When you are eating healthy food and trying to lose weight, you may feel as though a lot of your time is spent preparing meals and snacks.
And perhaps at first, it may take you a little longer than you are used to.
To prepare lots of fresh vegetables, bake healthy snacks, make a pot of soup or stew, or chop fresh fruit takes a lot longer than it does to grab some already-prepared convenience food from the local shop.
So today we have asked some of our Motivating Mums to give us some of their time saving tricks.
These women are meal planning, preparing meals in advance, freezing ahead for busy times, and just trying to squeeze healthy living in between looking after kids – which we all know can be tough.
Plan ahead when you have the energy
Claire Kerr lost over 11kg with Lose Baby Weight. Claire says ‘I know I would have had takeaway on numerous occasions if it wasn’t for having some frozen meals stowed in the freezer.
I also love the recipes that I can throw all the ingredients into a pot and let it do the rest.
Sunday afternoon I was just so exhausted after an emotionally tiring week and I knew all I wanted was pizza for dinner.
Instead, I used the energy while I knew I had it to make some soup from the Winter Warmer recipes in the Lose Baby Weight 28 Day Plan so all I had to do was reheat it that night, when I knew I would feel most tempted to order takeaway.’
Fit your meal preparation around your family’s meal times
Nicole Daniels has lost over 22kg with our plans and Healthy Mummy Smoothies.
‘I have the smoothies for lunch so they are easy to prepare while the kids are eating.
Dinner can be hard but I do what I can at lunch and at dinner get everything ready for breakfast for the next day.
I eat all my meals and snacks when the kids do, so I find while I get them their food I can prepare mine.’
Get organised so you don’t face temptation
Kelly Winder has lost over 6kg with Lose Baby Weight and continues to lose kilo’s and centimetres each week.
Kelly’s philosophy? Be organised!
‘Even with snacks – have them ready to go. It really does prevent situations where you’re tempted to grab something quick and unhealthy.
If you get some time, make up some meals ahead of time and freeze them.
Don’t let yourself run out of healthy food supplies, especially fresh fruit and veg. All of these things are disasters waiting to happen.’
Meal planning is key
Chloe Rizzi has lost over 18kg with Lose Baby Weight, and is a mum to 3 little boys.
Chloe suggests that we should all be planning ahead.
‘Know what you are going to cook for the week or at least the next 3-4 nights so you can ensure you have all ingredients on board. Then you can schedule your afternoons better knowing how much time it will take to prepare.’
Prep as much as you can when you have time
Nicole Taylor has lost over 8kg with Lose Baby Weight.
‘As much as possible I try to get the dinner prep done early in the day when the kids are at their happiest.
I can’t always predict how my afternoon is going to pan out, so planning ahead can help.
I also make double or even triple batches of things that freeze well so that they can be defrosted and warmed up if I can see that the pre-dinner hour is going to be stressful on any given day.
The three favourite dishes to freeze in our house are the soups from the Winter Warmer plan, the veggie packed slow cooker Bolognese from the website, and the slow cooker roast lamb (which I have also done in the pressure cooker if I’ve not had a chance to get it into the slow cooker earlier in the day).
The sliced up lamb freezes and warms up really well if it’s frozen in some of the gravy, and also tastes really nice in wraps with salad for lunches.’
Want to save more time and have all your meal plans designed for you? Join our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge today for 28 days of customisable meal plans complete with shopping list and daily exercises. Take all the guess work out of losing weight for good.
You won’t regret it!
See all the details here
