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Planning your meals wisely is key to not only staying physically fit and healthy, but also to best manage your levels of stress and mental health. Knowing which foods to avoid and which are the best to reach for to snack on when you’re feeling worried and anxious is important to helping you get control over your emotions and fears.
When you’re feeling stressed, you may be tempted to reach for classic ‘comfort foods’ – usually foods which are laden with sugar, very starchy, or greasy. However, although these foods can make you feel momentarily better, they will actually make you feel worse in the long run.
Here is a Simple Weekly Meal Planner Worksheet for you > Weekly Meal Plan
Having stress-busting snacks such as fresh berries, dark chocolate, yogurt, walnuts or pistachios, or even a fruit smoothie with avocado and leafy greens in it can help you to feel better in both the short and long term when it comes to stress. When it comes to combating and dealing with stress in the long run, it’s important to make sure that for the most part, you are eating a diet which is healthy and balanced.
So what is meal planning or making a diet plan? It’s the answer to the hugely stressful question your kids ask “Mom, what’s for dinner?” UGH!! If I heard that once; I heard it a thousand times. Making a meal plan saves you money, time and helps you eat healthier!
Your eating plan needs to be tailored to suit your life and your budget and filled with healthy foods that you love and enjoy! Be flexible, and try different ideas, see what works for you and what is a no go.
At first; it might seem like more effort than it’s worth but I promise your stress level around meal times will decrease once you get a system in place for meal planning. There has been such a big to-do made about meal planning that it can be easy to blow it right out of proportion.
Keep it simple!!
I am a big fan of planning the week’s meals on Sunday and making at least one large batch of a menu item in the crock pot or instant-pot that day as well. When you make your plan; include a takeout night or dinner out if this is something you routinely do. Healthy options are available even from take-out. By planning in advance; you can avoid eating mindlessly.
Using a color coded, tabbed binder might be your jam and if so – awesome, but for us; the simpler the better.
SEVEN SIMPLE MEAL PLAN TIPS:
1.Write the meals in your planner or the calendar in your phone for a minimum two week period.
2. At the same time; make a grocery list in the “notes” on your phone or an app like Any List
3. Choose meals that create leftovers and plan one leftover night each week.
4. Pick recipes made from the basic, common ingredients you have on hand and use up what is left in the freezer to avoid waste.
5. Chop and roast your vegetables ahead of time to increase your veggie portions throughout the week.
6. Plan the majority of the meals from your favorite recipes; add one new recipe a week. Why? Because your family loves them, you know the ingredients, and you can whip the meal up quicker!
7. Check out this post with the ten top stress reducing foods to add to your diet before you make your meal plan >> Eat Your Stress Goodbye
A healthy item to incorporate into your diet that’s easy to make and take on the run are protein shakes. If you think that all protein shakes taste like mud, ha ha; then you need to try these; they will knock your socks off! >> Delicious and Nutritious Meal Replacement Shakes.
* 15 grams of rBGH-Free≈ whey protein, to support lean muscle
* 24 grams of protein when prepared as directed
* Complete amino acid profile, including essential branched chain amino acids like leucine, isoleucine, and valine.
* Supports gut and digestive health with prebiotic fiber and digestive enzymes
* Contains bioavailable forms of 23 vitamins and minerals
* Highly bioavailable folate (L-methylfolate calcium)
* Contains digestive enzymes to aid in the digestion of whey protein
* No artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives
* 5 grams of fiber, including prebiotic fiber to support digestive health
* Does not contain soy and gluten
The Lean shakes are perfect for a meal replacement (2 scoops) or a snack (one snack), available in whey or vegan protein. Check them out and pop me a message to grab my discount code too!!
In order to stay on track, it’s a good idea to make a meal plan for your week and plan ahead to make sure that you have a good selection of these stress-busting foods in your kitchen to make meals and snacks from when you’re feeling like stress-eating.
Making sure that the majority of your meals include foods such as lean proteins and leafy green vegetables will not only make you feel healthier overall, but can improve your mental health and stress levels, too.
You can also grab our FREE Worry No More Workbook here >> Worry No More!
A good example of a healthy, stress-busting menu would be:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with berries or a fruit smoothie with avocado and berries.
Mid-morning snack: Natural yogurt with fruit or a handful of pistachio nuts.
Lunch: A whole-grain pasta salad filled with plenty of leafy greens
Afternoon snack: Dark chocolate. Heck ya – just do not overdo it!
Dinner: Grass-fed beef with vegetables.
Before bed: Chamomile tea. Also keep a glass of water on your nightstand to quench your thirst during the night and drink the rest up first thing in the morning!
Grab this simple free Meal Plan >> Healthy Meal Plan
Of course, you don’t need to stick to this menu – but it gives you a good idea! Remember to exercise good portion control when eating foods such as nuts, chocolate, yogurt or avocado! As the saying goes, you are what you eat – so make sure that first and foremost, you’re filling yourself up with foods which are good for your mental health! Good mental health is vital for people with chronic inflammation; read this post with eight foods to add to your diet to ease pain here >> Eating to Ease Pain and Inflammation.
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Planning your meals wisely is key to not only staying physically fit and healthy, but also to staying mentally strong and being able to best manage your levels of stress. Knowing which foods to avoid and which are the best to reach for to snack on when you’re feeling worried and anxious is important to helping you get control over your emotions and fears. Click to read this post and plan your diet with foods good for your mental health! #eathealthy #mentalhealth #healthyeating
So what is meal planning or making a diet plan? It’s the answer to the hugely stressful question your kids ask “Mom, what’s for dinner?” UGH!! If I heard that once; I heard it a thousand times. Making a meal plan saves you money, time and helps you eat healthier! Click to read this post! #mealplanning #healthyeating #mentalhealth
Very true… choosing the right foods can support a healthy mental health. I love lots of drinking water and fresh air as well.
I love how you broke it down into smaller meals, that really is key for most people. Portions these days are out of control.
It was nice to reread this article again, the information is still all very relevant. Portion control for most places are still out of control, I know I get two meals out of most single meals these days, LOL!
It’s so great to see a diet plan for mental health – we pay so much to our physical health and to combine it with our mental wellbeing is brilliant! Very practical advice.