We will start organizing lunches and dinners, making a weekly plan. It can be very useful to make it on a sheet and put it in the fridge.
The first thing to keep in mind is how many meals are you going to have away from home and which of them correspond to holidays, since these days a more special menu is almost always made.
The purpose of organizing meals is to avoid surpluses or leftover food that leads to always eating the same or you have to throw food away.
A very good and practical idea is the healthy plate, it is a recommendation of the Harvard University School of Public Health. There we are indicated the proportions of each food group that we should consider in our meals and dinners.
If we imagine that this meal or that dinner is a plate, half of that plate should be covered with vegetables, that is, vegetables, fruits and vegetables. As far as possible, the more colors enter the better.
That they make our food more attractive and in this way, you will be providing different nutrients, so the more variety the better.
The other half of the remaining plate will be divided into 2 parts equally, one of them corresponds to the healthy proteinBy this we refer to proteins from legumes, meats, eggs and fish. It is important always prioritize fish before meats, since the consumption of red and processed meats such as sausages and Serrano ham should be limited.
Finally the other quarter plate that remains is what corresponds to the part rich in carbohydrates, that is, food that comes from tubers and cereals. Between these two, cereals and specifically whole grains are always recommended.
It is important that you know how to recognize their authenticity since many times they claim to be integral but they are not.
To do this, you can turn the package around and look at the ingredients, which should always refer to their whole grain or whole grain origin.
Remember that the healthy plate can be distributed with a 50% vegetables and a 25% rich foods in healthy proteins and a 25% carbohydrate food.
All this dish should be seasoned with a healthy fat. In Spain, extra virgin olive oil is very common, although there are other options such as seed oil and nuts, for example, avocado.
Anticipation of dinners away from home
Once you have defined what you are going to eat and offer those days, we must anticipate all these situations.
On the days that we are going to eat out or we are going to have a larger meal, at least meet this same percentage of this healthy dish with some of the meals, for example preparing a tomato and cucumber salad adding smoked salmon with a slice whole wheat bread.
It should also be avoid eating ready-made dishes or precooked, such as lasagna, pizza or pastas that already come with their own sauce, since they regularly contain a lot of hidden ingredients of poor quality, especially in terms of fats and sugars.
As you should increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables, a good option is consult a seasonal calendar of these foods. In this way you will be able to obtain their greatest contribution of nutrients since they are at their optimum point of maturity.
Not to mention that during their time they are cheaper because they are in season.
