By Alissa Percival, MS, OTR/L
What we eat has a major influence on our days, behaviors and health. Food provides us with the energy that our bodies need to function and remain healthy. However, it is not always easy to achieve healthy meals. It requires cognitive functions and significant amounts of energy in order to plan, organize and execute a healthy meal.
Choosing meals, grocery shopping and getting dinner cooked and on the table can become overwhelming. Meal planning can allow you to save money, decrease stress and enjoy mealtime more.
Meal Planning Strategies:
- Simplify your meals. The simpler your meals are, the easier they will be to plan and prepare. Choose dishes that have few ingredients and steps, which allows for less prep time and planning. Some people will make chicken, beef, or fish topped with a store-bought seasoning mix or marinade.
- Plan ahead. Designate a certain day of the week to meal plan. Sitting down and planning your meals a week in advance will help you to stay on track and avoid the challenges of making last-minute decisions. Make a list of meals that you are going to have for the week and make a grocery list ahead of time. Additionally, by doing this, it can minimize the number of trips you need to make to the grocery store.
- A running list of favorite meals- Try to keep track of your recipes, ingredients, and grocery shopping lists. Keeping an ongoing master list of meals that you and your family like, minimizes the energy required to think of what to make and will make meal planning easier.
- Have the same structure for dinner every week. A sample meal structure plan can look like this: Sunday is vegetarian, Monday is chicken, Tuesday is fish, Wednesday is pasta, Thursday is leftovers, Friday is pizza, and Saturday is beef.
- Make partially prepared foods. Preparing meals does not have to be all from scratch. It can be very convenient to stock up on frozen/precut vegetables or instant/quick-cook rice mixes to use as sides.
- Pick meals based on Kitchen Gadgets. Use a crockpot/slow cooker. Using appliances like a crockpot allows you to dump all the ingredients into the pot the night before or in the morning and by the time its dinner time, dinner is ready!
- Be open. You don't need to eat "breakfast foods" for breakfast or "dinner foods" for dinner. Do what works for you. For example, scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast can be dinner or leftover chicken and rice can be a filling breakfast.
- Lastly, ask for help. If you are struggling with meal planning, don't be afraid to ask for help from a friend or family member. Delegate some tasks to them this can include grocery shopping, assisting with the cooking and washing dishes.
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Alissa Percival, MS, OTR/L, is an occupational therapist at RWJBarnabas Health Ambulatory Care Center in Livingston. She has her certification in PWR! Moves- Parkinson’s Wellness Recovery. She works with patients with neurological conditions and is currently working towards becoming a Certified Neuro Specialist (CNS). Alissa completed her BS and MS at Quinnipiac University. In her free time Alissa can be found at the beach, traveling or baking.
The Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center Rehabilitation centers are open and ready to help you achieve your goals. With four locations in West Orange, Millburn and Livingston, the experienced and compassionate staff at Cooperman Barnabas Rehabilitation offers adults and children the specialized care they need to resume an active life after surgery, injury or illness. They are committed to providing patients with the most advanced services in a safe, caring and soothing environment. For high-risk patients who are unable to visit in person, telehealth is an option. Patients do not need a prescription for physical therapy services.