Permanent weight loss results are more likely to happen when you place your focus on long-term lifestyle changes.

This is why learning to prepare nutritious meals using a variety of ingredients is important. Here are some tips to help you make the most of your healthy meal ideas.

Use Healthy Ingredients to Prepare Meals

Using some types of foods to prepare your meals can hinder your weight loss efforts and contribute to dangerous health conditions. For instance, preparing recipes with sugar can add unnecessary calories to your meals and increase your risk of diabetes. If you are serious about losing weight, avoid using sugar in your recipes.

Stick with organic meats, poultry and eggs; these products don’t contain growth hormones, antibiotics or other unhealthy chemicals.

Also, organic fruits, vegetables and herbs are better to use in healthy meals because they are not covered with synthetic pesticides.

Leafy vegetables such as spinach and lettuce, and thin-skinned produce such as apples, nectarines, potatoes, grapes and celery are especially vulnerable to pesticide penetration. For this reason, it is important to buy these types of fruits and veggies organic.

When you sauté or fry your foods, use healthy oils like olive or coconut. Olive oil is made when olives are crushed and the oil inside is released. This type of oil raises good cholesterol levels and helps prevent heart disease.

Coconut oil is extracted from the meat of the coconut. Once believed to be unhealthy, coconut oil is now recognized as one of the healthiest oils around.

Coconut oil prevents high cholesterol and heart disease. This oil can also assist you in your efforts to lose weight because it increases your metabolism.

Be Creative and Prevent Boredom with Your Daily Diet Plan

When you’re trying to lose weight, learning to prepare a variety of healthy meals can prevent boredom and keep you from returning to your old eating habits. Invest in a few cookbooks, find healthy recipes online and experiment with your own recipes.

Don’t be afraid to add, eliminate or substitute the ingredients in recipes to create new flavors.

For instance, instead of using parsley in a recipe, try using basil or some other fresh herb. If you always use beef in your favorite stew, try using chicken or pork sometimes.

To shake things up a bit, try out a new recipe every week, and experiment with foods you’ve never tried before. When you find recipes you love, write them down or print them out, and put them in a binder.

Recipes for Healthy Meal Ideas

The number of meals and sauces you can create using healthy ingredients are endless. These are just a couple of simple ideas:

Lemon Pepper Dressing

• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

• 1 tbsp wine vinegar

• 1 clove of minced garlic

• ½ cup of olive oil

• ¼ tsp salt

• ½ tsp cracked black peppercorns

Place the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together with a wire whisk. Drizzle this dressing over salad, beef or chicken, or use it as a dip for your favorite veggies.

Grilled Chicken Breasts

• 4 boneless chicken breast halves without the skin

• ¼ cup of olive oil

• freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1 lemon

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp salt

Mix olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice together in a bowl to make the marinade.  Place the chicken in the marinade and let it sit in the refrigerator for one hour.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill it for 6 to 8 minutes on each side. Grilled chicken breasts are delicious served with a side of asparagus, steamed carrots or broccoli.

As more people are growing concerned with a healthy diet, more people are starting to look for healthier meal ideas. Healthy meals do not have to be complex or taste terrible. Here are some healthy meal ideas featuring a variety of foods to make your meal planning easier.

Fish Based Healthy Low-Calorie Meals

Fish is an incredibly healthy meat option because of the necessary Omega 3 fatty acids. For those who enjoy it, there are several options for a healthy meal based around fish.

Check out:

 • Grilled Tuna Steaks with Salad
• Salmon with Asparagus and Steamed Potatoes
• Tuna Steaks with Cous Cous and Corn on the Cob
• Grilled or Steamed Salmon Seasoned to Taste and Served with a Vegetable Medley

Chicken and Turkey Based Healthy Meals

Chicken and Turkey are far healthier than red meats, and are great alternatives for the people who do not enjoy fish based meals.

Check out these ideas:

• Grilled Chicken with Whole Grain Rice and Steamed Vegetables
• Turkey Casserole with Tomatoes and Sweet Corn
• Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
• Chicken or Turkey Wraps with Baked Potato
• Chicken or Turkey with Pasta and Steamed Vegetables

Healthy Vegetarian Based Meals

Vegetarian meals are a wonderful way to eat healthy. Even people who are not strictly vegetarian can make a more affordable meal by leaving out the meat component. Since protein and other nutrients found in meat can also come from produce, you don’t have to sacrifice nutrition or taste.

Check out these ideas:

• Stir Fry with your choice of vegetables
• Vegetable Curry with Brown Rice
• Fettuccine Alfredo (provided you still eat cheese products)
• Macaroni and Cheese (provided you still eat cheese products)
• Vegetable Soup
• Spaghetti with Marinara

Healthy Meal Tips for Dessert

Even when eating healthy, we are still going to crave sweet foods. This is where fruit salads, yogurt, and healthy whole grain cereals can come in handy. Freeze plain yogurt and top with a fruit medley to mimic ice cream. Try a Jell-O Pudding Snack, or making your own Jell-O parfait.

When choosing your healthy meal options, remember that fruits and vegetables are important. You can eat lots of them without worrying so much about your calorie intake. Consider low fat and low calorie alternatives to things such as butter and whipped cream. This will make your meals more healthy without having to sacrifice on taste!

If you want to get healthy meals on a budget, consider using a wholesale club to purchase your meat items in bulk. This will cut down on the price per pound and you can purchase several nights worth of meals at once.

To save time cooking, you can prepare all the meat together, freezing it until you are ready to use it. Steamed vegetables are available frozen and will steam in the microwave in the bag, so when you’re in a pinch you can thaw your cooked chicken, turkey, or fish, and serve it with the microwave steamed vegetables for a healthy snack in a hurry.