Episode 10: Meal Planning Transcript
[00:00:06.225] - Ashley
Welcome to Nutrition Navigator's podcasts, bringing nutrition and wellness to you. Together, we learn from a variety of health professionals about their stories and how they contribute to the world that's wellness. Our program is called Nutrition Navigators, where we aim to help college students navigate nutrition on and off campus. We focus on diversity and work to make wellness a less stressful place where all bodies are celebrated. We're a monthly podcast and my name is Ashley Monroe. I'm one of the nutrition counselors at Campus Health and the advisor for this program.
[00:00:35.385] - Ashley
My co-host today is Amarissa. She's a dietetic intern from TMC. Thank you, Amarissa, for helping out today. We're excited to have you. On today's episode we have Christy Wilson, one of our dietitians from Campus Health and the advisor for cooking on campus. She's here to talk to us about meal planning. She shares her tips and ways that college students can get in the groove of making meals of things that you want to eat, and just to note that all the content on the podcast is for general audiences only and is intended to be for informational and educational purposes and is not a substitute for individual medical or mental health advice.
[00:01:13.425] - Ashley
Now, let's welcome back to the show, Christy Wilson.
[00:01:21.735] - Amarissa
All right, well hi Christy! Can you tell our viewers a little bit about who you are and what you do?
[00:01:27.615] - Christy
Yes. So my name's Christy Wilson. I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at University of Arizona's Campus Health Service. I see students one on one, I'm a nutrition counselor, and then I'm also the staff advisor for cooking on campus, which is a student-led cooking class that's now virtual, and I oversee that program. So that's my role at UofA.
[00:01:58.285] - Ashley
Awesome, and thank you for coming back. I know Christy has been on the podcast before, so we're welcoming Christy back to the podcast.
[00:02:04.935] - Ashley
Since you are our resident cooking expert and run cooking on campus, we're going to talk about meal planning today in the sense of, how do students embrace that word and maybe what it means? I guess meal planning is all over the internet, you could kind of Google "meal plan", "meal planning", maybe we should talk about the difference of that. Do you think there's a difference between meal planning and a meal plan?
[00:02:36.185] - Christy
"Meal prep" is the other sort of verbiage around this whole process as well as "food prep", so there is meal prep, food prep, and meal plan, but they all don't exactly mean the same thing.
[00:02:51.845] - Ashley
I think that's what makes it confusing.
[00:02:53.915] - Christy
It is.
[00:02:54.365] - Ashley
What do we want, really?
[00:02:56.105] - Christy
Yeah. So meal planning is the process that asks and answers that question of what's for dinner? What's for lunch? What's for fill-in-the-blank snack? So it allows you to choose those recipes and meals ahead of time that fit your schedule and fit your lifestyle. Meal prep or the preparation is really a crucial step to that plan. It's that framework that allows you that time to get ready for the day, the week, the next meal. It really is one of the most underrated healthy living tools that exists and that we talk about because, in the end, that planning saves you time and the prepping saves you a lot of stress for the upcoming day and week ahead.
[00:03:54.575] - Ashley
Yeah, because it's hard to know, what am I going to eat right now if nothing's ready to go? The decision that's a barrier for me in making that choice of nourishing myself is that nothing is ready so I don't know what I want.
[00:04:07.145] - Christy
Right! And there, you know, it starts before you go to the grocery store. That's what I tell my patients. You know, the idea of it is great and it's appealing. You see all these videos, you hear podcasts, and people are doing it. Even at the grocery store, they sell packs of those meal prepping containers.
[00:04:29.585] - Ashley
Like those little black containers with different spots?
[00:04:33.185] - Christy
Yeah!
[00:04:33.665] - Ashley
They're like an adult lunchables, I think.
[00:04:37.355] - Christy
They even sell them in bulk now. So you're you're seeing that it is a thing now. It's not just a little trend. It's really here to stay.
[00:04:47.885] - Ashley
And how is that different then? When someone comes in or someone's talking to so-and-so when we're out and about and they ask: "well, I need a meal plan". What's a meal plan then to you? Probably different for everybody.
[00:04:58.895] - Christy
Yeah. I think the difference between the meal prepping practice and a meal plan is that to me, this is my perception and my opinion: a meal plan is more a diet. You know, air quotes "a diet" to me that's more temporary. It's something that has its proverbial heels stuck into sort of this rigid back row.
[00:05:26.915] - Ashley
That's the word I was thinking when you said diet, it's the more rigid form. It's not flexible. It's rigid in the sense of eat this at this time, it's more rigid.
