FINDING BALANCE
IN YOUR MEAL PLANNING
Meal planning serves a purpose
but, argues dietitian and
chef Charlotte Miller, a more
balanced approach will serve
you better in the long run.
or those of us with busy and active
lifestyles, it can be a real challenge
to keep the body sufficiently fuelled
day after day. Between work, working out and
the rest of life, we can end up eating on the run
more than we would like to. Cue food preppers
– those among us who set aside time every
week to carefully plan and prep meals and
snacks. For some food preppers, preparing a
week of dinners for the freezer might be enough,
while others may prepare all their meals and
snacks for the week, carefully counting out their
kilojoules and balancing their macros. But is
this really the best way to eat well?
F
Meal prepping isn’t for everyone
You’ve probably heard or read that you
increase your chances of eating junk if you
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are caught out without food and that meal
prepping is absolutely key to good health.
For some, perhaps, but not everyone wants
to spend their Sunday afternoons chopping
onions, weighing out chicken and adding just
enough cheese to keep the food calculator
happy. For a body-builder working toward
competition or an elite athlete trying to make
weight for sport, this approach can make
sense – as it may for fitness professionals
and others who have established a healthy
relationship with food but work irregular
hours. But for many, especially those clients
that have only recently embarked upon their
training with you, and with making changes
to their overall lifestyle, food prepping can
be a cause of stress. It also fails to equip
them with the skills to eat on the run –
something we must all do from time to