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Thinking of trying a Plant-Based diet meal plan, but not sure where to start? This beginners guide walks you through everything you need to know to lose weight and achieve your healthy eating goals.

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Forget orange, plant-based diets are the new black!

Recently I stumbled on to a few articles about the many health benefits offered by the whole food plant-based diet, and I could not drag myself away.

Nutritionists, bloggers, and gurus all appear to be on the same page when it comes to this healthy eating weight loss plan: Plant-based diets are trending, and all signs point to great health.

If youve been thinking of starting a plant-based diet, but youre not sure where to begin, grab a cup of coffee, a glass of pinot, or your favorite smoothie, and get ready to find out everything you need to know about getting started!

This beginners guide covers all the bases.

Today youll find out why everyone and their mom is talking about the plant-based diet.

Well review the benefits, how to meal plan to save some cash, what to eat and buy at the grocery store, what foods to avoid like the plague, what foods to get in your belly right now, and, finally, 30 plant-based diet recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Whole food, plant-based diets are heart healthy, environment-friendly, type-2 diabetes-fighting lifestyle eating plans that celebrate food and nourish your body. On a plant-based diet, youll focus on eating whole or non-processed foods and plants like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, seeds, and nuts.

Psst:Its not the same as vegan. I could go on & on about this, but I dont want to confuse you, because it is VERY CONFUSING!

Youll see & hear people refer to the plant-based diet as vegan a lot. But they arent the same.

Vegans dont eat any animal products: no meat, no dairy, no eggs, no honey-because it originated from a conscious being. Sounds healthy until you think about what a vegan can eat.

Technically, a vegan can eat Oreos & French Fries all day since they did not come from or use any animal product.

Now, this isnt the case on a plant-based diet.

A plant-based diet is similar to vegan in that they both avoid animal products, but a plant-based diet takes it a step further and excludes all processed foods and fast foods-even the ones that are technically considered vegan.

So no Oreos & Fries for you.

Why is any of this important? You need to know about the differences in these diets because when you are searching for cookbooks or recipes, this 411 will put you ahead of the game. And, you need to know what you can & cannot eat! (More on that later)

Plant-based diets that are full of whole grains, legumes, and seeds support gut health by increasing the healthy bacteria in our GI tract.

Both The American Diabetes Association and The American Academy of Dietetics recommend the plant-based diet for patients with diabetes.

Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in women (& men) in the United States. Plant-based diets reduce your risk of heart disease by lowering blood pressure, improving cholesterol, and helping with weight loss.

Recent research shows us plant-based diets may help with slowing the progression of some cancers due to the antioxidant content of whole plant foods like fruits and vegetables.

With no calories or macros to count or portions to measure, many find plant-based diets easier to manage compared to other weight loss programs.

Another contributing factor to weight loss on a plant-based diet is the fiber-rich fruits and vegetables which keep you feeling full and less hungry causing you to eat less.

Last but not least, the elimination of processed foods and sugar also help lead to a lower number on the scale.

Ask any nutrition expert what the number 1 tip is to lose weight, and he or she will tell you to meal plan! Meal planning is the best way to stick to every diet no matter what type it is! Here are a few of the many benefits of meal planning on a plant-based diet.

Save Time & Money: Having a plan will eliminate last minute drive through dinners and meals and the dreaded Whats for dinner conversation! Those last minute runs to the store are costing you more than you think! Planning means choosing plant-based recipes with fruits & veggies that are in season & less expensive.

Helps You Make Good Choices: Keeping the fridge & pantry stocked with healthy fruits and veggies will eliminate those midnight madness snacks. You know, when you raid your kids Halloween candy stash or opt to drive through Taco Bell because, hey, were busy people!

Makes Grocery Shopping Easy: When youve got a recipe line-up, you can whip in and out of the store like a boss because youve got a plan! You make ONE trip to the store for everything. No more last minute trips!

