Proper nutrition and healthy meal planning starts with your trip to the grocery store. If you don’t have healthy food in your refrigerator you can’t use it in your meal plan. So, before you head to the store, FIRST, take a few minutes to plan write down meal ideas, SECOND ask yourself these questions to make sure each meals is healthy and well balanced.
Healthy Meal Game Plan Check List:
- Does the meal include a fruit or vegetable?
- Did I choose whole grains?
- Is the cut of meat lean?
- Is the milk 1% or skim?
- Did I choose low sodium food?
- Did I choose water instead of high sugar drinks?
- Are the portion sizes appropriate?
For example
Breakfast: Instead of having a bowl of sugary cereal, try having low fat yogurt with fresh fruit and a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter.
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Lunch: Instead of a turkey sandwich on white bread and a bag of chips, try having a turkey sandwich on whole wheat breads with tomato, lettuce and mustard, a ½ cup of raw vegetables, and ½ cup whole grain crackers.
Dinner: Instead of 1 cup white pasta and ½ cup tomato sauce for dinner, try having ½ cup cooked whole wheat pasta, ¼ cup garlic tomato sauce with mushrooms, and 100% lean ground beef sided with ½ cup steam broccoli and ½ cup of fresh cut melon.
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Planning a healthy meal does take time but it will be well worth it as you and your family enjoys the benefits of having more energy, lower blood pressure, improved digestion and healthy weight loss.