After being a scarily picky eater as a child, then a starving teenager who ate literally anything she could get her hands on in the house, I spent a lot of years trying to come up with a "diet" that worked for me.
Stop. I don't diet. When I say diet, I'm referring to "habitual nourishment" not the crazy idea of super restricting your food amount or type in order to obtain a body that doesn't exist in real life. I knew though that living off of Kraft Mac & Cheese, ramen noodles, hamburger helper, and Steak and Shake would not be sustainable forever.
Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of people out there can't just decide to eat just anything. Maybe celebrities can, because they can afford anything, at any time, plus paying someone else to shop and cook and clean up. The rest of us though, have just a few more details to consider.
- SHOPPING: Who shops in your household, do you do it? Does a parent, a roommate, a partner? Whoever shops makes the decisions.
- FINANCES: Who funds these shopping trips and how much extra do they have to spare? Are they interested in a healthy diet?
- TIME: Time to shop, time to compare prices, time to clip coupons, time to cook, and time to clean up afterwards - who has all this time?
- OTHER: Does your household have a picky eater, or one with a dietary restriction? If so, you can be easily led into either spending more time & money on multiple meal preparations simultaneously or choosing to cater exclusively to the limited person.
Any one of these criteria can very easily limit your meal options. PLEASE CONSIDER THOUGH - you can get stuck in a rut with any of these criteria too. There may be options you haven't considered.
When it comes to shopping, I have very little input as to making this easier. I can offer only a couple suggestions. Make sure you & your partner (if they do the shopping) are on the same page when it comes to what foods to keep in the house, what staples you need, what are fun occasional splurges, and what is really only to be allowed for special events. Do your best to keep a list, and get what you need. TAKE THE LIST TO THE STORE. Put it in your phone, or a scrap of paper, or text/email it to yourself. We manage to shop only every 10-14 days, with an occasional quick stop in between where we grab milk & maybe a bag or two of apples or oranges. We use fresh vegetables as our limiting shopping factor. We buy as much other food as we need to get through the end of our veggies.
Finances are also a toughie. You only have as much money as you have. So maybe you can't afford organic everything, or maybe anything. Well, at least do what you can to get higher quality ground beef and fresh produce - even if you'd really prefer organic ground turkey. You aren't perfect, and even you shouldn't expect yourself to be. However, remember that your food budget includes what you spend eating out and on fast food. Every lunch someone can bring to work or school is saving budget for better quality ingredients. We bring leftovers as lunch to work - there's almost always a mini fridge and microwave at our jobs. Also, keep in mind that single serving meals, or pre-prepared family size freezer meals are still generally more expensive per serving than buying the main ingredients in bulk and making several meals out of them.
This same principle can be applied to your time constraints as well. Making one large meal, with lots of leftovers and only cooking every other or every third day can save more time than an easier meal, but having to find the time every night. Those fast food or counter service meals you eat out? Not only are they expensively and typically unhealthy, but they also cost you time on the road, plus time you lose later because you didn't make leftovers. There are always exceptions and unexpected schedule changes that necessitate fast food/quick counter service restaurants for us, but I think it's really only 4-5 times a year. Otherwise, we plan ahead and schedule in our meals or at least bring hearty snacks to get us through. Almonds, apples, and granola bars are just a few of our go-to options for food on the go.
Dietary restrictions are a major hurdle and so is a picky eater that is catered to. However, there's a big difference between a two year old with only 6 items she'll eat, and a teenager who swears that broccoli will kill him. Use your common sense. Don't make an issue out of nothing with you toddler. I am an example, I eventually learned to eat and like pretty much everything because my mom didn't fight me. She made sure I took 3 bites of everything she made, and she always made sure there was at least one item on the table I liked. Struggling with a gluten free or lactose free meal option might take more creativity and more sacrifice on the rest of the family. First step is to make sure there is an allergy or sensitivity of course, and then do what you can to research substitutions into your normal favorite meals. Rice or corn pasta can avoid wheat problems and leaving the cheese off of a casserole makes avoiding dairy much easier. Google knows almost everything, it's a great recipe research tool. Search for substitutions rather than whole meal plans to make sure your dishes still taste great and are as easy to prepare.
That all being said though, normal people CANNOT expect 100% awesome eating all the time. You don't have to. Have a beer! Now, don't have 6 beers a night every night, but beer doesn't exclude you from eating healthy. I eat spinach in almost all my meals, we go through pounds of fresh veggies from Costco (just the two of us) every week. But when I'm in my first trimester and stressed out, plus easily nauseated - sometimes I'm just going to have ramen and Velveeta. That's okay too. It's not a failure, it's not falling off the bandwagon. It's accepting that I'm human and comfort food is a real thing. Christmas is coming and I can't have WINE, so dammit I'm going to make sure I get some calories in that I really enjoy. So sue me, super crunchy midwife. I have a complete aversion to all things dessert right now, so I am being pretty good.
JK! I actually love her and I know she's doing her job, educating me. I still refuse to feel guilty though. Moderation is all you can expect.
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