[00:05:39.755] - Christy
And the sustainability of maintaining that is just low.
[00:05:44.045] - Ashley
So what we're talking about today, more for everyone, our students specifically, because that's where our listeners are, is really tips for meal planning. Not so much this is a way to eat rigidly. It's more of like this is how to be flexible and plan so that you feel like you can, I don't know, do a good job feeding yourself regularly for the day.
[00:06:03.185] - Christy
Yeah, and feeding yourself is a way of taking care of yourself. And I think that that sort of gets ignored when we talk about foods and meals, you know, when you're preparing those foods for yourself or purchasing those particular ingredients or meals, it's a way of really taking care of yourself for that day and for the weeks ahead.
[00:06:26.085] - Amarissa
OK, well, thanks for that. I think that was a great to talk through the differences between the meal planning and the meal plan. So what are some ways that meal planning can be difficult for college students, would you say?
[00:06:38.195] - Christy
From working at campus health and working closely with students specifically, the challenges I think that I've found that students face and we all face this: time. I don't have any time. I don't have time to shop. I don't have time to cook. My schedule is crazy. I have classes in the morning. I have classes all the way to late at night. So ultimately, you know, that kind of working against the clock.
[00:07:05.975] - Ashley
I think I've seen some students not even have a break. They have back to back situations where there's not even this natural break in time to take a meal or a snack on.
[00:07:17.595] - Christy
Yeah, so that definitely is a barrier for, I think, just about anyone, but students included. The convenience of delivery and takeout is a real thing. Why would I put all this time, that I don't have, into grocery shopping and cooking when I can just get Door Dash or I could drive through and get a meal for, you know, two or three bucks. So there's that and sort of competing against that convenience culture. The other thing which, this is where Cooking on Campus, you know, a little shameless plug-
[00:07:58.455] - Ashley
Plug away!
[00:07:59.505] - Christy
Yeah. Is so helpful is the lack of skills in the kitchen and tools. Like, do you have a mixing bowl? Do you have a pan? Do you have a spatula? Do you have a cutting board? A decent knife besides just like a little paring knife?
[00:08:18.015] - Ashley
Or space, if they're in the dorm, like even space, right?
[00:08:20.655] - Christy
Exactly. So do you even have a kitchen area that you feel comfortable cooking in and then slap on a pandemic on top of all that? It's stressful. So I think there's a lot of things that might overlap into just kind of barriers that anyone would have. These are real things and for some students, this is the first time they're facing any and/or all of these barriers at the same time. So this is where dietitians can be so helpful!
[00:08:55.635] - Ashley
Well, I just think also this piece of compassion, to hear that this is hard for everyone and it can be really hard because all of these things, I think that's a really good point Christy made as they layer on one another in the sense of time, maybe lack of skills, because you've never had to do it before. Not because you're not a competent human, but because you've never had to. Maybe you've never had to make a meal before. I always tell this funny story. When I first went to college, I lived when we lived in a house sophomore year, I lived with two roommates and they had never used, I think, never used a dishwasher before. So they used the Dawn dish soap in the dishwasher. It was like an episode of I Love Lucy, and it filled the whole kitchen with suds. It wasn't because they didn't want to wash the dishes. It's just like they had never had to use that appliance before. You never know, maybe they've never hand washed dishes before.
[00:09:48.315] - Christy
That would have been me. I did that and I was an intern, so I was out of college. I didn't grow up in a house with a dishwasher so I had no clue. There was an old Brady Bunch episode, for the ancient people like me, where they were swimming in suds. I was like, oh my God, that was me. I did that.
[00:10:11.145] - Ashley
Here's me dating myself, I wasn't actually there. I know they were freaking out like, "we got to clean all this up before Ashley gets home" and this is in a time where we didn't have phones that took pictures. So, there's dating me a little bit, so they couldn't take a picture. I have a beautiful picture in my head of how hilarious that must have been, but I don't actually have an actual picture. But yeah, I think that's a good point. And that's why Cooking on Campus exists and is so successful is that you gain some skills just to feel confident in being able to look at a vegetable or look at rice at the grocery store and be like, oh, I can cook that or I can do that.