Unless you want to get burned out or meal prep is your passion. In that case, go for it! Otherwise, set a timer for two hours & when it dings you are DONE! Thats enough time to prep veggies, legumes, cook grains, and pick out recipes if needed. Enjoy your weekend! Dont do too much at once. Youll be amazed at what you can accomplish in two focused hours!

Cook up a big batch of whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, or barley to go with your weekly meals on Saturday or Sunday.

Soak & cook chickpeas and beans on your preferred meal prep day. Then portion them out for salads, buddha bowls, and chilis. This process will not take up your entire day, but it will save you tons of time later in the week!

Set aside 45 minutes or so and select your recipes for the week. Save them on your phone by taking a screenshot or save them on a Pinterest board or go old-school and print them out! Just keep them someplace safe! This guide gives you 30 days of recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so you have time to develop a system that works for you going forward!

Shop the sales in the Sunday newspaper. (Yes, this is still a thing!) Select your weekly recipes according to what you can buy for less!

Check to see what grocery stores in your area double coupons. You can save a TON this way & no; you dont have to be an extreme coupon to do it!

Save big online shopping by using apps like Ebates & ibotta. (These are my favorite shopping apps because they allow me to earn cash back rebates at stores like Target, Wal-Mart, CVS, Sams, & Whole Foods.)

Check out Thrive Market!

They are on a mission to make the best healthy foods & products affordable & accessible to everyone Their prices are up to 50% off everyday. Seriously, you need to get in on this online shopping action if you havent already.

Find recipes you can double or you know will allow for leftovers you can eat for lunch. You know, Monday nights chili turns into Tuesdays Taco type of thing! Ive included several multi-purpose plant-based recipes below in case youre interested. See chili, soups, and [vegan] burgers.

Start with simple recipes and build your way up. Its easy to get overwhelmed with a gorgeous Pinterest 15-step recipe and wear yourself out. Start with easy recipes!

Ok. So, you need a little more to go on than just no processed foods and eat healthy grains & go shop at Thrive before you make your list to stock your pantry for the first time, right?

Heres a fantastic plant-based starter list of the most nutrient dense vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.

Remember-you dont have to buy all of these!

To keep costs down, buy fruits and veggies that are in season and buy in bulk when you can! Ready to do this? Thought so:)

Refined Grains: White Rice, White Pasta, White BreadProcessed Food: Candy, Cake, Pastries, ChipsFast FoodMeatFishPorkPoultrySeafoodDairyEggs

Wondering where on earth youll get your protein? (FYI: The recommended amount is 46 grams per day:)

The key is selecting the right plant-based foods so you can make sure you get the proper amount. Here are a few of the best sources of plant-based protein.

A couple of these may be new to you (Natto???), so I included a very brief description to the side:)

Ready to find out if the whole food, plant-based lifestyle is right for you? Here are some of the most delicious, protein-filled plant-based recipes for beginners for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

We covered a lot of ground today, so lets take a moment to recap the highlights.

A Plant-Based Diet Meal Plan offers tons of health benefits from reducing your risk of heart disease to diabetes management to gut health and weight reduction.

Focus on crowding-out the foods you need to avoid on a plant-based diet with healthy, whole foods.

Meal planning and preparing your meals in advance will make transitioning and sticking to a plant-based diet easier to sustain long term.

Buying vegetables and fruits when they are in-season and shopping sales online, in local newspapers, store fliers, and at Thrive Market will allow you to eat a healthy, plant-based diet on any budget.

Remember, small steps towards healthy eating habits add up to big rewards in the long run!

Do you have enough information to decide if a plant-based diet is right for you?

Or are you still on the fence?

Either way, please let me know by leaving a comment below!

If you enjoyed this post, Id be very grateful if youd help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Pinterest, Twitter or Facebook.

Integrative Nutrition Health Coach

Heather Burnett is that mom who wont do her kids homework, that friend you call at midnight, and that wife who doesnt feel guilty when her husband cooks. Shes a health coach who knows how it feels to lose 100 pounds, which inspires her 100% B.S. free approach to wellness. When shes not helping women become badasses, Heather enjoys reading and adding to her massive collection of yoga pants.

