Healthy Meal Plans

Creating healthy meal plans that work is the key to achieving a healthy lifestyle.

How can you make healthy meal plans work for you? The media is filled with advice, tips, and products geared toward healthy meals and nutritional choices. Bookstores are filled with diet books full of inspirational advice and recipes. There are TV shows devoted to healthy living, including cooking demonstrations and exercise regimens, and you can find thousands of Internet sites that feature meal plans focused on good nutrition. Most of these products, shows, and sites are full of great advice, but how often is that advice followed?

For many of us, our intentions are grand and aspiring. We want to live a healthy lifestyle, lose weight, and stay in shape. We set goals, buy the books, cook the foods, and step on the scales…for a while. Soon, however, life interferes, and we slide back into the ritual of fast food and quick, appetite curbing snacks. The healthy meals we wanted? They somehow disappear into the shadows of the freezer and the corners of the pantry. How can you make those healthy meal plans really work for you when life interferes?

• Write it down - There's something about putting the plan down on paper that makes it real. When you wake up in the morning, it's still there, and it becomes a map…much like the road map you use to take you from point A to point B.
• Go shopping - Stock your pantry and fridge with all of those good, nutritious foods that will make your plan easier to follow. While you're at it, get rid of all those tempting foods that might taste great but have no nutritional value.
• Create a relationship - With food, that is. If you purchase bland, boring foods that are virtually tasteless, how long do you think you'll maintain this new way of eating? Before long, you'll seek out those sugar and carb filled treats that make you sigh with pleasure. There are wonderful foods that are healthy and good for you.

What foods should you add to your meal plans? Of course, the obvious choices include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products, and lean meats. Step out of your comfort zone. Try foods, like avocados, bok choi, hummus, feta cheese, and mangoes. Fire up the grill, and add a salmon fillet instead of a typical steak. Make your new lifestyle an adventure. Don't be afraid to try new foods that assault your taste buds with flavor. Buy a few new cookbooks, or search for menus on the Internet that you can print for free. Share your experiences with friends and family members, and make your new healthy eating plan a family affair.

Where can you find a meal plan that will work for you? All you have to do is log on to the Internet, and thousands of meal plans are at your fingertips. Be sure you focus on plans you'll actually follow. Those plans that require complicated recipes and exotic foods might sound good, but you may not want to spend the time hunting down the ingredients and putting together the recipes. Check out the following sites as you search for the perfect meal plans for you and your family.

• AOL Health - This site offers an easy to follow seven day plan.
• Changing Shape - This site's title gives you a hint of what's to come. It also offers a free fitness analysis.
• Meals Matter - Get organized and plan your meals days or even weeks in advance at this handy site.
• Meals for You - With over 1400 meal plans, you should have no problem finding meals that work for you.

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