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Food allergy guide and meal plans

Why Flexible Meal Planning Leads to Long Term Success

Flexible Meal Planning leads to long term success

November 19, 2020 //  by Marian Mitchell//  Leave a Comment

Tired of eating the same exact thing for 5 days straight when you’re meal planning? While this may work while training for a fitness competition, it doesn’t work in the real world. No one wants to eat the exact same 3 things for 5 or so days straight. When you meal plan this way you are setting yourself up for failure.

There is a much better way to meal plan!

Having worked with hundreds of health coaching clients, and living a healthy lifestyle myself, there is only one type of meal planning that people can stick to for life. It’s called Flexible Meal Planning.

What Flexible Meal Planning Is

Flexible Meal Planning is when you make a plan and are flexible on what days you make it. Here’s how it works. For the week you plan:

  • 2 breakfasts
  • 2 lunches
  • 5 dinners

Then you see what you’re in the mood for and make it that night. If you really like to plan, you can look at your schedule and plan the super simple meals for the busy nights where you don’t have a lot of time. Then plan the ones that take more time for the evenings you have the extra time. However, know that you can change your mind and eat another meal.

The Reasons This Works

Flexible meal planning leads to long term success#1) This way of planning works because you have all the ingredients on hand and allows you to pick what you’re in the mood for. How many times have you planned a meal, like spaghetti for example, then on Tuesday you’re REALLY NOT feeling spaghetti, so you skip it and dine out?

#2) You buy and use what you need which saves you money while still allowing you to eat delicious food when you choose to eat it.

#3) It gives you enough variety to enjoy your meals without giving you so much variety that food is wasted or enough variety you don’t get bored with your healthy meals and dine out instead. It’s a win-win all around.

#4) It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to eat better or following a therapeutic diet, it makes your life a million times easier because you have flexibility and control. Preventing food boredom means you’re much more likely to stay the course. This means your health will improve and stay improved because you’re nourishing yourself well.

A Few More Tips

Meal planning for the weekends. A lot of people ask me why I don’t plan for 7 days and don’t recommend it to my clients. Over the years I’ve learned that people rarely eat what they plan on the weekends. They get busy, go out, plans get derailed, they want to go out, etc. People like a bit more freedom on the weekends and I can’t blame them. They have time to live a bit! You totally can and if it works for your family, awesome! I love to do more elaborate, time-consuming meals on the weekends. I even typically pre-cook meats and veggies on the weekends to make our weekday meals even easier to toss together.

Take advantage of shortcuts. You do not have to cut up your own vegetables or even marinate your own meats. Many stores have so many prepped options for you, if you don’t want to do 100% of the work yourself you don’t have to! I hardly ever cut up a head a broccoli. I buy the florets in a bag because it makes weeknights a whole lot easier. You have permission to do the same. Cooking and eating healthy shouldn’t be punishment or miserable. It should be easy and delicious.

Stock up on herbs, spices, and a variety of dressings and marinades. You can make pretty much any vegetables and meat combo taste at least 12 different ways depending on the spices or dressings you use to cook with. Then, when you aren’t in the mood for what you planned you can still use the same ingredients but make a completely different meal! Learn how to get started here. It’s a game-changer.

If you’re new to meal planning, eat what you’re used to cooking but add a vegetable to every meal. This will help you eat healthier while slowly incorporating healthy recipes you try and like on the weekends and move into your weekdays. A great way to start is to add a salad to your lunch and roasted veggies with your dinner. Add fruit to go with your normal breakfast. If you’re a smoothie drinker, add some spinach in.

Flexible meal planning is truly the way to plan without feeling stuck, thus leading to sticking to your healthy meals, reducing the number of times you dine out and saving you a lot of money. If you’d like a meal plan with healthy recipes to get you started, check out my Meal Planning Program here.

Why flexible meal planning leads to long term success

 

Category: Cooking Tips, NutritionTag: health, meal planning, tips

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Hi! I’m Marian

About UsHere at Road to Living Whole we make following your doctor's therapeutic diet plan for your health recovery effortless. We have a variety of resources for you including meal plans, online webinar courses, and coaching services all designed to cut out the guess work so you can live your life and quickly regain your health. We are so glad you are here.

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mairmitchell

I help ND's patients follow the diet side of the treatment plan so they can effortlessly feel better faster.
🍲Therapeutic meal plans 🤟Coaching

ℝ𝕠𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕃𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕎𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖
I love being their mom I love being their mom
Spring produce is coming into season and I'm so ex Spring produce is coming into season and I'm so excited!! I look forward to all the new in season produce every season change because I'm ready for a change up in the recipes we eat.

