Column by Leanne Ely
It occurred to me as I was thinking about menu planning that not planning is choosing to live in an unprepared state. Think about what that means for a minute. Being unprepared means chaos, confusion and regret. Living life in a state of perpetual unpreparedness is highly stressful. Why do we do this to ourselves?
In the kitchen and in the food department of life, being unprepared translates to not having the food you need to cook and feed your family and yourself well. Unprepared means unhealthy, expensive and wanting in nutrition. And when you consider that 70 percent of all disease is lifestyle-induced (by making poor choices in food, drink, not exercising, smoking and being stressed out), it’s astounding that we are surprised when handed a less than healthy diagnosis from our doctors. We have got to take responsibility!
Here’s the thing, menu planning isn’t sexy and glamorous. However, it’s necessary and one of the easiest ways to get a grip on your health. The simple art of menu planning is too often passed up by adventure seekers living on adrenaline and the thrill of the hunt. You know what I mean, right? Hunting for something to throw together for dinner at the very last minute. Hunting for a fast food place to get your whining children and cranky spouse fed. Hunting for a place to park at the grocery store at rush hour, hoping to score an already cooked rotisserie chicken to feed your family.
This kind of hunting is not feeding your family the way you want to. It’s stressing you out, neglecting your health and not helping you with the body clutter you may be sitting on.
Instead of being hunters, we need to be gatherers. Gatherers always have food because they have a plan. They use menus. They make grocery lists. They gather their groceries, they chop, they cook and they feed. It’s deliberate preparedness that gives them a sense of calm and peace. Yes, preparedness is that powerful and when applied to all things food-related, it will revolutionize your health, your well-being, your finances and that of your family’s as well.
The beginning place is a menu plan for the week. Pull recipes as necessary, make a list for the grocery store and then implement your plan. It’s that simple.
Don’t put this off. There’s too much at stake to be so capricious with your health. Do it today.
For more help putting dinner on your table, check out Leanne’s website, www.SavingDinner.com, or her Saving Dinner book series (Ballantine) and her New York Times bestselling book Body Clutter (Fireside). Copyright 2009 Leanne Ely. Used by permission in this publication.
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