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Plant Based Diet Meal Plan For Beginners: 90 Plant Based ...

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The nation is in serious danger. The creeping spread of Islam is pushing out Christianity. The countrys borders are swarming with drug-slinging criminals, and its veterans are dying in droves. Heartless, power-hungry liberals snatch guns away from poor, defenseless citizens while openly mocking Gold Star widows. Meanwhile, Democratic operatives are planning a coup from a bunker not far from the White House and wiretapping Trump administration officials, not to mention Trump Tower itselfa looming scandal of Watergate proportions.

The worst part? The propagandistic left-wing media (that subhuman species) wont report a word of it.

At least, thats what I learned spending a few weeks on a self-imposed binge of President Trumps media dieta virtual smorgasbord of Breitbart, Fox News, front-page newspaper headlines, presidential Twitter, and a smattering of Infowars for flavor. I already know what the president thinks of the press, but I wanted to know more about how the world looks to the president through his particular media lens. Yes, even presidents live inside their own filter bubbles. And this past weekend demonstrated just how damaging such media myopia can be when that blinkered vision belongs to the worlds most powerful person.

In less than a day, a Breitbart story accusing the Obama administration of wiretapping Trump Tower became, via tweet, a presidentially asserted fact. As with most Americans, the television Trump watches, the news he consumes, and the people he follows on social media warp and distort his view of the world.

Millions of people share Trumps media habits. His favored outlets have huge, devoted followings. But unlike everyone else, Trump has the authority to turn these often lopsided and misleading narratives into policyor at least 140-character proclamations that, by virtue of his office, the rest of the world must take seriously. Now the Trump administration is calling for a congressional investigation into the wiretapping claims, even though Trump aides have repeatedly failed to point to any hard evidence to back up the presidents allegations.

And I should have seen it all coming. During my weeks on the Trump media diet, I surfed an endless feedback loop circulating between Trump and his preferred media outlets, where speculation leads to justification, ad infinitum. Through this fish-eye, Trumps wiretapping tweets dont look surprising at all. They would instead represent the logical conclusion of what happens when the President of the United States seems to believe everything he hearsand when he limits what he hears to what he wants to hear.

Trumps media diet is tough to stick to. Its like the Paleo of media consumption. It requires extra preparation to fit everything in and a spartan commitment to elimination. (Trump reportedly swore off Morning Joe after years as a devoted viewer).

Trump follows this regimen rigorously. Aloneperhaps in his bathrobein the pre-dawn hours, he flicks on the television to tune into Fox & Friends, which he recently called the most honest morning show. He scours the New York Times and the New York Postin print, not digitaland scans the Wall Street Journal. At night hes been known to tweet reactions to The OReilly Factor and Hannity, and hate-tweet his response to Saturday Night Live. And dont forget the Sunday shows.

Its a lot to take in. So, as with any diet Ive ever tried, I cheated a little here and there. Instead of waking up at 6am to catch the morning shows and staying up late to watch Hannity, I caught the highlights online. And I added outlets that have a known influence on Trump. Every day I checked in on Breitbart, whose former chairman Steve Bannon is now Trumps chief strategist, and watched as Alex Jones face grew ever-redder throughout his four-hour Infowars broadcast. (Please know, dear reader, I did this for you.) Trump may not listen to Infowars, but several of his most controversial claimsincluding the idea that millions of people voted illegallyfirst gained traction on Jones show.

I also created a Twitter account to follow everyone Trump follows on Twitter, a list that notably does not include any government agencies, press secretary Sean Spicer, @WhiteHouse, or even @POTUS, but which does include Apprentice producer Mark Burnett and his wife, Touched By an Angel star Roma Downey. In the dark dystopia that is Trumps media bubble, Downeys random musings exuded a welcome ray of light.

