are high calorie.
- Fats
Look for foods low in saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol to lower your risk of heart disease. For fat and cholesterol, low-fat is defined as 5% of the daily value or lower.
- Sodium
Eating less then 2,300 mgs of sodium (about 1 teaspoon) of salt a day may lower the risk of high blood pressure. Most of the sodium people eat comes from processed foods, not the saltshaker.
- Fiber
When choosing grain-based foods (breads, crackers, cereal), look for products that contain at least 3 grams of fiber. You should eat at least 25 grams of fiber per day.
- Sugars
Sugar provides calories but few nutrients, so look for foods and beverages low in added sugars. Check the ingredient list to make sure that added sugars are not one of the first few ingredients. Other names for added sugars include sucrose, glucose, corn syrup, fructose, and high-fructose corn syrup.
- Protein
Most adults should eat between 60 to 70 grams of protein a day. Try eating a little extra protein if you find you’re often hungry (but don’t forget the 450 calories/20 minutes rule from the previous chapter).
| Healthy Day | Less Healthy Day |
|---|
Breakfast:
Stop and Shop Oatmeal-Maple Brown Sugar (box $1.88, 0.18cents per packet)
Plum 1 @ 0.69 cents
2 hardboiled eggs ($2.49/12 eggs, 0.41 total for 2 eggs)
Total: $1.28 |
Breakfast:
Orange Juice ($3.99 for container, 8 oz = 0.56cents)
Aunt Jemima Great Starts Breakfast (frozen) @ $2.00
Total: $2.56
|
Snack:
Almonds (1, 6 oz container @ 3.50, 1 oz serving @ 0.58centes)
Banana 0.39 cents each
Total: 0.97 cents |
Snack:
Frappucino Coffee 2.99
Scone 1.99
Total: 4.98
|
Lunch:
Tuna 3 oz can (0.44/oz) $1.32
Whole Wheat bread (2 slices, 0.22 cents)
Mayo light 0.15 cents
Apple sauce (0.40 cents)
Baby carrots 0.9 cents per oz
Total: $2.18
|
Lunch:
Ham $1.20
Grinder Roll 0.50 cents
American cheese 0.25 cents
Diet coke $1.50
Total: $3.45
|
Dinner:
Pre-marinated chicken breasts 1.25$ (per breast)
Wild rice ½ cup $1.80
Zucchini and yellow squash, steamed with lemon (0.80 cents) 1 cup
Skim milk 8 oz (.32 cents)
Total: $4.17
|
Dinner:
Chicken Parm Sub 5.45$
Small bag of chips 1.00$
Lemonade 1.10$
Total: 7.55$
|
Snack:
1 pudding snack (0.64 cents per snack) |
Snack:
ice cream and whipped topping (1 cup, 0.90 cents) |
| Total: $9.24 |
Total: $19.44 |
Lesson Four: Weekly Tasks
- Continue to keep track of your daily intake and assess R-K-O status daily
- Continue using Eat Less strategies: 450 in 20 minutes, measure portion sizes, use nutrition label.
- Use the strategy above (pick a protein, pick a starch, pick fruits and veggies) to plan your meals and form your shopping list.
- Record any questions, thoughts or feelings you have throughout the week to share during the group chat.
- Print this Lesson
- Activities Workbook
- Dr. Blackburn's Podcast