[00:10:50.625] - Christy
Yeah, so Cooking on Campus, it's free, it's virtual and classes are coming up for the semester. Our first cooking class will be tomorrow with respect to when this podcast is going live. We go over very basic skills like how to hold a knife and, basically, how to go from boiling water to a meal. A lot of these recipes are mostly assembly type recipes, which is really helpful, meaning you're not actually cooking, I mean, it's called "cooking on campus", but sometimes we're not actually cooking. We're just sort of putting things together in a bowl and it really tastes good and it's budget friendly. The student, who is our audience, is paramount when we plan out these classes. We keep these recipes quick, they taste good- of course, and they're budget friendly. They're not complicated. We want to encourage people to cook and make meals for themselves, not discourage them.
[00:11:56.445] - Ashley
I think that piece, too, of making it so folks feel confident that they can just get the ball rolling. What are some ways, I guess this is one of the questions too, if-OK, now I know what a meal and what a meal planning is, and it's kind of planning my meals for the day, is there a couple steps I can take to getting to my plan. What do you sometimes, if I'm a student and I come to see you and I ask you: "I would like to start a meal planning", what are some ways I can even get started doing that?
[00:12:23.875] - Christy
One of my suggestions is to pick out a few recipes that sound good or that you've made before that you really like maybe it's something your mom or dad would cook, that you could realistically cook yourself in whatever kitchen environment that you have access to. So pick out a few recipes for the week, then create a grocery list that will make sure that you have all of those ingredients that you need to actually prepare that meal. Because the worst situation or, not worst, I mean, the most frustrating situation is you're ready to go, you're in the kitchen, you're like, OK I'm doing it and then you're missing one or two ingredients. That is just so frustrating. I've been there many, many times.
[00:13:23.635] - Ashley
I know. I sometimes have to Google what the replacement for blank is. It's often, I think, a spice or something that I don't have. It's not always a huge ingredient in the recipe, but sometimes I like what's a substitute for...parsley, cumin, or whatever.
[00:13:42.835] - Christy
Yeah. And sometimes not having one ingredient isn't going to break the whole recipe. Especially if it's like, a particular spice or something, a vegetable that you could swap out with another vegetable. That's not really a big deal. That's the other thing, is allowing yourself that grace and flexibility to maybe not have things one hundred percent of the original plan. But, yes, having those few recipes, creating a grocery list based on what those ingredients are. Then that way, once you're shopping, you know exactly what you're getting and it's not this haphazard activity. I love grocery shopping, but I know that I'm the minority here. I don't think a lot of people get that enjoyment, especially now, because it's stressful. You got to have your mask and you want to get in and out. It makes that grocery shopping trip more efficient and there's more purpose behind it.
[00:14:44.725] - Christy
The other thing, I think a lot of times students and people in general get hung up on is that in order for produce to be 'healthy', it has to be fresh, so really exploring those more forgivable expiration dates in the canned food section and in the frozen section, and that goes for fruits and vegetables. Kind of expanding your mind in that way. It's oftentimes more budget friendly, and when things are out of season, they don't taste very good and they're more expensive. Frozen options, even canned options, are excellent and can also be very budget friendly and oftentimes are.
[00:15:31.255] - Ashley
It's almost like expand your definition of 'healthy'. That's a little myth busting too, right? This assumption that fresh is the only healthy option. It's not. There's a vegetable in there and it wasn't going to be in there before, but now it is because you have something more approachable like canned green beans. That's still tons of fiber and arguably more potassium than the fresh ones, so...
[00:15:53.665] - Christy
Exactly. And depending on, again, your living situation: do you have the storage, are you in a dorm? The other thing is you buy fresh and you don't get to it within a certain period of time, fresh food rots pretty quickly. So keep that in mind too and that's part of meal planning. Can I get frozen carrots instead of fresh? You know, that sort of thing. So it's like all these little steps lead you and they're all part of meal planning and meal prepping - I mean, the same thing. So those are kind of kind of the lead in to actual food preparation.
[00:16:41.215] - Ashley
Right. But I think you make a good point. You have to know the plan. You have to get the stuff and then the prep is your home and execute time. Then, I was talking to someone about this the other day, about how meal planning should include understanding you're going to be tired and short on time. So I planned that there's going to be, I don't know if it's a meal out or if it's a more convenience meal and therefore, maybe I include snacks and how do snacks play into to the plan, I guess.
