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The Benefits of Meal Planning - a guest post from Sabra Tastemaker Diane Carbonell

I’m so happy that the wonderful people at Sabra asked me to write an article for them, as I love being a Sabra Tastemaker and I love Sabra products.

I wanted to share with you the importance of meal planning in my own journey to lose 158 pounds, as well as share a little bit about how having healthy ingredients on hand can help you get a nutritious meal on the table in just a few minutes. 

When I was first married (over 24 years ago) I never planned the first thing for dinner. Almost every night without fail I’d ask John where he was taking me out for dinner. He’d laugh and off we’d go to whatever restaurant struck our fancy. I’d order the biggest thing on the menu and then pick the dessert that best suited my mood at the moment.

After I began having children I did get a little better with meal planning, but there were still many nights when we went out to dinner. My problem during that time of my life was that I wasn’t trying to plan healthy meals. Instead I just planned on cooking whatever sounded good to me, whether it was fried chicken or corn dogs.

As I began losing weight, meal planning took on a whole new importance. Now I was planning meals to avoid going out to eat, to feed myself and my family wholesome food, and lose weight. I wasn’t perfect at getting it all right, but I gradually got better and better. 

After I reached my goal weight I didn’t fall back into my old “restaurant most nights of the week” habit. Instead, I continued with my meal planning routines. Why? Because I didn’t want to gain my weight back, and I wanted to continue to feed my family meals they enjoyed and were good for them.

Now 13 years later, I still plan meals and snacks. I plan my meals the night before I go grocery shopping. I make one new meal a week, three vegetarian meals and three family staples. Planning the night before gives me plenty of time to think about what I want to make. I take into account what family activities we have each evening. 

I believe in flexibility with meal planning. This is where products like Sabra hummus, low-sodium beans, healthy salsa, tortillas, pre-cooked chicken tenders, frozen stir-fry vegetables or quick-cooking rice come into play. There are times when 4:30 p.m. rolls around and I realize that although I had planned on one dish, I didn’t feel like making it. So I’ll switch to one of my fall back meals. 

One of our favorite easy, quick-to-prepare meals is a chicken, brown rice and hummus casserole. I can have it on the table for the nine of us in about 15 minutes. I simply use quick-cooking brown rice, pre-cooked chicken tenders, classic hummus, fresh parsley and water. 

 

The rice takes about six minutes to cook. Once it’s cooked, I dice the chicken and mix it into the brown rice. I stir half a container of hummus and a bit of water into the rice and chicken mixture and stir until the casserole is well-combined. 

I serve it with homemade rolls that I made and froze earlier in the week, and a fresh green salad.

Meal planning benefits you and your family whether you are trying to lose some weight or just eat a well-balanced meal. I am never sorry when I sit down at our family table knowing that my family is enjoying a healthy, flavor-filled meal that I prepared. 

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Diane’s blog, Fit to the Finish, offers encouragement to men and women who are trying to lose weight the healthy way. She is a Sabra Tastemaker and has been featured in Shape magazine. Diane can be found on the Dr. Oz website as a Wellness Warrior.  You can also find Diane on Facebook and Twitter.