Time to Make a Paleo Diet Plan
Getting started with a new diet plan or a new way of eating can be very exciting. Before you start something new to you, whether it is a new diet, a new hobby, or a new job, the first thing you usually do is think of a plan on how to start it, list of things you need to accomplish it, and how you can benefit from it. How you plan depends on what works best for you. But when it comes to a new diet, at the very least, you should start with a weekly meal plan.
Making a weekly meal plan avoids those last-minute decisions you make at the end of the day that could throw you off track. This makes it easy for you to know what you are going to eat for your meals in the long-term run, rather than the short-term one. Some people even prefer to have their meal plans stretch out in schedule such as a 2-week plan or even a monthly plan.
The first thing to note in a weekly meal plan is to decide when is your cook-up day, wherein you set aside one day of each week to do some major grocery shopping and large amount of batch cooking. Your cook-up day can be your day-off or any day where you have a lot of free time. If you have work on weekdays, Sunday could be your cook-up day. With enough planning, you’ll be able to conjure meals from Monday through Wednesday and on Thursday, you can have your grocery shopping and cook-up day to get you through the weekend.
The second step you need to do is to make a meal plan template. For each day of your plan, you should have a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snack options. You can have hardboiled eggs and leftover meat for breakfast; mixed salad with shredded pork and avocado for lunch; and baked fish and coleslaw for dinner. It is better to create a meal template wherein you can still customize some of the recipes each day. You have to stick to the template but at the same time, you can alter some of your recipes to add some variety to your choices. Of course, if you still got leftovers, you can store them in the fridge and re-heat them so that they can still be added to your meal plan for the next day.
Now that you have your scheduled cook-up day and a meal template to follow, it is now time to decide what you’ll make. You don’t have to go for the extremely sophisticated or extravagant techniques and complicated recipes for your food. Better stick to the recipes that you feel comfortable making. And it is better to use natural ingredients that can be found in your local market or in your garden. If you still find it hard to select which ingredients to buy, you can go over your meal template and get some ideas from there. You can also dig into your favorite cookbooks or cooking shows and the Internet is always available for you to browse through. You don’t have to follow everything by the book though; you can always get creative with your recipes. Remember, you always have the option to go with raw veggies and fruits if you want to avoid longer cooking time.
Some helpful tips for you to come up with your Paleo diet plan: be flexible and just have fun with it. Be flexible in the sense that you can eat breakfast for dinner and vice versa. In that way, making a meal template and sticking to it won’t be so hard to do. You can also plan one meal out to eat. If you find that you have some gaps in your meal plan because of your busy schedule or some unexpected events, you always have the option to dine out. You can always ask your favorite local restaurant to make Paleo substitutes for your meals. You can even take a couple of your friends with you to dine out or have a meal exchange. Basically, you can prepare a main dish, side dish, with some fruits and veggies for yourself and for your friends. You can swap meals and in that way, you can share some of your healthy food and at the same time add some variety to your meal plan. One thing to note is that you may not always stick perfectly to your plan, but having one will help you adhere to the Paleo diet most of the time.
In starting a new business or even starting a new diet, one of the greatest causes of failure is not being prepared, so making a meal plan could mean the difference between success and failure. But once you’ve decided your schedule and your daily meal template, you need to make sure you actually have what you need on hand before starting out. Know your wants and preferences, take note of your food allergies, consider the meds and vitamins you take and its food restrictions because it can affect the food choices you have to make for your meal plan. Always remember that your meal plan can be subject to change anytime you want depending on your needs. It doesn’t matter if you change meal plans weekly or monthly. The most important thing is you know what you want and you have to stick to your plan.