Starting on a path to wellness can be overwhelming. Believe me, I get it. I’m fairly overwhelmed at the prospect of writing this blog, putting myself out there and attempting to steer all of you lovelies in the healthy lifestyle direction. But one thing that helps me to keep my focus and keep living the life I do is this: planning. You cannot be successful if you’re not prepared. That is pretty smart, feel free to retweet that!

What I’m saying is this. Honestly, any lifestyle change takes a considerable about of commitment and focus to really take hold. And it is very possible to reach your goal whatever that may be if you follow these two steps:

1) You need to really want to make changes. You won’t do anything unless you truly want to and your diet is no different.

And

2) Set yourself up for success. How do we do this? By planning ahead!

When it comes to planning ahead for optimal health you need to focus on what you’re going to eat.  Here are the steps that consistently work for me:

• Sit down one night each week and plan your meals for the entire week ahead. If you come home after work at 5pm and have nothing planned for dinner – the likelihood of ordering pizza is pretty high. Knowing what you’re going to be eating and having it ready takes the guesswork out of eating. Nobody wants to plan and cook an entire meal when they’re exhausted.

• Shop for all of the ingredients you’re going to need. I’m not telling you to break the bank here. Take a few minutes to look in your cupboards and see what you have then build your meals from there. Keep mind its a great idea to have staples like quinoa, veggie stock, free-range eggs, brown rice, organic chicken breast and lots of goodies like that on hand. It’s easy to make great dishes with great ingredients.

• Take the time to prep your fruits and veggies as soon as you get home. I know this sounds like a giant pain in the butt and the last thing you want to do when you get home from 2 hours in the grocery store is wash and chop but its soooo worth it! Do it now before you put everything away. You are 100x more likely to throw together a delicious salad if everything you need is washed and ready to go!

• Cook and freeze your meals for the week all in one day. Designate it as your prep day and set yourself up for the week. This won’t work for all of your dishes but it will for many; maybe a hearty bean chili or scrumptious vegetarian lasagna. Whatever tickles your taste buds. Then in the morning simply pull-out your dish and you’re all set for dinner time!

Voila! You did it! You set a plan and stuck to it. Now the rest of the week is a breeze and you never have that “What am I going to eat for dinner?” dilemma again. This may seem a little daunting at first but pretty soon you’ll get into a routine and you’ll be the health guru you’ve always dreamed of.

Tip of the Blog!!

An added benefit of having fresh, chopped and ready to eat veggies in your fridge at all times is you always have healthy snacks on hand for your kids! If the food is there, they will eat it. Be sure to whip up some healthy hummus for a protein rich dipping sauce! Its super easy and a great after school option! Check online for recipes. Here’s a great one:
http://www.canadianliving.com/food/make_your_own_hummus.php

Have any tips for planning ahead? What works for you? Tell me, tell me! And be sure to sign up above on the right so you never miss a posting!