by Nutrition + Health Coach Rachel Young

Trying to eat well can often feel overwhelming and there are surprisingly quite a few steps involved in getting a healthy meal onto your plate - it just doesn’t happen by accident.

Getting organised can really help with making healthy food choices and that’s why I have teamed up with Rainforest Spa to share how I advise my clients to meal prep for maximum results.

Read on for my top tips on planning, buying and preparing healthy foods:

The most important question is: What’s your why? What is your purpose in wanting to eat better? Knowing this and keeping it in your mind when you eat will really help with consistency and sustaining healthy eating for life.
Next bear in mind, what is your context? What can you afford to buy, what do you like the taste of and what can you cook? Don’t force yourself to eat foods you absolutely hate as this will end up being a short-term health kick rather than a long term lifestyle habit.
Get organised and prepared. Schedule time to make a meal plan for the week ahead with foods you really enjoy eating.
Check your cupboards for healthy stock that you already have.
Make a shopping list and - importantly - stick to it when you are shopping. Aim to add one new food to your list every week, variety is as they say the spice of life and our gut just loves variety too.
Shop when you’re full, shopping when ‘hangry’ might lead to extra incorrect purchases!
Practice creates consistency which in turn builds habits and routine. What we practice we become better at too. Practice and explore different meal ideas. Be curious and creative in your kitchen.
If you are buying food that comes in a packet with a label always look at the ingredients to see if you recognise them! Labels are misleading and can lie about what they are selling you, ingredients tell the truth. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient can your body digest it? Remember too that all calories are not equal, there is no comparison to the nutrients in broccoli versus the nutrients in a biscuit for example.
Be flexible and have a backup plan. If you’re missing 1 ingredient from a recipe you want to try to make, try adding in an alternative that you have in your kitchen.
Batch cook and freeze portions of veg, cooked meats, one pot wonders or roasting pan dishes. Have a batch of reusable storage containers to store them in too.
Eat proteins, carbs and fats at every meal. This will keep you fuller for longer.
Think about the nourishment you are giving your body and brain at every meal and enjoy the tastes and pleasure eating the food you have prepared brings. Stop, sit, chew, and enjoy your meal. Did you know chewing activates our relaxed state, our parasympathetic nervous system?
Diary your progress, your journey is the success. This can really help to keep you positive and focused on eating well too.
Review, adapt and adjust your planning and prepping as you progress. If you tried a new healthy food and didn’t like it, that’s ok.
Don’t view food as a treat, it’s information and nourishment for our bodies, brain and gut. Eat for pleasure, enjoyment and health.
And remembered nobody is perfect, aim for progress not perfection.

For more nutrition tips, see www.eatfoodright.ie

How To Meal Prep Effectively