Why meal planning is good for your health and pockets?

Meal planning is not only essential for losing or gaining weight. It is helpful because it will help you manage a healthy weight while enjoying your favorite food. Yes, you heard it right. You’ll meet different fitness coaches on the internet and in your personal life who will suggest you drop some food groups from your diet to reach your fitness goals. Here comes the importance of planning a healthy meal. There are plenty of apps for meal planning on the internet that can help you plan your meals. Let’s discuss the importance of planning a healthy meal, how one can plan healthy meals on a budget, and apps for meal planning. Let’s explore why meal planning is good for your health and pockets? 😀 

It is about maintaining a healthy weight with a balanced diet plan. But, planning a healthy meal will also help you reach your fitness goals. Change your meal plan to calorie surplus or deficit, and you’re good to go. 

Why should you do meal planning?

1. Helps you stay healthy: Staying healthy is not only about losing weight. Staying lean is not the same as being healthy. One should understand the difference between being thin and being healthy. That’s where planning comes into play: you plan your meals to nourish your body according to the calorie requirements. Also, calorie requirement varies from person to person and depends on various factors like age, gender, physical activity, and much more. So, once you know the calorie requirement to maintain a healthy weight you can plan your meals accordingly. 
2. Helps you make healthier choices: We are most likely to make poor eating decisions because of convenience. Not planning your meals will force you to pick just anything random at the last moment. You might end up choosing something because it is easy to cook or takes less time like packaged food. Selecting packaged food over natural food can impact your overall health. Choose meal planning over convenience, and you’ll notice how it impacts your eating habits. So, plan your meals on weekends and include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, etc., in your cart.
3. Reduce your expenses: Many might wonder how meal planning can save money. Let us guide you on that part. Planning in advance will help us store items in bulk, so you’re less likely to ditch them at the last moment. Without meal planning, you’re more likely to spend your money on restaurants because of comfort. You’ll shop better, and that’s how you can manage your money. 
4. Control over ingredients: Planning a healthy meal requires you to focus on the quality and portion of ingredients. It’s always better to choose your ingredients wisely and cook according to your health preferences. Last-minute cooking or ordering from outside usually ignores the importance of ingredients and their quantity. So, take your time and plan your meals wisely. Shop the right ingredients and customize them for yourself and your family. This single step can bring significant change in taste and nutritional value. 
5. Manage your work well: Cooking and meal planning is not a gender-specific role. So, we should learn this skill for our family and ourselves. Though there are options to hire cooks, not everyone can afford them. So, here’s a simple tip that can help you. Plan your meals, shop for the required ingredients on weekends and allocate an hour in a day to cook your meals yourselves. Planning will give you a clear idea of how long it will take to prepare a meal, and you can try to fit that hour into your schedule in advance. Not planning and rushing at the last hour will lead to poor food choices and frustration. So, do yourself a favor, plan your meal, and allocate it preparation time. The tip is especially for working professionals and students. 😛 Thank us later and avoid the last-minute stress. 😛
6. Enjoy the variety: Let us break your heart by letting you know that one day you will get bored with your favorite restaurants as well. 😛 Yes, take a note and start focusing on your daily meals. Meal planning will allow you to add variety. You can plan well in advance and shop accordingly. Also, this will allow you to allot proper cooking time for your meals. Add different foods, shop for different ingredients, try different cuisines and enjoy every meal you consume. 🙂
7. Reduces wastage: Food wastage is one of the biggest concerns. So, if you’re the one who prefers ordering from outside then you might end up wasting food because you have no control over quantity. So, plan your meals and shop accordingly. This simple meal planning tip will save your food from ending in the bin. 
8. Balances different food groups: I hope you’re not one of those who believe in crash diets. But, if you’re then you must read our views on them. 😛 A body needs a perfect healthy balance of macronutrients. Meal planning will allow you to control the portion of your daily meals. Plan your meals and nourish your body well. Include different food groups for the best results.

Let’s Put It All Together:

Meal planning is often ignored by working professionals because of work and by students because of other commitments like studies, assignments, etc. But, meal planning for the week can be beneficial not only for health but also for managing money. 

Don’t hesitate to keep a few hours a week aside for meal planning and grocery shopping. You’ll never regret giving time to your health and well-being. 🙂