Otherwise, the world inside the bubble looked bleak. On Infowars, Jones touted what he called a bombshell story about Hillary Clinton planting moles throughout the White House. On Fox, Sean Hannity asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whether Iran was readying a modern day holocaust. Its up to us to prevent it, Netanyahu replied in a sober baritone. Fox & Friends hosts told the story of an undocumented immigrant accused of murder in Colorado and claimed a DREAMer detained under Trumps executive order was a gang member. Breitbart published videos of Palestinian children dancing joyfully to a song called Pull the Trigger, while Ann Coulter filled my Twitter feed with headlines about crimes committed by Latinos.

For the most part, these stories werent fabricated. But they were cherry-picked, selected to convey an overarching message about what Trump might call American carnage. In this world, immigration and Islam serve as the default enemies, along with the mainstream media and the left. Whenever the president comes under attack by either one, his preferred outlets offer him the ammunition he needs to fight back. When the press seized on reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions didnt say during his confirmation hearing that he had met with a Russian ambassador, Trumps media mirrors scrambled to dismiss the story as hysterical.

This whole smear campaign is really just part of the Democrats larger fake news conspiracy theory that Russian hacking, hacking, is the reason why Hillary Clinton lost the election, Hannity quipped during his opening monologue.

The wiretapping story wasnt the only one Trump ran with and repeated to millions of people across the country. After a Tucker Carlson segment on Fox about Swedens issues with refugees, the president held a rally in Florida, where he compared Sweden to Brussels, Paris, and Niceall places that have experienced deadly terror attacks. More recently, the president tweeted that 122 prisoners released from Guantanamo have returned to the battlefield, a phony line he repeated verbatim from Fox & Friends.

I surfed an endless feedback loop where speculation leads to justification, ad infinitum.

This alternate universe to which I traveled taught me as much about my bubble as it did the presidents. Im a 30-year-old, college-educated writer living in Brooklyn, and my media diet is pretty much what youd expect given those credentials: the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, CNN, WIRED (duh), and a whole lot of Refinery29 in my Facebook feed. In Trumps filter bubble, senator John McCain is a politically motivated warmonger. In mine, he and Lindsey Graham represent the lone Republican voices standing up to a rogue president. In my bubble, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wins over hearts and minds with his good butt and welcoming approach to refugees. In Trumps, the Trudeau effect is steadily decimating trust in government among the Canadian people.

My Trump media diet reminded to me that I could also benefit from breaking out of the bubbleexcept, Im not the president. Theres no subset of the media who makes it their job to convince me Im right. For Trump, there is.

Time and again, Trumps pet outlets find a way to rationalize the presidents claims, even claims as apparently baseless as the wiretapping conspiracy. By Monday morning, while other outlets pressed the administration on the origins of the presidents theories, Utah representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sat stiffly beside the hosts on the Fox & Friends couch, vowing to get to the bottom of this.

The real danger in all of this is not that Trump lacks media literacy. Indeed, he may understand the machinations of the media better than anyone. The danger is that an increasingly large number of media outlets today have built their business models around telling the presidents supportersand the president himselfonly what they want to hear. As long as that cycle exists, the wiretapping claim wont be the last online conspiracy theory to become state-sanctioned.

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I Tried Trump's Media Diet. Now Nothing Surprises Me Anymore ... - WIRED

Nutritionist: Long term help of diet soda unclear
CNN #39;s Erin Burnett talks to nutritionist Samantha Cassetty about a study that claims diet soda helps with weight loss.

By: CNN

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Nutritionist: Long term help of diet soda unclear - Video

By Rachel Crumpler

People go to the North Carolina State Fair to eat. Thats a known fact.

The fair is the biggest food scene in the state, said Isaac B. Horton IV, co-owner of Oak City Fish and Chips, who has been going to the state fair since he was a baby and who was chosen as a food vendor last year. Theres no other event in our state where there are so many vendors in one place and its the largest attended event in the state as well.

With about 150 food and drink vendors present this year and 40-plus new food offerings, there is a multitude of options some healthier than others.

