Activity and nutrition are key factors in your overall wellness but sticking to a healthy diet requires a little organization; it’s just a question of being a little prepared and making things easy for yourself.

How to Make Things Easy for Yourself?

STOCKUP on fresh produce once a week. Look for fresh vegetables and fruits and go for organic if your budget allows it. One way to speed up meal preparation is to wash and cut your vegetables ahead of time and keep them in the fridge, in sealed containers, for easy access. For example a chopped red onion will keep many days in a container. Same for parsley, lettuce, mushrooms, green onions, eggplants, zucchini, carrots … the list is long! WASH – CHOP – STORE, it does not take long. Just think of what you want to eat during the week, prepare a menu, and have the ingredients ready.

PRECOOK dried food like rice, quinoa, peas, beans and pasta ahead of time. They keep well in the refrigerator for a few days, as well. When it’s time to prepare a meal, simply get a portion out and mix some precut vegetables and add spices to it. Meat can be pre-cooked as well; for example chicken can be grilled ahead of time and so is ground or sliced beef for tacos.

PRINT your meals menu and keep them in your kitchen (friends of SixReasons can download an editable PDF Meal Plan). All the ingredients in your menu should be prepped. When it’s time to eat lunch or dinner, just look at your menus and your meal should be executed in no time. Don’t lose your menus! keep them in a binder because you will always refer back to them later on.

By following those three steps, there will be no excuse to go to a fast food restaurant or eat unhealthy snacks. Ditch fast food!

Note to friends of SixReasons: We will post meal ideas on a regular basis!