[00:17:10.465] - Christy
Yeah. Snacks have a bad reputation because of what we tend to gravitate to during those times and those times being between meals after meals at night. If you are somebody who snacks more than eats proper meals with the, you know, kind of three food group sort of thing as, I guess, defining what a meal is versus a snack, where it's like one thing or maybe two things in combination. I can't even think of somebody I've spoken to in a long time, you know, a patient who doesn't snack. Everybody does. So, then it comes to, OK, what are those choices? Are you going, you know, is that snack going to enhance the variety of your diet, which certainly can or kind of sabotage it? So planning for those snacks is just as important as that talk we have about the importance of meals. Snacks also can be very important in filling in those gaps of what your meals aren't providing. Making sure that if you're not going to eat fruit with your meal, then it's a wonderful snack. It's budget friendly. It's always a healthy food choice, nuts, seeds, you know, granola bars, even a small bowl of cereal could be a snack as well. So having those things on hand.
[00:18:44.725] - Christy
The other thing is keeping them at eye level. Because if you do sort of have those blatantly unhealthy snacks as well, but you're trying to minimize those, then bring them front and center. Put that fresh fruit on the countertop, or when you open the refrigerator, what is it that you see? Or a freezer. Is it the frozen blueberries or is it the double chocolate ice cream that just calls your name sometimes? It happens. So setting yourself up for success in the refrigerator in your and in your cabinets where you store food.
[00:19:29.065] - Ashley
In your backpack where you carry food with you.
[00:19:32.275] - Christy
Absolutely. Those are important to keep in mind as well.
[00:19:39.595] - Ashley
I love the comment about snacks can enhance your day or your diet because I think that speaks to how sometimes convenience foods are a way to take care of yourself and all that I have time for today is something I order. That's fine. It could be: I had fruits and vegetables and those other things that enhance my diet like in the middle because I planned for them and they were in my snack. It kind of almost gives this flexibility and permission throughout the week to be tired. That's a good point.
[00:20:14.455] - Christy
Yeah and another thing I wanted to mention about meal planning and with that preparation in mind is sometimes the meal prep could be I'm going to cook the one thing that takes the longest period of time to cook. So I'm going to cook like batch cooked this chicken so that, or what I always do, is I'll get the rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, pull off all the meat and bag it. That way I can just pull from it and add it to pasta add it to vegetables, heat it up and make a chicken quesadilla or something that tastes good. That way, when it is time to cook, I've saved a lot of time already because the meat, which takes the longest to prepare, is done. Or something I've done is roast a whole pan of vegetables and that takes 30 to 40 minutes. But, if I do that and it's done and I can put those in the refrigerator, it's just a matter of reheating it. Sometimes it's not a full meal that you're preparing in all those pretty little stackable containers. It's the one thing that I do like, and it does take a chunk of time. But, if I do it once, I've got vegetables or meat or whatever it is for several meals to come. Then that saves me time when I'm tired and I just need to get something on the table.
[00:21:57.895] - Ashley
Yeah, that's so true. I've always said you can always put an egg on something.
[00:22:06.035] - Christy
Oh, yes! Absolutely!
[00:22:09.685] - Ashley
You can put it on, if you have vegetables, it's ready to go. You have all these things that you can just throw eggs on things and it makes it...
[00:22:15.745] - Christy
It could be on the starch, it could be on the pasta, the rice that you cook ahead of time, it heats up really well, and the meal prep could just be a part of a meal that you will draw from during the week.
[00:22:32.435] - Ashley
That's kind of what they call component cooking, right? That's kind of similar to what Cooking Campus does. You make these components and then you put them, you kind of mix and match them together in different recipes.
[00:22:43.345] - Christy
Yeah.
[00:22:43.635] - Ashley
Is that how you guys plan Cooking on Campus?
[00:22:45.665] - Christy
The plan for the recipes that we feature in Cooking on Campus is really the brainchild of the students based on a theme. They pick a theme, they pick the recipes and, again, keeping the student in mind, a realistic student, not the super foodie that likes to make fancy dishes. That's great, but we want to keep it really basic, budget friendly, quick, and convenient.
[00:23:16.265] - Ashley
Yeah, it's like keeping it in the middle and then people can level it up or kind of tone it down depending on their comfort level in the kitchen.
[00:23:26.045] - Christy
Right. It's like this is this is the concept and we're going to start pretty basic but still if you want to eat it this way. Great. But you can also level it up.
[00:23:38.555] - Ashley
I like it! Well cool. Is there anything that we didn't ask you that you wanted to share with our audience before we go into rapid fire questions at the end of the episode?