The funnel cake, pizza and endless deep-fried concoctions are easy to find. The healthier options require a little more hunting amid the maze of vendors.

For me, finding food is even more complicated by my dairy, egg and peanut allergies.

If you dig a little deeper, you will find some healthier options waiting to be discovered and some that might even satisfy dietary restrictions too. NC Health News editor Rose Hoban and I did just that and you can too until the fair closes on Oct. 23.

Becoming a food vendor at the state fair is a competitive process. Generally, only a couple ofspots open up each year and there are many people eager to take them.

Last year, Tonga Ramseur, owner of Ethio-Indi Alkaline & Vegan Cuisine, got offered a spot and said it was like hitting the lottery. She became the first all-vegan vendor at the state fair and now shes back for her second year, serving an all plant-based menu influenced by her Indian and Ethiopian roots.

Her menu includes burgers, chill e dogs, a steak and gravy platter, fried okra and more. She uses chickpea flour and grapeseed oil for frying and also offers gluten-free chickpea bread.

For Ramseur, who has eaten a vegan diet almost all of her life, its all about showing fairgoers that vegan food is delicious, combating the bad rap she said it sometimes gets.

I will sacrifice whatever I have to sacrifice to help change that, Ramseur said. Because by doing that, we can save lives. We can keep people from having diabetes.

Ramseur said her customers arent just vegan-eaters, and thats a big win and testament to the flavor of her food. For example, she said a neighboring, non-vegan vendor ate at her food truck every day during last years state fair.

Especially at the fair, when people are often trying new food, she hopes she can introduce her dishes to many people, potentially prompting them to consider vegan options in their lifestyle going forward.

I just love teaching people that this is how we should eat if we want to live longer because theres too many preservatives, theres too many hormones and pesticides and herbicides in everything, Ramseur said.

Tips on navigating the fair food scene:

Additional healthier food options you might consider:

Fried food dominates at the fair. Theres deep-fried Oreos, piggy tails, bacon mac-n-cheese tacos and so much more.

Alice Ammerman, a professor in the Department of Nutrition at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, said frying is not necessarily as bad as people think if its in an unsaturated oil.

If choosing deep-fried food, Ammerman suggests choosing an item that has a healthier base, such as fried vegetables like zucchini or broccoli.

Oak City Fish and Chips lightly-battered fried lobster and salmon could also be a healthier fried option since seafood especially salmon with its omega-3 fatty acids is a healthy protein.

UNC Chapel Hill nutritionist Barry Popkin said that to find healthier alternatives, look for locally managed stands.

Youll find a lot of these run by churches or nonprofits, he said. These will be some of the regulars that are there every year but they wont be a little stand, they will be the normal year round kind of buildings that have these church and other related groups in them.

One of those is the booth managed by the Westover United Methodist Church, located in a permanent building near the waterfall a spot theyve occupied at the fair for decades. The church, which has been at the fair for about 75 years, is the last church operating as a vendor.

Ive had people try to talk me into deep frying Twinkies, said Tommy Highsmith, who hasnt given in to that suggestion in the more than five decades hes been involved with the churchs state fair efforts.

He said they dont have the space to do deep-fried food and besides, there are plenty of other vendors firing up the fryers.

Instead, the Raleigh church sells grilled hot dogs and hamburgers as well as barbecue and biscuits. Highsmith said the ham biscuits have been their calling card and this year theyve added sausage biscuits.

Highsmith also added that they have some of the lowest prices on the fairgrounds. A foot-long hot dog sells for $4.25 and a ham biscuit is $3.

Tacos can also be a healthier option that isnt fried.

Marcos Espindola, owner of Las Gringas, a food truck that offers authentic Mexican food, said 80 percent of his menu can be made vegetarian, vegan and gluten free.

Over the next couple of years, he expects that fair food is going to evolve to be less about the buzz of the latest, best fried food concoction, but instead people are going to seek whats novel and clever.

Thats what people want something different, he said.

