Let’s face it; the going can get tough, can’t it? It can be incredibly hard to stick to your diet every day, day-in and day-out when you’re faced with other tempting choices that seem more convenient. What’s more, healthy eating can seem more expensive and more of a hassle (because you’re shopping for fresh food more often and then you have to cook more often instead of eating at a restaurant).
Eating right takes a real effort. So how do you manage?The Big Picture
First, remember the big picture. It may seem like healthy eating is more expensive and more time consuming and inconvenient, but you need to consider the long term expense that will come with unhealthy eating… and the long term time consumption that will result when you are sick more often because you are unhealthy… and the long term inconvenience of medical care if your unhealthy lifestyle results in severe illness or heart attack.
At the same time, when people add up how much they spend on convenience food from restaurants and fast food outlets, they are surprised at the cost; it’s high! So you really don’t spend that much more when you shop for fresh food.
Planning Success with Scheduling
Again, implementing the goal is the hardest part. Planning is what will make it happen but we so rarely plan. Solve this by scheduling your planning time in. In
Schedule one hour each week that you’ll plan your meals, one hour each week that you’ll shop for your meals, and two hours each day that you’ll cook meals. Go and schedule it right now, I’ll still be here when you get back.
Priorities
In the last paragraph I recommended that you schedule all of those hours. Some of you read that paragraph and said to yourselves: “That’s 16 hours a week! I don’t have that time!”
You do, but it’s just prioritized differently. Consider how much time you spend watching television.
Instead, consider how much happier you’ll be when you eat well, add in the great time you’ll spend with your family as you all work together to cook healthy meals, and don’t forget that the time you spend will diminish as you get better and better at it.
Be Proactive
Over time, you’ll get better and better at meal preparation and planning. At first it seems like a chore but it will become a real pleasure. Soon, you’ll find yourself making extra so you have a healthy leftover choice. On those days when you’re too rushed to eat, don’t buy greasy chicken; reheat frozen leftovers that you know are healthy! When you make a dish you love, make twice as much as you’ll eat and freeze the other half. Soon your freezer will be full of quick, easy, healthy options for those days when time has simply disappeared.
Also, you’ll soon find yourself naturally planning longer than one week in advance, which means fewer shopping trips. After you’re good at planning, you might only go once a month!