Lazy ways to transition from summer to fall
Summer happened. That's ok.
Summer can disrupt our routines and lead to:
- Irregular or erratic eating times
- Inconsistent grocery shopping
- Less meal planning
- Fewer nutrient-dense foods
- More eating out
- More grazing
You don't need to start over
- There is no need to re-invent the wheel.
- Focus on getting back to the routines that worked for you in the past.
- Work to reactivate old habits instead of reinventing new habits (restart vs. start over).
- If you want to make changes, you can make tweaks once routines are re-established.
Beware of these transition traps
- Thinking that normal, seasonal changes are personal failures.
- Expecting the transition to happen immediately and flawlessly.
- Approaching the transition with an “all-or-nothing” mindset instead of viewing it as a process.
- Relying on motivation instead of problem-solving.
Transition Strategies
- Do a kitchen reset.
- This isn’t a deep clean, it’s just a quick sweep.
- Toss expired food, unused leftovers, and anything else that has been hanging around for a while.
- Re-establish food and equipment organization zones.
- Take inventory of what you on hand.
- Get back to consistent grocery shopping.
- Look at the week ahead and pick a grocery day.
- Consider pick-up and delivery options for convenience.
- Shop with a list to help you plan ahead and stay focused.
- Don’t try to restock everything at once - start with some staples and build from there.
- Re-establish regular eating times.
- The routines of fall can make it easier to get back to more predictable meal times.
- If you have been skipping meals or snacks over the summer, start to incorporate them again (start with one meal or snack and build from there).
- Look at the week ahead to predict when eating times might need to be adjusted so you can plan accordingly.
- Make a game plan for meals.
- Shop for three to five default meals that are easy to prepare.
- Dinner tends to be the focus, but don’t forget about breakfast and lunch (again, take it one meal at a time).
- Restock your pantry so that you have supplies for “emergency meals.”
- If you used to prep meal or snack components ahead of time, pick one to get back to.
- Bring back the grab-and-go zone.
- Fall may have more routine but it’s still busy, so restock with nutrient-dense grab-and-go items such as:
- Ready-to-eat produce (e.g. apples, bananas, berries, grapes, oranges, baby bell peppers, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, snap peas, snow peas)
- Fruit cups, dried fruit, applesauce pouches
- Yogurt or cottage cheese cups
- Hard-cooked eggs
- Cheese sticks or cubes
- Nuts or seeds
- Roasted edamame or chickpeas
- Whole grain crackers
- Popped popcorn
- Individual cups of hummus or guacamole
- Minimally processed bars such as Larabars or RxBars
- Fall may have more routine but it’s still busy, so restock with nutrient-dense grab-and-go items such as:
- Make simple swaps
- If nutrient-dense foods have gotten replaced with less healthful choices, start with small swaps:
- Whole grains instead of white grains
- Nuts or popcorn instead of chips
- Sparkling water or unsweetened tea instead of soda or juice
- 100% fruit popsicle or frozen chocolate-covered fruit instead of ice cream
- Ground chicken or turkey instead of ground beef
- Leafy green salad at dinner instead of bread or rolls
- Hummus or guacamole for dipping instead of ranch dressing
- If nutrient-dense foods have gotten replaced with less healthful choices, start with small swaps: