Healthy Eating Weekly Diet

Planning a healthy diet one week at a time may seem like a lot of work at first, but it actually has the potential to free up a lot of time, save money and improve eating habits. A weekly meal plan can have as much or as little detail as you prefer, but it's a wise and useful tool for working toward better health.

Basics

Most healthy diet foods are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid, which has five main groups. The USDA urges people to eat nutritious, whole and natural foods instead of processed products whenever possible. Some of the best choices are whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, legumes, nuts, and low-fat or nonfat dairy items. Additionally, healthy diets limit total calories, saturated fat, sodium, cholesterol and added sugar.

Meals

Almost any meal can be modified to fit in a healthy eating plan. As HelpGuide.org suggests, start with a collection of favorite recipes and modify them to make the final products healthier. Try cutting amounts of butter or sugar, using low-fat or nonfat products instead of full-fat versions, cooking with whole grains instead of refined grains and adding more vegetables and fruits to dishes. Popular meals that are easy to personalize include pastas, stir fries, salads, sandwiches, casseroles, soups, stews and wraps.

Planning

Plan one week's worth of meals at a time. The process can be as precise or basic as you choose; some people like to find recipes and write down what they plan to have for each specific meal, and others prefer to make a general grocery list and create meals based on what they have. Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., of the Mayo Clinic, suggests buying fruits, vegetables, low-fat yogurt and milk, lean meat and fish every week at the grocery store and then building meals with staple items that you keep on hand, such as brown rice, whole-wheat English muffins, whole-grain tortillas, canned goods, frozen veggies, herbs and spices.

Details

HelpGuide.org emphasizes that the weekly meal planning process doesn't have to be time-consuming. If you cook in large batches or schedule in leftovers, it's only necessary to plan the basics of a few meals each week. However, if you'd like to go more in depth with a plan, try using a journal to log what you eat each day and jot down recipes and healthy eating goals.

Tips

If you're pressed for time, try incorporating some convenience or prepared foods into the meals you make, as Meals Matter, a subsidiary of the Dairy Council of California, suggests. Meals Matter also recommends planning menus for the week based on your schedule, so you'll be sure to come up with nutritious options that fit your routine and won't make you rush to prepare them. Leftovers, meals in a slow cooker and take-and-bake foods are useful for especially busy days.