Another vegan- and food allergy-friendly vendor is Tropical Delights, which offers a variety of frozen fruit smoothies made without milk or yogurt. Theres no gluten either.

We knew we didnt want any dairy in it and we wanted it to be really just as fruity as possible, said co-owner Reggie Burnette, who has been serving his smoothies at the N.C. State Fair for six years and in business for close to 30 years. All the fruit the strawberry, the mango, all that stuff is pureed fruit and we just mix it and it tastes really good.

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A special way the smoothies can be served is inside a fresh pineapple

So once we core it out, well take the rings from the pineapple and well put them on the outside so you can eat fresh pineapple, which is awesome to me, Burnette said.

Burnette also sells vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free Dole Whip. This year, his truck will offer a Dole Pineapple Split, which will include Dole pineapple and raspberry whip in a pineapple bowl garnished with chocolate-covered pineapple slices, toasted coconut flakes and strawberries.

Ill be honest, for years, Ive avoided the fair as someone with food allergies. Its intimidated me trying to eat at a place that has so much food and such a big crowd.

Even now, I still have some trepidation about it, but my tour of the food vendors left me more hopeful about the potential options for people with dietary restrictions like mine.

When I told Oak City Fish and Chips co-owner Horton I had food allergies and wanted to know what was in the batter of his fried seafood, he pulled out a laminated ingredient list for me to examine.

Brandon Herring from the North Carolina State Fair Press Office said food vendors are not required to make an ingredient list available to customers, though its a perk some may offer.

With the knowledge that many people have dietary restrictions or are adhering to plant-based diets, I saw several menus that listed gluten-free and vegan options. Vendors also expressed an understanding of the dangers of cross-contamination for people with allergies and seemed willing to take the necessary precautions when possible.

Advice for managing a food allergy at the fair:

The bottom line is that the state fair is bursting with food options and, hopefully, you will find the healthier, and perhaps allergy-friendly, foods that will make your mouth water during this years 11-day extravaganza.

Rose Hoban contributed reporting to this story.

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By Jane Doe

North Carolina Health News

North Carolina Health News is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit, statewide news organization dedicated to covering all things health care in North Carolina. Visit NCHN at northcarolinahealthnews.org. (on the web, this can be hyperlinked)

by Rachel Crumpler and Rose Hoban, North Carolina Health News October 14, 2022

This article first appeared on North Carolina Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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This year, healthy food options can be found at the NC State Fair - North Carolina Health News

Skies are gray, clouds are lowering and the temperature is dropping. And with the changing weather usually comes a transition in food, from the lighter fare of summer to more hearty winter meals.

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services.Policy

But whats the best way to make the switch and stay healthy? Should you really switch up your diet that much? And whats the best way to adapt your meal planning during the coronavirus pandemic so you dont have to leave your house as much for grocery runs?

To figure out the best way to approach your winter meal planning, we talked to registered dietitian Lisa Burnett, RD, about some important tips and tricks to getting through the long, cold season with your nutrition intact.

Youve probably heard a lot about the need to up your vitamin D intake, especially during the winter. Thats because vitamin D not only is essential to muscle and bone health, deficiency in vitamin D has also been linked to decreased immunity and fatigue. And its harder to keep your vitamin D up in winter.

Were supposed to get most of our vitamin D from sunlight but theres less sunlight in winter, especially in certain regions, says Burnett. Certain foods like fortified dairy products and cold-water fish (like salmon and tuna) are good sources of vitamin D.

The bottom line, she says, is getting plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. And its important to remember that even if the seasons change, your body still needs the same maintenance.

While your tastes may change, your needs dont change a lot in terms of the vitamins and nutrients you need, she notes. Its always important to eat well and keep eating fruits and vegetables to get those vitamins and minerals.

Other nutrients Burnett suggests getting in your regular cold season diet as its better for your body to absorb these through digestion than through supplements.

