Pack and Go

One of the biggest issues people have with healthy eating is time. I don’t have time to prep, I don’t have time to pack my healthy meal, I was out and about and didn’t have time to make healthy choices, etc.

Enter Balanced Habit’s Pack & Go sheets! These sheets contain easy ways to put together a healthy and well balanced meals. Add 1-2 items from each of their protein, carbohydrate, and fat categories, and there you go! You can make a fancy meal out of it or just grab things on the go.

Below are some ways to pack together some super simple meals and snacks.

Use the Pack & Go chart so you can combine meals: brown rice, asparagus & chicken or green beans, brown rice & fish. Package them in separate baggies in the fridge or freezer. Simple! Don’t like or don’t have some of those ingredients? Use the chart to make whatever sounds appealing to you!

Try to prep two weeks at a time when you can to give yourself more time out of the kitchen. Making 10 meals is hardly more work or mess than making 5. Pick a day and devote part of it to prepping your meals for the week.

Always make extra! If you’re making a meal for your family of 4, double the recipe so that you have dinner for another night that week or tupperware lunch for the following day at work. When you have pieces of meals left-over, put them in zip loc baggies and then in a freezer bag labeled with the portion size. Bring 1 Tupperware container as a meal "plate" for the day.

ALWAYS have your Pack & Go chart on you. Take a picture & save it on your phone for help making better decisions at restaurants.

Plan ahead and make small meals and snacks for yourself! “Zip-Loc out” your portions for quick grabs: nuts, jerky, chopped veggies, fruits, wheat pretzels, hard boiled eggs, cheese and deli meat combos.

Make your own trail mix to use as a full meal/snack in your unit size: jerky as your protein, wheat pretzels and dried fruits as your carbs, nuts as your fat.

Ground meat: Weigh your portion of cooked ground meat on a food scale. Find a serving utensil that holds that exact amount so you can use that exact utensil every time you cook ground meat to save you the weighing out step.

Make rice, quinoa and amaranth ahead of time and grab and go. All can be frozen in quart-sized zip-locs and later tossed right into a skillet when needed.

Never be caught without food! Store a meal replacement bar in your car, purse, or desk to make sure you never get hungry enough to make bad decisions (or to go to the grocery store hungry, big mistake!)

Try out these tips at home and on the go. Hopefully they help you make good choices and stick to your program, even if you’re busy, out and about, or super hungry. You got this!