Healthful Meals, Part 3 (Healthy Living DIY)

We've been talking about healthful meals. Specifically, what we've been talking about is the pressure that many of us feel on our time ... and the fact that it takes a little longer to prepare a meal from scratch than to hit the drive-through or heat up a prepared meal.

True. It does. And doesn't it just seem like you've got more on your "life plate" than ever? It does for me. So one thing I'll bet would help us all, me included, is to take a quick look at the qualities that will allow us to prepare healthful meals that boost our energy with a minimum of time and effort.

It seems to me there are 4 main conditions:

1. Information and understanding. For many of us, understanding why a particular thing is so valuable is a necessary precursor to making a behavior choice. Learning about why fresh foods are so much healthier than processed ones may help you make the choices you want more easily.

2. Energy! It really does require a bit more energy to prepare a more involved dinner than a less involved one. Ironically, eating well is one great way to increase energy. But you've gotta make the investment to start. For some people, preparing some extra food ahead on the weekend is a great energy-saving strategy. It's obvious but bears repeating that keeping an eye peeled for energy saving strategies in other areas of your life could help.

3. Planning. Sometimes it's more a matter of planning than actual time. If you can consolidate shopping into one weekly trip, you'll save time over stopping at the store several days. Or prepare "planned-overs" -- foods you can recycle later into other dishes, or freeze and serve again soon.

4. Time. Can't deny it. Preparing food from scratch does involve a modest time investment. At this point, it becomes a matter of priority. One way to look at it is like this: "It takes time to be sick." Why not put your time on the front end and enjoy better health?

[Guess what? I'm quoting someone there -- a member of this very community! It's great to live in a world of consensus and agreement, isn't it?]

Now I can't help but thing that all this would make a fabulous Wellness Coaching project. The next group starts tomorrow, May 15th. Check it out here: Wellness Coaching.

Elizabeth Eckert can help you explore how simple everyday choices create health — or undermine even the best of intentions. With a background that ranges from energy medicine to structural bodywork to developmental psychology, this "Stick-To-It Coach" has the experience to support you in creating the healthiest possible expression of — you!

Take our free Less Stress; More Time mini-course!