While exercise is fundamental to a healthy lifestyle, it’s just as important to get your nutrition right.
Eating well can feel challenging at the best of times and without our usual routines, it can be hard to stay on track.
With more time at home, this is a golden opportunity to get in the kitchen and try some new recipes for the first time.
Here are some simple nutritional tips that you can incorporate into meal planning.
Nutrition 101
Whether planning meals for professional athletes or your family, the principles are the same – go back to basics! It’s important to always consider the fundamental building blocks for a nutritious meal or snack.
When planning or making your meal, ensure to include food from the following groups:
- Building foods (protein)
- Fuelling foods (carbohydrates)
- Protecting foods (healthy fats)
- Boosting foods (fruits and veggies)
For example, if you’re someone who prefers to have cereal and milk (carbohydrate and protein) for breakfast, why not add a dollop of Greek-style yoghurt (healthy fats) and some fruit (boosting)? A piece of toast with peanut butter can also be accompanied by some fruit to balance it out.
By approaching every meal this way, you’ll ensure that you’re consuming the right amount of nutrients that will fill you up longer and keep you feeling energised throughout the day.
Performance Nutrition meal planning guide
Tip: If you have children, why not try and recreate this with them! When making their breakfast or lunch, they’ll be able to identify the different food types and ensure they’re ticking all the boxes for a healthy meal.
Immunity
As we approach the colder months, it’s key to keep your immune systems firing! Try to eat a rainbow of different coloured vegetables and fruits each day. While a mix of seasonal cooked and raw fruit and veg are always appealing, dried, canned or frozen alternatives are also great options and an easy way to ‘boost’ your meal.
Meal planning
Meal planning can feel like too much work for many of us, but with more time spent at home, it’s the perfect time to create new habits.
By using the meal building basics, plan out your main meals and snacks ahead of time. Set out your week ahead of time using a planner or a diary – you’ll be able to clearly see which food types you're consuming too much of, or not enough of, and make adjustments ahead of time.
When stuck for ideas, use a website like www.taste.com.au where you can do a search for the ingredients you have at home and create recipes from.
With many of us working from home, it’s also the perfect opportunity to reconnect with the art of slow cooking! Prepare your meals in the morning and enjoy in the evening.
