Healthy meal plans

It sounds dull, but healthy eating is all about being prepared. Healthy meal plans can make or break your diet – you need a good one! The NHS even recommends it as a way to make ‘healthy shopping quick and simple’. Planning your meals ahead of time is a sure-fire way to ensure temptation doesn’t get the better of you. It’s also cheaper and will save you time! What’s not to love?

Spend a few minutes on the weekend working out what you’re going to eat for each meal in the week ahead. Plan out each meal individually, considering what you might have left over from the previous meal or day. Make sure you include morning and afternoon snacks, too.

Tesco has a great meal planning section on its website, which could help you get started, check it out at realfood.tesco.com. Check out foodie bloggers hemsleyandhemsley.com and detoxkitchen.co.uk/blog for inspiration too. And always check out our healthy ideas, recipes and diet plans.

Whatever you do, try to include a good serving of veggies, a portion of protein and a few carbs in every meal. Then write a shopping list of all the foods you’ll need to make the meals and head for the shops.

When you get to the supermarket, buy the foods on your list, and these foods only! Don’t let yourself get distracted by sweet treats, and special offers on foods you don’t need.

When you get home, make up as many of the meals as you can. Making everything yourself means that you’re in complete control of what goes in to your meals and you won’t be consuming all the nasty additives and preservatives that go into pre-prepared meals.

It’s a great idea to make a few hot meals that you can leave to cool, then freeze and reheat later in the week. If you’re having salad for lunches, make these up in the morning rather than at the beginning of the week, as they tend to go a bit soggy if you mix up all the ingredients too early.

Make yourself a promise that you’ll stick to your plan and aim not to eat anything that’s not on the meal plan. Then, when you’re all set to go, sit back and enjoy!