Picture yourself sitting down with me and sipping your favorite healthy latte. I want to have a friendly little chat about healthy eating on a budget. My goal is to give you 5 easy steps that will help you create THM-friendly meal plans. You should walk away from our coffee time together understanding that eating healthy doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. As you implement these principles, meal-planning will become a joyful process that simplifies the rest of your week. The meals you thoughtfully choose will also leave you feeling energized and satisfied.
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What is Trim Healthy Mama?
If you’re new to this, let’s take a moment to talk about what Trim Healthy Mama is. Trim Healthy Mama isn’t some fad diet, it’s a lifestyle. It’s often accurately referred to as the “Food Freedom Movement”. The Trim Healthy Mama way of eating includes all the macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates and protein). It focuses on clean and nourishing sources of each of those nutrients. The plan can be personalized for different seasons of life and health goals. Wherever you’re at in life, you will be focusing on protecting your muscles and supporting your hormones.
How to Create a THM-Friendly Meal Plan
1. Check What’s in Your Fridge and Pantry
Before meal-planning, you’ll want to make sure you know what ingredients you have. I like to make a list of several key ingredients I have, especially protein sources since that’s what my meals are centered around. In order to do healthy eating on a budget, you’ll want to come up with as many meals as you can using ingredients you already have.
2. Consult your Cookbooks and Pinterest
The next step is to flip through your cookbooks (or scroll Pinterest) to find recipe ideas. It’s a good idea to already have a list (written down or in your head) of your favorite go-to recipes. The more you repeat recipes you’re already familiar with, the easier meal planning and prep will become. I have Trim Healthy Mama cookbooks I use and I like to save THM-friendly recipes on Pinterest. You can find links to recipes I created on this Pinterest board. Another way to simplify is by not always using recipes. You can do something simple like salmon, seasoned brown rice, and a side of broccoli.
3. Count Your Protein Grams (eating high-protein can save your life!)
Protein does so many incredible things for you! It helps you build and keep muscle, nourishes your hair and skin, causes your metabolism to burn fat… the list goes on and on! Because of this, I would argue that meeting your protein goal should be your biggest concern when meal planning. Protein might seem expensive, but so are doctor bills. And, I’m not saying you have to eat steak for every meal. You can focus on more affordable protein sources like cottage cheese, protein powder bought in bulk, nonfat plain greek yogurt, eggs, meat that’s on sale… If you do decide to purchase protein powder in bulk, here’s one I recommend. What should your protein goal be? According to Trim Healthy Mama you should have at least four meals and snacks that have 25 g of protein in them per day. I give my husband even more than that. Counting protein grams can be a pain at first, but once you get the hang of it and have your go-to meals it’s not so hard. If whatever protein you’re using doesn’t come with nutrition facts, you can figure out how much protein it has with a quick google search. For example, I often search things like “how much protein is there in a pound of ground turkey”. Once you’ve got your protein nailed down, make sure you’re also getting plenty of fruits, vegetables, healthy carbs, and healthy fats. Keep your meal plan well-balanced!
4. Write Down Your Plan
Grab a blank piece of paper and write down your THM-friendly meal plan. My plan usually includes two kinds of breakfasts I batch make ahead (usually one carb breakfast and one fat breakfast) and 5 or 6 dinners. I only plan for 5 or 6 dinners because we usually often up having leftovers or eating somewhere else at least once or twice. Lunches aren’t usually on my meal plan. I usually just have leftovers, sandwiches or scramble random ingredients together. Your plan doesn’t have to say exactly which day you’re having which dinners, just make sure you have your list of ideas for the week somewhere you can easily find.
5. Make a Grocery List and a Meal-Prep List
Now that you have your meals chosen, you’re going to make a list of the ingredients you need to buy. If my list starts looking expensive, I’ll often revise my plan. That may mean swapping recipes for cheaper recipes or omitting ingredients. The second list you’re making is a meal-prep list. If you can set aside an hour or two for meal prep, it could make the rest of your week a lot easier. Often if I get meal prep time in, it feels like the rest of the week my meals just make themselves. Things you can prep ahead are breakfasts, easy grab snacks, beans, meat or rice can be cooked ahead of time…all of this will save you time later on.
Healthy Eating on a Budget PDF (free download)
Budget THM Meal Planning Reel on Instagram
How do you meal plan?
Chat with me! Have you already been doing any of these steps? Are there tips you would add onto this? What’s are some of your go-to meals? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! Some other ways you can get in touch are by shooting me an email (eliza.noel.writes@gmail.com) or messaging me over social media (Facebook or Instagram).
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