Getting Organized: Using Meal Planning to Simplify Nutrition for Your Family

By Shanele Healy | January 9, 2019 | Comments Off on Getting Organized: Using Meal Planning to Simplify Nutrition for Your Family

Getting organized can be an exceptional way to enhance your care efforts for your senior. As a family caregiver, you deal with a wide variety of challenges and responsibilities on a daily basis, and these can quickly become confusing and feel overwhelming. Putting effort into getting your care efforts organized enables you to simplify tasks, maximize the effectiveness of all you do for your senior, and ensure you are able to manage everything for all those who rely on you.

Senior Care Pineville NC – Getting Organized: Using Meal Planning to Simplify Nutrition for Your Family

There are many beneficial ways you can get organized in your care journey, but one that can be especially beneficial is meal planning. Good nutrition is important for everyone, and especially if you are in the sandwich generation caring for your elderly parent and your children, you are likely managing the nutrition needs for many different people. Using meal planning enables you to think ahead, shop effectively, and save time while also solving the “what’s for dinner?” question with good quality nutrition rather than reaching for convenience foods or calling for delivery.

Use these tips to effectively utilize meal planning as part of organizing your care journey with your senior:

Evaluate the tastes of everyone in your family so you can choose recipes that appeal to your parent, your children, your partner, and you. This allows you to make double or triple batches of these meals so you can simplify your meal preparation time.

Make large batches of meals when practical so you can then freeze portions for easier meals later.

Set aside a day every week or two weeks to create meal plans for the week or two to come, then create your grocery list based on those meals. This will help you to maximize your grocery shopping efforts and save money because you avoid purchasing the “what if” items.

Have a few “alternative” meal options available that allow you to adapt your schedule and plans as necessary. One thing you can absolutely predict about being a family caregiver, and a parent, is that it is unpredictable and you are likely to experience incidents and events you are not expecting. This means your plans might not work out exactly as you had them. Having meals that are easy to put together with pantry items or frozen goods allows you to quickly change your course without much extra effort.

Being a family caregiver doesn’t mean taking over your senior’s life or making every decision for them. In fact, one of the best ways you can enhance your senior quality of life and show them respect and love is to encourage independence and autonomy. Bringing senior care into their daily routine is a fantastic way to accomplish this. A senior home care services provider can offer your aging loved one support and assistance designed specifically to enable them to maintain their health and safety, pursue activity and engagement in the world around them, a highest quality of life as they age in place.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Senior Care Services in Pineville NC, please call the professional staff at Caring at Heart today at (704) 379-7510. Serving Charlotte, Statesville, Ballantyne, Mooresville, Huntersville, Matthews, Concord, Gastonia, Pineville and Indian Trail.

Shanele Healy
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Posted in Healthy Eating for Seniors, Senior Care Pineville NC and tagged