The most important aspect when it comes to weight loss is knowing how to choose and make healthy meals quickly. The reason why many people are overweight is because it is very easy to just order or settle for unhealthy fast food instead of taking time to plan a healthy menu for the week, a process that is mostly cumbersome and time consuming.

At the end of the article you’ll get a very healthy menu for the week and also learn the tips and tricks you can apply to throw together cheap easy meals in the record time and ensure that they are healthy. You’ll also learn the small changes you can make in your meals to ensure that the food you’re taking is providing you with the necessary nutrients needed by the body while reducing the calories you get from the food. You will also get links to awesome resources available to you to help you make healthier meal choices.

The good thing is that you know yourself best. Start by analyzing what you eat, when and how much to really understand your eating habits. This can be done easily by recording everything you put into your mouth. This will provide a wealth of information and the starting point since it gives an insight into the choices you’ve been making when it comes to your food. You’ll know the relationship between your emotions and the food you eat and that makes it so much easier for you to make the necessary adjustments. If you do not know what you’re currently doing wrong, you cannot correct it.

There’s a saying that goes, ‘Eat your breakfast yourself, share lunch with a friend, and give your dinner to your enemy.’

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day with very good reasons. It is the meal that determines the metabolic rate for the day. Eating a healthy filling breakfast ensures that your body metabolism will be high, you’ll have the energy to face the new day’s challenges and activities, and that your mood is lifted.

Choose a high fibre breakfast and ensure that you take proteins like eggs. These take a long time to get digested and will make you full for longer.

Avoid cheese, butter and mayonnaise in your healthy menu for the week, for they contain high amounts of fat and calories per serving. Instead, add low calorie fillings like spicy mustard to your sandwich.

Instead of snacking on chocolates, cookies and other high sugar, high fat snacks, go for the negative calories alternatives. These are foods that have so little calories in them that they actually use up more calories to get them digested than they provide. Examples are celery, broccoli and zuchinni. Another great tip is to keep a bottle of water near you whether at your desk or in the car. Reach for it when you feel like snacking and that is sure to curb your craving for sugarly unhealthy snacks.

If you must cheat, opt for healthier alternatives Fat free frozen yogurt (low sugar) in place of an Ice cream or Protein bar (low sugar) instead of a Candy bar

If you crave your favorite bad food for lunch, give your body a treat by opting for a healthier alternative. Pick the food with less sugar or fat.

Make healthy choices also when it comes to fats. When choosing cooking oils, choose the ones with high mono-unsaturated fats and low in saturated fats. Examples include olive oil, almond oil and canola oil. Essential fatty acids like Omega-3 fatty acids are also very important. Salmon and albacore tuna are great sources of omega-3 fatty acids. These essential fatty acids help prevent and treat various disorders like non-insulin-dependent (or type 2) diabetes. They also play a part in keeping cholesterol levels low, stabilizing an irregular heartbeat, and reducing blood pressure.

When dinning out, fight the temptations that would sabotage your healthy eating or weight loss program.  Free food items like break and butter are common culprits. Have them removed before hand. Ask for meals that have been broiled, roasted or grilled with olive oil instead of butter to save yourself from hundreds of calories.