Vitamin C can boost your immunity so its a great thing to include however if youre getting two-to-three servings of fruit and three-plus servings of vegetables each day, you should be able to get adequate amount of vitamin C, she says.

And getting those vegetables doesnt mean you have to eat a huge serving, either. Generally, a half-cup is good.

Bell peppers are a good veggie source for vitamin C, Burnett says. And for fruits, the reliable citrus fruits are good sources as are cranberries, which are more in-season, especially during the holidays.

When the season gets colder and drier, many people complain of dry, itchy and flakey skin. vitamin E can reduce inflammation and can help skin health and if youre keeping that fruit-and-veggie intake up, you should get plenty of that, too.

B vitamins are also important, she says, as theyre antioxidants and influence your energy and brain functions. Your dark, leafy greens are good sources for those vitamins as are legumes, like beans and lentils, she adds.

Speaking of tastes changing with the seasons, colder weather often brings on a wave of heartier, heavier foods. But, while these meals may be beloved cold-weather traditions, Burnett says to beware of starches.

Winter squashes are considered vegetables, but, nutritionally, they look a lot more like starches, she points out. They do have vitamins and minerals but they also have a lot of carbohydrates.

One way to moderate that intake, she says, is to make sure you include another vegetable into your meal plan instead of another starch. For instance, if youre eating chicken with butternut squash, have a salad on the side instead of bread or potatoes. That helps keeps down the starch portion of your plate.

Soups are very popular in winter for a variety of reasons: theyre easy to make, they warm you up in the cold, they can keep in your freezer or fridge and they offer a wide range of flavors and combinations.

But one thing you should be wary of, Burnett says, is sodium. That high sodium content is always a fear with soups. If you check the labels of a lot of popular store-bought soups or soups you can buy at restaurants, they have those high sodium levels.

Instead, she says, consider making your own soups. Not only can you make your own flavor combinations but you can ensure theyre healthier options. And when it comes to bases, she also suggests choosing broth over cream.

In cream-based soups, youll have those saturated fats from whatever dairy was used to make that cream base, she says. A great idea is to use low-sodium broth and use real, fresh ingredients.

One more advantage of soup? A welcomed versatility in a time of social isolation.

Because of the ongoing pandemic, its best to minimize trips to the grocery store (to protect yourself) and minimize those grocery delivery orders (to protect workers). That makes long-term meal planning and meal freezing an overlooked yet key step to staying safe and nutritious this winter.

And thats where soups can be a big help. Says Burnett, Soups are great to freeze so they last a long period of time. You can always pair it with a salad or, if its a lean protein-based soup, it could be a whole meal by itself. Thats also true of stews, too, as long as you stick healthy, fresh ingredients.

Burnett says that batch-cooking cooking many meals in one batch is a big plus for the winter. You can make several plates of three or four meals, free them and then work through them over the course of a few weeks, she says.

She adds that crockpots are a good way to prepare those batch-cooked meals. With a crockpot, you not only can cook large portions to break up over time but you can also get in everything you need, from proteins to your vegetables with necessary nutrients and minerals.

The one thing to keep an eye on, besides ingredients, is portion size, she adds. Certain comfort foods, like lasagna, do well with freezing and keeping for a while. You just need to be aware of portion size and what other vegetables and food options youre cycling in to go with it.

Fresh fruits and veggies are always the best options if you can swing it. But certain items may be out of season depending on the time of year. Or maybe youre looking to minimize trips to the grocery store or get certain produce in bulk.

In that case, youre faced with a decision: canned or frozen?

According to Burnett, go with frozen. Frozen vegetables and fruit have come a long way. Steamer bags make it much easier and have helped improve the quality. And nutrient-wise, those frozen options are fairly comparable to the fresh options.

With the canned options, you run into issues like higher sodium in canned vegetables and higher sugars in the syrup with canned fruits. There are some options that are healthier, like low sodium canned vegetables, she says, but youll just need to keep an eye on the nutrition labels and looked for those added sugars and salt.

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Heres How to Make a Healthy Winter Meal Plan - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic