Why do we have to eat dinner every, single, night!?!

Tell me if you've ever been here before. It's Wednesday morning and you've just spent the first two days of the week trying desperately to eat healthy and make sure your household is fed nutritiously. Somehow this feels like your 3rd FULL TIME JOB! 😜

You pulled off some decent lunches and dinners but it took a ton of time and now you are at the mid-week point, wondering if you should just grab fast food because you can't bear the thought of getting groceries, cooking or doing dishes again. 😩 🥘 🥣

You might make one more valiant effort on Thursday, but come Friday it's back to leftovers and survival food all weekend. 🍕😕

Have you ever been there or experienced your own version of this? I sure have! If you've ever ended up in the physical, mental, and emotional cycle of trying to eat healthy on a consistent basis but constantly feeling let down somehow, I want to help you today 🤗

Here is my Meal Prep for Busy Families 101 plan for you this week.

Step 1: Buy Lean & Green in Bulk

It's no secret that protein (fish, chicken, vegetables, legumes), whole grains, and vegetables are the best way to eat and sustain a healthy diet. The trick is learning how to eat variety and not always eating the same thing.

We are fortunate enough to live in a time and place where lean proteins, fresh vegetables, bag salads and bulk quinoa or wild rice are not only easy to access, but one trip to the store can supply you with healthy options for at least 7-10 days.

Once you've made the choice to acquire the right foods, it's simply a matter of learning how to prep them in various ways. Often times we will grill, smoke, or bake 3-5lbs of chicken at once. Then we chop it up and have it ready to add to anything we need whether its lunches, salads or even snacks.

Step 2: Accept Time is the problem not your Tastes

With all the women I talk to about their healthy eating challenges, the underlying issue is always the time it takes to eat well. Sure pizza (which I eat!) and nachos taste great, but the real barrier that needs to be dealt with is your time.

Busy families are in fact, very busy! Healthy eating is almost always the first thing to be neglected because of the time it takes. We tell ourselves that we don't like healthy food because it doesn't taste as good, but truthfully, it does, it just takes time.

Making a healthy choice at a restaurant is also important, but by committing to devote a little more of our time and energy to buying and preparing healthy food will pay off HUGE for all of us.

When we take the extra effort to stock our fridge and pantries with whole foods & produce we are WINNING!

Step 3: Watch Some Numbers, but not too Many

A saying that I'm learning more about, in both life and business, is "what gets measured gets managed."

If you want to improve your healthy food frequency here are a few numbers you could begin to watch (pick 1 not 5!)

• How many meals a week do you eat out vs home?
• How many days can you consistently eat well before you want to indulge?
• How much processed sugar is in your food and drinks?
• How much time does it really take for you prepare healthy food on average? Keep a short time chart.
• How many healthy meals can you eat and not get tired of?

Reader, I want you to know that we are ALL A WORK IN PROGRESS and you are not alone. I think it always needs repeating that perfection is the enemy of good enough, especially when it comes to our food.

If you need some new ideas or a plan to get you restarted, you can grab my monthly food guide here and do what you can!

Extra Credit Tip: Expect Emergencies

Learning to plan meals ahead is a talent I don't have. So for me it had to become a discipline and habit. One thing I have always done easily is pack healthy foods to go. I will always have nuts, fruit, protein bars & water on me at all times.

For the Tribe! - B

If you’ve made it this far... first you are so wonderful. Second, I’d love to know two things from you if you'd like to reply back.

1. Which one of the steps do you find the most helpful?
2. Which one of these steps feels the furthest away and why?