8 Tips to Help You with Healthy Meal Planning

Many of us want to eat well on a regular basis, but putting that intention into practice is not always easy. We might know exactly what eating well should look like  – less sugar, less fat, more veggies and fruits, whole grains and good sources of protein – but since we don’t have personal chefs who make delicious meals for us, finding the time and energy to shop, prepare and cook is challenging when life is already overwhelming. What can we do to make things easier on us?

Why is it important to eat well?

This question might seem obvious to many of us. We simply feel better when we put healthy foods in our bodies. But let’s briefly dive into the topic from an ADHD perspective. Many of us have already trouble with our sleep, with our energy levels – we feel tired and exhausted from our daily struggles to fit into a neurotypical world – have a dopamine deficit that makes it hard for us to focus or get motivated, and so on. Our diet does not cause ADHD (see my article on sugar) or make ADHD go away, but a healthy, balanced diet can help mitigate symptoms and make our lives much easier. So let’s take a look at what it means to eat a healthy diet – and how we can prepare for it.

What does a healthy diet mean?

There are many diets out there that claim to be healthy, be it sugar-free, gluten-free, keto or paleo diet. Different people have different needs, the same way that ADHD shows up differently in different people. Of course, if you have celiac disease, you need to follow a gluten-free diet. Yet, if you don’t, there is no real need to stay away from all gluten and be pedantic about it. Whole grains contain healthy fiber, vitamins and minerals and help your body eliminate waste. The same holds true for sugar. Yes, we all know that sugar is a substance that is not good for us, but if we eat a treat every now and then, it will not kill us. It’s best to strive for a healthy diet but, at times, we need to cut ourselves some slack and do what’s convenient and possible.

According my own research over many years, I am an advocate for a plant-based diet. A plant-based diet is supported by many prominent physicians and is said to help with many common diseases such as heart attack, type-2 diabetes, stroke or dementia. If you can follow a diet low in sugar, white flour, animal products and fat, you will feel better, and possibly your mood will be more positive and optimistic. Just focus on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds with the occasional piece of fish or meat, cheese or yoghurt and you should be good (see my free recipe book at the end of this blog post)

How to manage your meal prep

As I said, intention is the first step toward change – but putting your intention into practice, establishing a routine and sticking with it is the part that gets many of us. We enthusiastically get started and then, after a few weeks or even days, slip back into our old ways because things feel overwhelming and life gets in our way. So what can we do?

Plan, plan, plan

The more you try to decide ahead of time, the easier it will be for you to follow through. We all know what it feels like to go shopping when we are starving. If we come home hungry with no clue what to eat, we either stuff our face with unhealthy snacks, run to the store, where we buy way too much, or we eat out, which may not be the healthiest option either depending on the restaurant and the meal we choose.

1. Choose the food you like best

Making food can be quite laborious for some people. The more you are excited about your food, the more likely you will actually take the time to make it. So don’t choose the recipe with butternut squash if you are not a fan – choose what you know you will like. Take a few minutes and make a list with your favorite food items. What types of vegetables do you love? Do you prefer mushrooms, broccoli or green beans? What grains do you like? Do you crave potatoes? What about a nice piece of salmon?

2. Choose a few recipes that make your mouth water – but make sure they are quick and easy

There is nothing more frustrating than coming home from work to find out that the recipe that look so amazing will take you over an hour. Chances are it will not get made. Make sure to choose recipes you are both excited about and will spend less than 30 minutes in the kitchen. You might want to take some time on a Sunday afternoon and leaf through your cookbooks or search online and find 10-12 recipes you can make on a regular basis. The recipes you choose should be

A. appealing to you

B. have fewer than 10 ingredients

C. take less than 30 minutes

D. and, if possible, should use few dishes (I love one-pot meals)

Many of us struggle with doing dishes – the fewer utensils you’ll need to make something yummy the better for you – and potentially for your family.

