How To Design Healthy And Balanced Meals That Will Keep Your Family Full

Written By Anita Ginsburg / Reviewed By Ray Spotts

Most of us don’t have the time or energy to plan meals, organize our shopping lists, get the ingredients, and then spend hours in the kitchen baking up healthy, delicious dinners to feed the family. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t help your family eat healthy anyways. To help you out, here is a simple guide to creating healthy and balanced meals that will keep your family full and satisfied.

Skip the Processed Foods for healthy and balanced meals

One of the biggest nutrition mistakes that families make is relying too heavily on ready-to-eat processed foods. The reason we turn to these is understandable; we are all pressed for time. However, that frozen dinner or Hot Pocket, while it may be tasty, carries a potential price tag later down the line in terms of chronic inflammation, cancer, diabetes, and other health conditions associated with an unbalanced diet.

Instead, you might want to consider a whole-foods diet for your family. Choose to eat whole grains, plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, and fewer packaged foods. While it might take a little more time, it doesn’t need to be intensely time consuming.

Schedule Family Meals

Scheduling a family meal at least once a day that your family adheres to can do wonders for health. In homes where family members eat on their own, they are much more likely to consume unhealthy foods such as the processed items discussed above.

They’re also more likely to “graze” throughout the day. Bringing the family together to eat, in addition to strengthening social bonds, is also a healthy practice from a nutritional standpoint.

Balance Macros for healthy and meals

A healthy diet requires a balance of the three macronutrients: carbs, fats, and proteins. In fact, most nutritionists now agree that macronutrient ratio has a bigger impact on health, weight loss, and healthy aging than raw calorie counts.

The exact balance of macronutrients is up for debate, and you don’t need to break out the calculator to determine your ratios. Instead, just keep in mind the basic goal of a 45 to 50 percent carb/20 to 35 percent fat/10 to 35 percent protein mix in your diet.

When you’re at the grocery store, you can find options like Kaiser rolls and similar breads that are delicious options for working in some healthy carbs. Breads are also versatile, meaning that you can use them in a large array of dishes that your family will love. Boost their healthiness by opting for rolls with sesame or sunflower seeds on top.

Eliminate Salt for healthy and balanced meals

Relying too heavily on salt to flavor dishes is understandable as an easy method to make dishes more enjoyable - royalty in ancient Europe valued salt more than gold by weight. However, all of that extra salt can add up and impair our health. Minimize extra salt that you include in your family’s meals. Instead, use other fresh spices and herbs to increase flavor.

To optimize your family’s health, adopt these practices. Eliminate salt and processed foods from the pantry in favor of fresh foods, focus on balancing macronutrients, and organize regular family meals.

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Written By:

Anita Ginsburg is a freelance writer from Denver, Colo. She studied at Colorado State University, and now writes articles about health, business, family and finance. A mother of two, she enjoys traveling with her family whenever she isn't writing. You can follow her on Twitter @anitaginsburg.

Reviewed By:    

Founder Ray Spotts has a passion for all things natural and has made a life study of nature as it relates to health and well-being. Ray became a forerunner bringing products to market that are extraordinarily effective and free from potentially harmful chemicals and additives. For this reason Ray formed Trusted Health Products, a company you can trust for clean, effective, and healthy products. Ray is an organic gardener, likes fishing, hiking, and teaching and mentoring people to start new businesses. You can get his book for free, “How To Succeed In Business Based On God’s Word,” at www.rayspotts.com.