Making Healthy Meals Manageable: Dinner
We have talked about the significance of planning your lunches ahead for a healthier and smoother week, and tips on being proactive with breakfast planning. Today, let's dive into dinner!
Some of the BIGGEST barriers that prevent clients from achieving their fat loss goals are lack of preparation and the frequency with which meals are eaten OUT! I understand how overwhelming it can be to figure out what to eat, find the time to buy groceries, and put in the effort required to prepare meals, but that is precisely why this blog series is happening! My goal is to help you see that healthy eating, tailored to your goals, doesn't require complicated recipes or a lot of time in the kitchen. You CAN do this! And if you commit to preparing most of your meals yourself at home, you will find that fat loss is not impossible and may happen much quicker than you expected!
Dinner Planning Basics
Remember that we want to center our main meals around a lean protein source. The recipe for a balanced meal is simpler than you think:
Lean protein: At least 4 ounces for women and 6 ounces for men.
Hefty dose of produce: Half your plate should be veggies, or at least two fist-sized portions.
Starchy carbs & healthy fats: Based on your unique goals and current stats, fill in the gaps with starchy carbs and healthy fats to add flavor and fullness to your meals.
Barely Cooking with Rebecca: Dinner
Enter two super easy dinner options that I purchased at Costco! They provide the perfect template for a balanced meal that can be thrown together quickly and without much effort.
AmyLu's Sesame Ginger Chicken Crumble Lettuce Wraps with Cauliflower Rice
Preparation:
For this meal, all I had to do was to brown the meat in a skillet. Then I added the sauce packets and stirred it up until it was fully incorporated.
To prepare the cauliflower rice, I bought a microwaveable pouch and microwaved it for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Once the meat mixture was ready, I added a couple of spoonfuls of the cauliflower rice into each lettuce cup and topped it with the meat mixture. That's it!
Nutrition:
In order to meet my protein requirement, I aimed to eat two servings of the meat. This meal is full of veggies and protein and quite filling! I only wish I had remembered to grab some water chestnuts because I love that CRUNCH!
Pro tip: Speaking of crunch, a tactic that helps my nutrition clients is to become more aware of the different components that add "satisfaction value" to their meals. This typically comes from different textures, colors, and flavor enhancers such as acid, tang, sweetness, and saltiness. If your meals are bland and boring, you are more likely to want to overeat in order to satisfy that “fun” factor. There are a lot of ways to add excitement to meals that won’t add a ton of calories.
Quick Gyro with Sous-Vide Flank Steak
Preparation:
Meal option number two took me no more than 10 minutes! It was my own version of a gyro. I bought pre-cooked, seasoned and sliced sous-vide flank steak from Costco for convenience. I quickly browned it in a pan with sliced red and green peppers and onions, adding Tajin seasoning for extra flavor.
I purchased the pre-washed and pre-cut veggies to save time. Once the meat and veggies were heated up and mixed, I spread Boars Head Tzatziki sauce (low calorie and low fat) on Joseph's Pita bread (whole grain with good fiber and low calorie), then added the meat and veggie mixture, bib lettuce, fat-free feta cheese, and pickled red onions for extra flavor.
Nutrition:
I served the pitas with sliced fresh tomato and carrot sticks on the side for extra fiber, micronutrients, and volume for maximum fullness factor, and BAM! A super quick, delicious meal for less than 1/3 of the calories of the same restaurant meal!
The Importance of Meal Prep
When it comes to improving your nutrition habits with the goal of fat loss in mind, preparing your own food and having at least a rough weekly plan pays off in dividends! It doesn't have to be intimidating or take up a lot of your time and effort. These days, there are SO many great options available in stores that are mostly done for you.
Using pre-cut and washed produce options to make sure you get your veggies and fruits is a win! So is buying lean cuts of meat that are already seasoned and cooked, or cooking meat in bulk and seasoning with different spice mixtures or marinades/sauces can help you add variety to your meals without having to come up with new recipes each time. If you follow the template of centering the meal around a protein and veggie, you'll be successful no matter what! Don't be afraid to get creative and experiment with different flavors. Think of flavor themes such as Asian, Mediterranean, or Italian and build upon that! The more you experiment in the kitchen with flavors YOU enjoy, the more confident you'll become.
Turn to CORE57 for More Nutrition Tips
At CORE57, we pride ourselves on helping our clients build SUSTAINABLE nutrition practices that educate, empower, and enlighten them to sift through all the confusing information out there. Eating well for your goals doesn’t have to be painful or restrictive. Give us a shot, sign up for nutrition coaching, and let us help you fuel your body realistically and enjoyably for the rest of your life!
For more easy meal prep tips, be sure to stay tuned to our Instagram for our new video series “Barely Cooking with Rebecca”!