National Nutrition Month: The Importance of Meal Planning for Seniors
2 Minute ReadMarch is National Nutrition Month, which means it’s a great time to keep up with the immediate health care needs of our parents and senior loved ones. Having a healthy lifestyle is important for all ages, but it’s easy to neglect your health and well-being as you get older. It’s important to check in with your overall lifestyle and yourself often.The physical and mental challenges facing many seniors can make the meal planning and cooking process much more difficult. when you get older. It takes time, patience, and energy that many seniors may not have. Regardless, eating healthfully and having an active lifestyle are important tools that support healthy aging.
Today, we’re sharing helpful tips about meal prepping and how LifeWorx can help you obtain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
- Plan ahead
To avoid repeating recipes or missing ingredients, it’s better to plan at least 3-4 days in advance. This also allows more time to include all considerations when preparing meals for a senior individual like underlying medical conditions or medication interactions. - Create routines
A structured daily meal routine can provide your loved one with a wide variety of benefits, including reduced anxiety, better sleep, and increased feelings of safety. Preparing dishes beforehand also means meals can be reliably eaten at the same time every day. - Check with the doctor
Check with your senior’s physician to see if they recommend a specific type of diet or have meal planning resources to share. - Try batch cooking
Batch cooking offers the opportunity to prepare meals even further in advance and can be a great tool for busy family members who want to cook something for their loved ones residing in an assisted living facility. Prepare and cook healthy meals in batches, store individual servings in airtight glass containers, label, and freeze! This way, your loved one can easily thaw and reheat a meal in the microwave. - Re-assess regularly
It’s important to re-assess your meal planning strategy regularly to make room for seasonal ingredients, changes in taste, or dietary needs. Keep mealtime interesting!
Our experienced caregivers can take the stress out of mealtime and help provide your family with nourishing meals—LifeWorx is here to help.
Find your peace-of-mind.
Explore LifeWorx’ in-home elder care services.
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