Preparation and IBD

Being prepared is an extremely important step in managing IBD. It can help reduce stress, increase your nutrition, and help you to enjoy your life more.

There are many aspects of being prepared, including:

 

• What does it mean to be prepared?

 

• Meal prepping

 

• Grocery shopping

 

• Being honest with yourself

 

• The affects of being prepared

 

• How I stay prepared

 

We will go into each of these in detail. And you will see how being prepared in a crucial step in managing IBD.

Preparation and IBD: What Does It Mean to be Prepared?

 

Being prepared means a variety of things. It means never leaving the house without snacks. It means looking into a restaurant before going. It means meal prepping each week. And strategically grocery shopping.

 

It means making a Meal Plan each week.  Grocery shopping for that plan.  Then meal prepping the meals.  

 

Being prepared means minimizing the times you are caught out without a plan.

 

Meal Prepping

Meal prepping is a crucial step in being preparation and IBD. Meal prepping is the concept of preparing meals, or dishes ahead of time. This way when you are busy throughout the week, you have nutritious meals ready to heat up.

 

Meal prepping will help you reach your nutrition goals. Which is so important when managing IBD. As you need high levels of nutrition to heal gut dysbiosis and chronic inflammation.

 

It helps you avoid a situation, where you are too busy or tired to cook. When you may be tempted to eat something that you shouldn’t. It helps prevents weakening in regards to your diet.

 

If you already have a delicious, healthy meal in the freezer. You are less likely to order in, or eat a less-than-nutritious meal.

 

Did you know that nearly 1/3 of all food produced worldwide, is wasted?

 

Meal prepping helps to reduce food waste. You tend to use larger quantities of ingredients when you meal prep. This means no half-finished bags of spinach. Or partially used vegetables rotting in the back of the fridge.

 

Meal prepping allows you to only buy the number of ingredients that you will actually use.  Reducing food and money, waste.

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping, and meal prepping go hand in hand. I find that aiming to grocery shop once per week works best for me.

 

I make a Meal Plan for what I am going to eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner for the week. I make sure I getting enough food that I am never tempted to eat out or break my diet.

 

I make a written grocery list each week. This ensures that I have all the ingredients that I need for my meal prep plan for the whole week.  It also reduces stress, and compulsive purchases while in the grocery store.

 

Be Honest with Yourself

There is no point in meal prepping, or grocery shopping if you are not honest with yourself.  In order to be successful, you need a realistic plan. If you try to buy less than you need, or make meals that you will not enjoy. You are only setting yourself up for failure.

 

If you are leaving the house for a few hours. Be realistic with yourself about whether you need to bring a snack or meal with you. And be realistic about how long an outing will take.  Always err on the side of caution.

 

It’s best to always have a safe food with you. That way if you get held up, or meet a friend downtown. You do not have to rush back home because you are starving.

 

The Benefits of Preparation and IBD

Have you ever experienced food anxiety when you have eaten a food that you are not sure about?

 

Well the best way to avoid this, is to be prepared.

 

Being prepared with healthy, nutritious food options has so many benefits.

 

It can reduce anxiety. It can reduce your stress levels. It can mean less situations where you are starving, but cannot find a ‘safe food’ to eat.

 

It means less mistakes with your diet.  And more healing.

 

Preparation and IBD leads to more enjoyment. You feel better about yourself, and prioritizing your health. You feel less hungry (and hangry). More relaxed. And better prepared to face whatever challenges life may throw at you.

 

How I Stay Prepared

 

I work 12-hour shifts at my job, 7 days a fortnight. So being prepared is essential for my healing. I do not have the time, or energy to make myself a meal when I finish work. Nor do I have time in the morning to make myself lunch.

There are a few key things that I do every single week to stay prepared.

The first thing that I do is make a Meal Plan for the week. It is constantly evolving as I am adding new foods to my diet. But it currently looks something like this:

• Fruit smoothie every day for breakfast
• Snacks: hummus and cucumber, coconut yogurt with fruit, banana or peeled apples with almond butter
• Lunch: boiled eggs with side cooked vegetables
• Dinner (per week):
  • 1x pasta
  • 1x fish
  • 1x vegetarian
  • 3-4x meal prepped meals

Now that I have this basic outline, I fill in the blanks. I decide what fruit to have with my yogurt. What my side of cooked veg I want for lunch. What type of pasta sauce I will make, etc.

 

For my meal prep dinners, I usually make one type of meal (like curry, roast dinner or soup). And make enough for 5 dinners (10 portions total, for my partner and I).

 

Each week we eat a meal prepped dinner for around 3 nights. And the extra 2+ meals are put into rotation for the following weeks. This way we don’t have to eat the same thing for all 3-meal prepped dinners.

 

I am personally not bothered eating the same breakfast and lunch every single day. I don’t even mind repeating a meal for dinner. It makes life so much easier.

 

But if you do mind, you can make a few different meal-prepped meals the first week you start. That way you have more variety right from the start.  

 

When I get my groceries back home, I put away the frozen and refrigerated stuff (like yogurt and meat). And leave the rest of the items out on my table. I spend the next few hours cooking most of it.

 

I usually spend about 3-4 hours per week meal prepping. From that I get 10 individual dinners. 5-6 lunches. And some snacks like hummus, banana bread, or cookies.

 

Afterwards my fridge is organized, and mostly empty. And my freezer is full of ready to heat up meals.

 

I know exactly what I am going to eat every single day, right from the beginning of the week. That doesn’t mean that sometimes I don’t change it up, or flex with whatever is happening. But it does mean that I always have a plan to follow, and fall back on.

 

Preparation and IBD helps me achieve my health goals. Diet is the key to healing a chronic disease. And for healing to occur, you need to eat highly nutritious, anti-inflammatory foods. Every single day, for the rest of your life.

 

Being prepared can seem like extra effort. But if you want to heal your body, it is a necessary step.

 

Meal prepping, grocery shopping, and being honest with yourself. Are all important aspects of making your own, personal formula for being prepared.

 

I have experienced that these skills have helped me immensely, along my own healing journey.