Finally, a nutritionist-approved lockdown meal plan (thank us later) | HerCanberra

Everything you need to know about canberra. ONE DESTINATION.

Finally, a nutritionist-approved lockdown meal plan (thank us later)

Posted on

I don’t know about you but I’m utterly tired of prepping food for everyone in my house 2-3 times per day. And I like cooking.

And you know what’s worse than the meal prep? Deciding what to eat for the next meal in what feels like Groundhog Day. My kid’s ask me: “What’s for lunch/dinner?” while they’re eating breakfast. Argh!

It’s easy to get to your mealtime and think: “I have no idea what to eat”. It happens to the best of us. Especially when we’re stressed and thrown out of routine. Like this lockdown has done to us.

Takeaway or a toasted sandwich are the obvious options when you can’t be bothered to think about, let alone cook, your next meal.  And these options are ok. However, you might be finding these food choices are creeping in more and more frequently. That’s when the covid kilos can start to build up and you feel both physically and mentally below parr.

If you’re completely overthinking about food and keen for some easy, family-friendly food that will leave you feeling nourished and satisfied, I’ve got you covered.

I’ve written you a lockdown meal plan! Complete with recipes, a shopping list and vegetarian and gluten-free swaps! You’re welcome.

Nutritional Adequacy

This meal plan is nutrient-rich and geared towards general health and wellbeing for individuals with no food allergies or intolerances.

It contains the recommended amounts of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, meat, seafood, nuts, and dairy to meet your daily nutrient needs.

If recipes and portions are followed correctly and the individual is consistent, this meal plan can assist with weight loss over time (please note that 1 week in a calorie deficit is not enough to produce long term fat loss), but rather than leaving you feeling hungry, you’re satisfied and content.

I’m also anti woo (nutrition misinformation) and food restriction, so this meal plan includes foods from ALL the food groups in a healthy and balanced way!

Easy to Follow

It’s important to remember that ‘easy’ is a relative term. What’s easy for one person is very difficult for another. Overall, the more skill you have in the kitchen when it comes to cooking and food prep the easier a meal plan will be.

Also, research shows that we’re not motivated to eat foods that we’re unfamiliar with, so also keep that in mind. You might need to tweak your meal plan a bit before it becomes something that’s easy for you to follow.

I have included simple cooking techniques, familiar family friendly meals and kept the cooking to a bare minimum without compromising on nutrition and variety.

This meal plan also uses concepts such as bulk cooking, leftovers, a little bit of repetition and supermarket convenience foods to help make food prep quick and simple, whilst not compromising on nutritional quality.

Meal plans can be great tools for helping you eat well, especially when they’re written in a way that suits you and your lifestyle. When they don’t suit you, it can cause problems. I’ve written about this before.

The best thing for an individual to do is to learn about nutrition and then know how to apply it to themselves and write their own meal plans.

This is what myself and my team do, so if you’re keen for a dietitian on your team during lockdown, then get in touch!

Some tips on following this plan

  • Print this plan and put it on your fridge.
  • Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good. You can change this plan. It’s there to serve you not the other way around.
  • You can be flexible. A meal planned for Monday night can be eaten for Wednesday night. It’s totally fine if you’re not ‘feeling’ like a particular meal.
  • Check in on your plan each night for the next day, spend 15 minutes doing some preparation (chopping veg, getting breakfast out, defrosting meat)—your future self will thank you.

I hope you enjoy it! I plan to use this plan with my family as it’s full of my favourite foods…! Perks of the job! Follow along with me on Instagram with the hashtag #lockdownmealplan

Here it is (click to see the full size):

To access the recipes and shopping list, and get tips for making this meal plan vegetarian or gluten-free please click here: Lockdown Meal Plan

If you’d like further help with your nutrition during this time, The Healthy Eating Clinic has a special lockdown package available that saves you 25% off nutrition support.

It includes three nutrition consultations with a dietitian, a one month membership to The Healthy Eating Hub online program and a recipe eBook.

See healthyeatingclinic.com.au/lockdown-package-sale for more information.

 

 

Related Posts

Comments are closed.

© 2024 HerCanberra. All rights reserved. Legal.
Site by Coordinate.