This past weekend, yours truly, The Clean Eating Coach, had the pleasure and privilege to do what I do best and love most– motivating “midlife” women to take a stand for their health and clean up their diets to prevent disease.

I was speaking at the 8th Annual Women’s Health Conference sponsored by the Women and Family Life Center(WFLC) in Guilford, Ct. This awesome nonprofit provides amazing programming for women and families including this annual event.  We had a great time on Sunday morning as I presented my favorite topic, “5 Simple Steps to Eat Clean and Lose Weight Without Going on a Diet.”

The great news is that I not only had a chance to present at the conference and go to other sessions, but it was a fun weekend away with my mom. We enjoyed some “girl time”, saw old friends on Saturday night for dinner, and really relaxed. 

But being away for the weekend can also present clean eating challenges for me when I return home if I don’t have a plan.  For me, nothing is more anxiety producing than enjoying a weekend away only to come home and have no plan for what we’ll be eating during the week or have made a prior plan to get to the store and pick up some clean eating foods.

This past week, however, anticipating my busy weekend schedule, I planned ahead to ensure that this week would be full of clean eating foods without the anxiety of trying to play catch up.  Here’s what I did last week to make this week a breeze:

• Last Friday morning I planned out this week’s meals. It didn’t take long, but having that vision made all the difference in knowing what we’d be eating
• I changed my schedule around to make sure I could get to the store on Friday and get the ingredients I needed. In my case this included going to two different stores – the health food store and the big grocery store.
• Friday night I made a pot of my favorite stew — quinoa southwestern stew — it’s quick, easy and delicious and this week we’re eating it for lunch for the first few days
• Saturday morning I roasted sweet potatoes that we had with Sunday night dinner
• Sunday afternoon as I was driving back from the conference, Bruce was roasting a chicken that we had for dinner. When I got home I simply finished the sweet potatoes and roasted some Brussels sprouts. We had a healthy and delicious dinner that we also enjoyed last night
• I got the ingredients to make a simple stir fry that we’re having tonight and can finish tomorrow for dinner.  Throw on a pot of brown rice and we’ll be good to go.
• I’m also anticipating making one of my favorite soups that has kidney beans, kasha (a whole grain) and kale.  I’ll cook the  kasha tonight and then make the soup in about 30 minutes tomorrow night. This will provide a healthy lunch for us the rest of the week along with a salad.

For me, the combination of clean eating food and meal planning can’t be beat. When I have a vision for the week and know how good I feel when I’m following the clean eating lifestyle (like no PMS symptoms!), I happily make the time and find a way to plan, shop and prep.  My simple efforts last week are already paying off in feeling less anxiety, feeling energized by healthy food and still having plenty of time for exercise.  Now that’s the way to create a clean eating lifestyle even when you’re traveling and gone for the weekend.

What do you do to ensure you have a plan for clean eating meals when you arrive home from a weekend away? What are you favorite tips to keep your sights on clean eating after you’re back?

Filed under: Food preparation, Healthy Meals, Meal Planning, clean eating