3. Make a detailed shopping list

Once you know what you’d like to make, write down all the ingredients you will need. Take 10 minutes to look through your fridge and pantry and take stock. Do you really need to get flour or is there some left in the glass jar in the very back of your cabinet? Do you have all the spices you need? Do you really want to use hot sauce as a condiment – or might this be too spicy for you? Make sure you are not getting duplicates of the ingredients in your recipes. You might already have more than you think you do.

4. Establish a grocery shopping routine

I find it extremely helpful to have set shopping days during the week so that I know how far I need to plan ahead. My preferred shopping days are Tuesdays and Fridays – with the occasional trip to the bakery to buy fresh bread. Having a set number of shopping days allows me to make an even more precise meal plan since I know how many recipes I need to purchase ingredients for until I go shopping again. And once you have established a routine, it will become second nature to go to the grocery store for you.

5. Use short-cuts wherever you can.

If you hate chopping veggies at home, try to purchase pre-cut vegetables. It’s a bit more expensive to purchase “prepared” vegetables, but it might be worth the additional cost (if you can afford it). Having everything ready to go might reduce your overwhelm. In fact, it may even be enjoyable simply to open a box and dump everything into your frying pan.

Frozen veggies are always a good alternative, too – and so are other frozen meals. In order to make things easy on you, alternate between making a meal from scratch and using something frozen or pre-made. There are a number of excellent pre-made meals in certain supermarkets or health-food stores, and you can always pair a pre-made meal with a fresh salad or a vegetable dish.

If you forget to make your dough ahead of time, using a pre-made pizza dough from the refrigerated section of your supermarket is better than eating a cheeseburger at a fast food place. Think about ways to make it easier on you – and then go ahead and follow through without feeling guilty.

6. If possible, prepare ahead of time

Batch-cooking can be a great thing and works for many people. So if you feel a surge of energy and are motivated enough, by all means, go ahead and use your weekend to prepare food for your week ahead. It’s really helpful to prepare some staples such as salad dressings, snacks or pasta sauces, etc. that you tend to use a lot but don’t feel like making when you need them. You can cook potatoes and keep them in the fridge, wash and cut lettuce or put ingredients for your smoothies in plastic bags and store them in the freezer.  

Another option would be to get up a little earlier in the morning and get your food ready for the day - or you spend some time at night and prep for the next day. You can make some overnight oats for breakfast, put some lettuce and veggies in a container for lunch or make some rice you can throw into a burrito when you get back from work.

In order to reduce the amount of time you need to spend in the kitchen, make more servings for dinner so you can use the leftovers for lunch the next day.  

7. Set reminders

Oftentimes, I have made lists, went shopping, stored everything away just to wake up one morning without a clue as to which recipes I chose for the week. For the life of me, I cannot remember what the ingredients I purchased were for.

In order to avoid this scenario, make a list with all the recipes you chose, assign them to certain days and tape the list to your fridge or write it on the whiteboard in your kitchen. The more often you see your recipes, the higher the likelihood that you will actually cook your meals.

If you forget to even look at your fridge or whiteboard, set a timer which will remind you to start cooking.

8. Cut yourself some slack and start slowly

If you haven’t been able to follow a meal plan, do not expect to change this overnight. Instead of trying to do it all over the course of a week, start slow and decide on 2-3 recipes you would like to try out. If you are able to cook 2-3 meals a week, try 4 after a few weeks, and so on. Following a meal plan is a process – it will go well for a few weeks and then something unexpected might happen and you lose momentum. Don’t feel discouraged. Try to congratulate yourself on every little bit of success – and then move on.

You might get the best results if you shake things up a bit – plan to cook a few home-made meals interspersed with pre-made or frozen meals and a meal at a restaurant every now and then. Giving yourself a break from cooking and doing dishes might be the key to your long-term success with meal-prepping – and that’s what we are aiming for: To establish good habits and get into the routine of taking good care of yourself so that you can feel your best and manage your ADHD well.