During the year, once you're immersed in the routine of work, kids, training and so on, you may not have much time to think about and organize a balanced, healthy eating plan that works for every member of your family. The last few days of your vacation are the ideal time to carve out that moment and set up a healthy routine that lasts all year round.
You can get organized to eat properly with these three simple steps:
Questions to ask yourself first: These are some of the questions you should answer before planning your meals: How many meals do I eat at home? How many meals do I eat away from home? Where do I usually eat, and what kind of food is available when I eat out? How much time do I have to cook? How often do I go grocery shopping?
For example: if we usually shop every Saturday, we can't be out of fruit by Wednesday. This kind of planning is essential.
- Draw up a menu: Take a moment to put together a weekly menu. In it, you just need to write down general foods, keeping in mind how often each one should be eaten, as detailed in the table below.
This is a baseline to make sure your weekly diet includes every food group in the recommended amounts.
For example: maybe on Monday you put vegetables + potato + fish on your menu. One week that could be baked sea bream with potato and escalibada (roasted vegetables), and another week it could be cream of vegetable soup and grilled sole. It's simpler that way.
|
Potatoes, rice and pasta |
6-10 times a week |
| Legumes | 2-4 times a week |
| Meat | 3-4 times a week |
| Fish | 3-5 times a week |
| Eggs | 2-4 times a week |
| Vegetables | With every meal |
| Fruit | 2-3 pieces a day |
| Dairy | 2-4 servings a day |
- Shop with common sense: Your menu makes it clear what you need to buy for the week; you just have to buy it in the right amounts. Don't get carried away by deals that don't fit your needs, and don't buy foods that aren't good for you just in case.
Always go shopping with a list of what you need, after checking what food you still have at home.
Eating a balanced diet doesn't take much: you just need to spend about 10-15 minutes at the start of each week getting organized. If getting started is hard or you're not sure how to organize yourself, you can also see a nutritionist who can help you work out, from the outset, what your needs are and how to translate them into your meals.
Núria Puig – Nutritionist and dietitian specializing in sports