10 Benefits of Meal Planning for Plant-Based Diets
Meal planning, especially for plant-based diets, offers so many benefits that can positively impact your health, lifestyle, and the environment!
If you’re considering meal planning, check out these ten benefits of plant-based meal prepping.
1. Nutritional Balance
Meal planning ensures you include a variety of foods, which helps meet all your nutritional needs, including essential vitamins, minerals, and protein.
Read about creating a balanced plant-based plate to include the proper ratio of protein, veggies, grains, and more.
2. Time Saving
You will save hours if you plan and prepare days in advance.
Set aside time to pick out your recipes, grocery shop, and properly store your fruits/veggies for the week.
3. Reduce Food Waste
The average American wastes 325 pounds of food individually each year. Planning your meals helps you buy only what you need, minimizing the amount of food that goes to waste.
4. Healthier Eating Habits
90% of Americans don’t get the recommended daily amount of fruits & veggies. A well-thought-out meal plan can help you avoid unhealthy impulse eating and make healthier choices consistently.
5. Enjoy a Variety of Meals
Meal planning encourages trying new recipes and ingredients, such as different ethnic cuisines.
6. Better Portion Control
Pre-planned meals allow for better control over portion sizes, which can aid in maintaining a healthy weight.
7. Environmental Impact
The study found that 57% of global greenhouse gas emissions from food production come from meat and dairy products. Planning plant-based meals helps you further reduce your carbon footprint.
8. Stress Reduction
Knowing what you will eat each day removes the daily decision-making stress and helps maintain a consistent routine.
With our lives already being so busy, the less decisions we have to make, the better for our own mental wellbeing.
9. Improved cooking skills
Regular meal planning and preparation will improve your cooking skills over time, making you more confident in the kitchen!
10. Cost Effective
By planning meals, you can buy ingredients in bulk, which are generally cheaper per ounce. You can also reduce your food waste if you are planning out exactly how much food you will need throughout the week.
