6 Meal Planning Mistakes Sabotaging Your Nutrition Goals!

Meal planning is a great way to control blood sugar levels, aid in preventing or reversing prediabetes, improve overall nutrition, and make healthier eating choices. 

For my FREE guide on Tips for Blood Glucose Control--Click Here!

When done right, it can help you eat a more balanced diet, reduce impulse purchases and food waste, and save time and money on groceries.

However, many people make common mistakes with meal planning that prevent them from reaping the full benefits.

The next few blog posts will explore some of the biggest pitfalls that can undermine your meal planning success.

Failing to add variety, ignoring portion sizes, overlooking nutrition, inadequate snacking plans, lack of prep, and unrealistic expectations are all pitfalls that can set your meal plan up for failure.

Let's start with:

Lack of Variety

Eating the same foods day after day can lead to nutritional deficiencies over time. A repetitive diet often lacks important micronutrients that come from eating a diverse range of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, proteins, and healthy fats.

For example, rotating different types of produce introduces various vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants into your meals.

Psychologically, a boring diet can increase cravings for unhealthy foods. The same meals make it harder to stick to a plan long-term.

Introducing variety helps prevent burnout while making your diet more interesting and satisfying.

The good news is you can easily add diversity without sacrificing balance and nutrition!

• Try new recipes regularly to incorporate different flavors and ingredients.
• When meal prepping, cook a couple of staple dishes along with new ones to mix it up.
• Replace usual proteins, grains, or veggies with alternatives like quinoa instead of rice, or black beans rather than chickpeas. Swap spices and seasonings used to create unique tastes.

Finally, allow for flexibility in your plan so you can work on fresh produce, cuisines, and spontaneous meals.

Check out this delicious and healthy dish from the Nutopia Meal Planner!

Broccoli Stem and Carrot Slaw:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 stems broccoli, stems only

1 cup red cabbage, shredded

1 cup cabbage, green, shredded

3 medium carrots, shredded

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 scallions, chopped

2 Tbs apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/4 cup pepitas pumpkin seeds

Directions:

Prep:

Remove florets from broccoli (reserve for another use). Carefully remove tough skin from broccoli stems with pairing knife. Shred stems on box grater or food processor (or slice thinly).

Shred cabbages (thinly slice or use food processor). Shred carrots, and chop scallions.

Make:

Place broccoli stems, cabbages, carrots and scallions in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and massage until vegetables are coated. Vegetables will soften a bit and make them more receptive to the dressing.

Whisk together oil, vinegar, syrup and mustard. Pour over slaw and toss.

Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds before serving.

As a companion to this "glucose friendly" recipe, click here for my FREE Guide--Simple Tips for Blood Glucose Control.

Meal planning can be simplified but sometimes complex and many people struggle with common pitfalls like lack of variety. To truly master meal planning and create healthy, balanced diets tailored to your unique needs and lifestyle, it's helpful to have support.

Questions about how to start meal planning or making your current approach more simplified with more variety?  Click here to drop me a note!

You can also follow me on Instagram for more nutrition, healthy living, and recipe ideas!

Wishing you the BEST of health!