You may find healthy meal planning; a real difficult job in the beginning but it is worth getting in to the habit. You will be able to save a lot of time and energy for yourself on thinking about what to cook for the day. If you plan in advance, you can easily shop ahead and save your time.

Here are some healthy meal planer tips to help you succeed in your mission and getting organized:

a) Build up store cupboard

You need to stock your store cupboard and refrigerator for items that you would require for weeks. Try to keep canned pulses, pasta, olives, dried herbs, frozen vegetables, tomato passata, spices, tuna and other fish. All these items are healthy and allow you to make quick simple meal that fits well in your weekly meal planner.

b) Collect Recipes

Collecting recipes will do a great job for you. You can get these from friends or from the internet. Try to collect some easy time saving recipes from different books and magazines. This will let you enjoy a variety of dishes on a daily basis and even maintain your health.

c) Packed lunches

It is important to include packed lunches in your plans. Try to add a list of sandwich filling to your menu. Make sue that your lunch and evening meals have different foods.

d) Vegetables

It would be wise to include a lot of vegetables at every meal. You need to cut down on servings of meal or fatty foods. These are healthy and take less time to save.

e) Use healthy cooking method

The method of healthy cooking plays an important role in your health. Opt for healthy cooking methods such as stir-frying, stewing, steaming or braising. You can even opt for over baking. All these methods are healthy and provide you good amount of nutrients.

f) Fruits

Include a good amount of fresh fruits to your meal plan. These are very necessary to provide you the amount of fibre you require on a daily basis. You would also get a good amount of vitamins and minerals this way.

g) Less sugary treats

Limit sugary treats. Try to replace honey with sugar. This will help you get in shape and keep the taste.

h) Use skim milk

Skim milk is low in fat and works towards providing the same amount of nutrients and calcium the full cream milk does.

i) Whole grains

Including whole grains are really important for a healthy diet. You can include whole wheat, brown beat, brown rice, oatmeal, whole grain barley and millet. Avoid food with refined grains such as breads, pastas and breakfast cereals.

j) Oils

Olive oil is a great option as it low in fat and cholesterol.

k) Protein

Make sure that your health diet plan includes a good amount of protein. Include a variety of poultry, beans, nuts, eggs, fish, peas and seeds.

Okay so maybe that’s an exaggeration. After all there are thousands of foods that are good for you and millions that are bad !! There are top twenty lists for muscle building, for endurance, for speed, for losing weight, for every contingency. These are the top twenty foods, in my view ,which can contribute to general health, a healthy diet, keeping illness at bay and in some cases helping you live longer. Although there’s 20 they’re not in any particular order. In this article I’ll be covering my top ten. Look for the follow up which continues with numbers 11-20.

So let’s start off with:

1.Chocolate: Sorry ,only joking !! Its not chocolate but the raw cacao bean which is the main ingredient of chocolate. Whilst chocolate is really not a good contributor to a healthy diet this bean is fantastic ! It contains anti-oxidants that protect the cardio-vascular system, tryptophan which makes you feel great, magnesium and potassium as well as dopamine a neurotransmitter which can help you get motivated. Use the raw bean in yogurt, fruit salad, desserts, smoothies and just about anything else you fancy.

2.The number 2 ingredient towards maintaining a healthy lifestyle is one of the cheapest foods on the planet watercress. This great little food contains lots of Vitamin C, calcium, folic acid and iron. It will even help protect you from cancer as it also contains phenylethyl isothiocyanate , a cancer fighting ingredient.

3.Broccoli weighs in at number 3. One of the most under rated superfoods and possibly the least popular as many people think it tastes bland, this vegetable can also help you live longer. Like water cress it can help prevent cancer as it contains Indole-3-Carbinol. Also like water cress it has lots of calcium,and iron as well as sulphur. Why buy detoxifying remedies-this food will do it all for you !

4.Alfalfa Sprouts: at number 4 the humble alfalfa sprout is great for having a healthy lifestyle. This contains so much stuff that’s good for you that you’ll be bouncing with energy and vitality. Included are : Vitamin K, B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, calcium, as well as amino acids and iron. I’ll ask you again: why buy expensive vitamin supplements when you can buy these ?

5.Beetroots- love ‘em or hate ‘em these come in at number five. The green leafy tops are great for a healthy diet- they contain calcium, iron and beta-carotene. They’re also a great source of vitamin A , potassium and manganese. To finish off with beetroot is also meant to improve your circulation, purify the blood and detoxify your system. Wow !

6.Nettles: Not a romantic food I know but nettles can help you achieve a healthy diet. They can give you energy, and reduce water retention and high blood pressure. Not bad for starters but they also contain iron, potassium and vitamin C as well as cleansing the bowels, the blood and the urinary tract.

7.Ginger: ginger has been used for hundreds of years to help treat sickness and nausea. But did you know that it can also treat indigestion and bad circulation. It can boost the immune system and if you grate it into honey and lemon it will help you fight off colds and get rid of mucus.

8.Hemp seeds; weighing in at 8 to help you with a healthy lifestyle is the humble hemp seed. These have Vitamin E as well as essential fats Omega 3 and Omega 6. Eat them with salad, on their own or sprinkled liberally with sweet potato, soup or just about anything else you fancy.

9.Flax seeds: Sprinkle these on salads and yoghurts. They contain Omega 3 fats and a gel that lubricates the bowel. Not pretty but effective! They can also help lower blood pressure and help balance female hormones as they contain lignans.

10.Artichokes: Great for helping you to keep to a healthy diet. These have been used to stimulate liver cell regeneration and to help stop fatty plaques building up inside the walls of the arteries, which causes high blood pressure.

So what do you think? Are these superfoods or not ? Cancer curing, aids to help you keep a healthy lifestyle. And cheap and easy to buy. What more could you possibly want? In my next article I’ll deal with numbers eleven to twenty. Coming soon.