Meal preparation is in my opinion the most significant factor in preventing people from following a healthy diet. When it’s time to eat, most people are either too hungry or too tired to invest time and effort into preparing a truly healthy and nutritious meal. With a little planning, however, this is an excuse that you should never be justified in using again.

The healthiest meals are those based on whole foods, but for many people, the time it takes to prepare this type of meal is both a problem and an inconvenience. Fortunately, even for the busiest people, meal preparation can be streamlined to the point of it being a minimal time commitment.

Think of how easy it is to pack dinner leftovers for the next day’s lunch. When lunchtime arrives, there’s no thought or effort involved. You simply grab the meal you packed, heat it up if appropriate, and eat. It couldn’t be any easier. The key to simplifying the preparation of healthy meals is very similar in concept. In short, you intentionally prepare a bunch meals in advance. The following are 3 simple steps for doing so.

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Animals raised in a natural environment and on their natural diet are likely be healthier, and in turn, be a source of higher quality meat. Based on this premise, choosing meat from pasture raised animals makes a lot of sense and is supported by research that has identified a number of ways in which this type of meat is superior. However, a recent study done by researchers from Texas A&M is being used to claim the opposite, that beef from grain fed cattle is healthier than beef from pasture fed cattle.

Although there are many great reasons to choose meat from pasture raised livestock, eating conventionally produced meat is not necessarily a guarantee for poor health. Someone who primarily eats whole foods, is active, and manages stress well will still be likely to enjoy good health despite the concerns associated with conventionally produced meat. However, to insinuate in a general sense that beef from grain fed cattle is healthier than that from pasture fed beef is quite a stretch in my opinion.

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Snacking is a convenient way to suppress appetite and obtain nutrients between meals, but most snack foods are highly processed and full of sugar. The difficulty in finding a healthy and appealing snack food is a challenge that can easily ruin an otherwise healthy diet. Because of its nutritional value, convenience, and great taste, beef jerky is an excellent snack that can help to solve this problem, but as with most foods, there are a number of factors to consider in regard to quality and health.

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