Oral Health

Meal Planning and Your Health

Meal planning can be an extremely tedious, and sometimes daunting, chore. The whole idea of setting aside time once a week to plan out and write down what you’ll have to eat for the entire week is a lot easier said than actually done. I mean, have you ever tried it before? It takes an entirely new mindset on eating.

Of course, the benefits of meal planning far outweigh any downsides, as you’ll always be better off actually planning out your meals than if you didn’t. Think about it. You’ll be saving money by knowing exactly what you’ll be eating and when (opposed to splurging on something tasty while out at a restaurant just because you feel lazy and don’t want to cook a meal). You’ll also be a heck of a lot healthier considering you know what you’ll be putting into your body (preferably whole foods and fresh produce) rather than giving in to the urge to snack on unhealthy things whenever you feel the slightest tinge of hunger.

So why is it that so few people actually meal plan? How could the majority of people not see the benefits of mapping out your week’s worth of meals?

I think the biggest thing is not knowing where to start. Yes, even more so than the time needed to proper meal planning, having no knowledge base or no idea of where to begin makes it that much harder. But the time needed, the planning required, and having an idea where to start deters so many people from planning out their meals in a week, which is why you see so few people doing it.

That’s why the few who do it, though, are so in shape, so in tune with their bodies, and often saving much more money than anyone else who eats like the average American. So often people say it’s more expensive to eat healthy, which is why they don’t do it, but that’s absolutely false. So many healthy grains and vegetables can be bought to make multiple meals, and it’s much cheaper than prepared foods that won’t be nearly as filling, nearly as healthy, or nearly as nutritious.

It’s just all a matter of looking at your diet in a new way. If you only eat 3 times a day with two healthy snacks, it won’t cost nearly as much as eating 3 times a day and snacking constantly throughout the day. With whole foods and superfoods, you won’t be as hungry. And having an apple between meals? That’s as cheap as it gets, and it’ll fill you up for the time being, to boot.