This beauty is radishes, blanched green beans, white vinegar, olive oil, salt and dried italian herbs.

So simple and so yummy.
Smoothies are one of the easiest ways to get your Smoothies are one of the easiest ways to get your powdered supplements in along with s ton of nutrients.

There is a right way and a wrong way to do smoothies.

Do not
✖️use only fruit
✖️protein powder and water or milk

Instead
✅combine fruit, greens, and a fat
✅add a protein powder (I prefer collagen peptides)
✅add water, coconut water, or milk of choice

One will leave you feeling hungry within the hour. The other will sustain you for hours. One has few nutrients, one has a lot of nutrients.

Stay sustained and get the most nutritional bang for your buck by revamping your smoothies.
Homemade Date Truffles are a delicious and healthy Homemade Date Truffles are a delicious and healthy snack that satisfy the sweet tooth. I actually don't make them often because I'll eat the entire batch in 2 days 🤭 They are so yummy though.

Dates have been around since around 5,000-6,000 BCE and are known as nature’s candy. Not only are they absolutely delicious, they are nutrient powerhouses. They contain protein, fatty acids and an array of vitamins and minerals. Including, but not limited to, Vitamin A, lutein, vitamin K, niacin, B6, folate, pantothenic acid (another B vitamin), choline (brain booster), calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc and phosphorus.

On top of all this, they help protect against tooth decay even being so high in natural sugars. This is because they contain elemental flourine, not the man made flouride that is in added to water or what is in flourinated toothpaste.

Ingredients 👇
Dates
Crushed almonds
Crushed cashews
Honey 
Coconut oil 
Vanilla extract 
Sea salt
Chocolate chips 
Shredded coconut or cocoa powder

7 snacks 🤤

Recipe: https://www.roadtolivingwhole.com/paleo-and-vegan-almond-cashew-date-balls/
One of the most effective ways to transform your h One of the most effective ways to transform your health, make your medication more effective, and just plain feel better is to clean up your diet.

This is often easier said than done. Changes habits is hard. It requires energy and time, which often is in short supply. However, it isn't as hard as you think. Here are my 3 steps to get started. I don't recommend doing them all at once. Start with step 1, then move on. Slow and steady wins the race.
Healthy eating gets boring fast when you don't add Healthy eating gets boring fast when you don't add flavor. How do you get flavor in a healthy way? 
◾️Herbs
◾️spices
◾️sauces
You can make the exact same protein and veggies taste at least 12 different ways depending on what you put on top.

My top favorite sauce is Chimichurri. It's a blend of parsley, oregano, garlic, olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes blended into deliciousness. I put it on top of my cooked proteins, on my veggies, and will even use as a salad dressing. It's sooooooo good.

You can get this recipe over on my website: https://www.roadtolivingwhole.com/traditional-chimichurri-sauce/ and enjoy this delicious sauce too!
Got sunshine and hiked 4 miles this weekend. Gym i Got sunshine and hiked 4 miles this weekend. Gym in shape and nature in shape are very different things. I hurt today 😂💪🤷‍♀️
Bitter foods stimulates the entire digestive syste Bitter foods stimulates the entire digestive system from our saliva being able to more effectively start the breakdown of carbohydrates, hydrochloric acid being pumped into our stomachs in appropriate amounts, and increases bile production.

The benefits of digestive bitters are pretty amazing and include:

◾️Higher absorption of nutrition from our foods
◾️Especially vitamins A, D, K, E and B12
◾️Reduce incidences of heartburn
◾️Increase fat digestion, which is particularly important for those who have had their gallbladders removed or are concerned about their gallbladder health
◾️Cleansing of the liver
◾️Reduction in gas, bloating, and constipation
◾️Balancing blood sugar levels
◾️Appetite regulation
◾️Promotes healthy skin

Pretty awesome right?! Deficiencies in fat soluble nutrients, gallbladder issues, sluggish liver, constipation run pretty rampant these days. It’s nice to know we have a solution that doesn’t cause other health issues.

Learn more: https://www.roadtolivingwhole.com/digestive-bitters-invaluable-for-gut-health/
We had a great time camping and I think the kids w We had a great time camping and I think the kids will remember the storm forever. I love making memories.
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