[00:23:53.165] - Christy
I think, I just want to emphasize the importance of basically feeding yourself. I think that we get so busy and in the weeds with all of our obligations, schedules and deadlines where it's so easy to just power through, so to speak. If you aren't eating you're not nourishing your body, you're not not nourishing your brain, you're not drinking enough water, which will suffer in the end. Your body is very resilient, but you can only push it so far. So, these are good skills to have and to practice. That's what cooking is, it's a practice. You're not going to be a gourmet chef right out the gates. I think the whole competitive cooking appeal is it's entertainment, but that's not the reality of cooking for yourself, which is a very important skill. We've gotten more and more away from that.
[00:25:09.995] - Ashley
People forget that those folks that are competitively or entertainment cooking, they don't prep their own stuff. They don't clean their own kitchen. It's very wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. They are the the performer, you know?
[00:25:24.155] - Christy
It's entertainment. And that's what we do: we watch this in awe, like "oh my gosh", look at this great meal they made out of octopus. You know, just something that we're, you know, me and you, we're not cooking that stuff.
[00:25:38.705] - Ashley
It's not accessible for people.
[00:25:40.283] - Christy
No. So I think once we take the allure out of this whole, "entertainment, cooking" and just focus on what will nourish me today and for the coming days? I think we got to really hone in on what's most important. Really, it boils down to those basic human needs and feeding yourself is certainly one of them.
[00:26:12.455] - Ashley
You got to have a plan for it, because if you're hungry and there's no food there, then it's going to be really hard to do that for yourself and take care of yourself.
[00:26:20.855] - Christy
Yeah, things might sound good in conversation and on paper, but OK, now how do you take it to that next step where it's actually food that you can eat
[00:26:29.465] - Ashley
For sure, and mix and match of things, maybe some stuff that you don't have to physically prepare too, just in case.
[00:26:35.075] - Christy
Yeah, I mean I think of canned pineapple, it's delicious and I forget about it sometimes. I'm like, this is just fresh pineapple that's canned in its own juice and it's always good and affordable.
[00:26:51.245] - Ashley
I'll buy a little bit bigger, we usually buy that honestly when we're making pizza, because my husband really likes pizza with pineapple on it. I'll buy a little bit extra so my daughter and I can have it with snacks or we can have it with breakfast or something because it is it's so good. We forget about canned fruit, I think.
[00:27:09.665] - Christy
I think the assumption is that it's all in this goopy thick syrup and that is certainly not the case. So the other convenience foods, I think, can be canned chicken, canned tuna or tuna that comes in the foil pouches. Those are excellent. Nuts, seeds, pasta, rice, these are just staples that you can do so much with. Frozen vegetables for sure. Those are some staple items that you can just mix and match and do all sorts of things with.
[00:27:44.755] - Ashley
I love it so much.
[00:27:47.675] - Amarissa
Well, thank you very much, Christy, for that. That was wonderful podcast and a wonderful talk through all the meal planning and everything as a student that we face every day. Now I just have a couple of rapid fire questions we ask all of our guests. So, which would you prefer, coffee or tea?
[00:28:03.755] - Christy
I'm team coffee, although I don't mind a good cup of tea during the day.
[00:28:11.385] - Amarissa
Oh, definitely, yeah. And how about in the case of hummus versus guacamole?
[00:28:19.375] - Christy
I've got to go with guacamole. As much as I love hummus, I can make a pretty mean bowl of guacamole.
[00:28:27.145] - Ashley
I found at the grocery store today, the same folks that make this hummus that I really like, it's the same brand so I think Hope is the brand of hummus. They make a cashew and avocado dip, which I bought and I can report back because I was like, is it going to taste like guacamole? Is it going to taste more like hummus? I don't even know, but it was an impulse buy at the grocery store.
[00:28:55.585] - Christy
Those are a real thing.
[00:29:02.255] - Amarissa
Sounds great, I want to try that now.
[00:29:02.455] - Amarissa
Alright, well kind of in line with what you were talking about earlier: what is your favorite on the go snack food?
[00:29:07.135] - Christy
So on the go is limited these days since we're in the house all the time, but still for many, many years, I would always pack this combination. It's my favorite combination. I would pack this little container with dried cherries, a couple of squares of dark chocolate and either almonds or pistachios, but it's usually almonds and it's just that little savory, sweet, chewy, crunchy combination that I love and when I travel, well I didn't travel last year, but it's one of my favorite snacks to take when I travel so I always take, like, a little plastic baggie with with nuts, little dark chocolate, and dried fruit. They're not going to go bad on you.
[00:30:06.055] - Amarissa
Yeah, a little mix of everything it sounds like it's a home made trail mix almost. All right. Well, and then the last question, I think, is kind of a traditional student meal that's fast: cereal. Often we have cereal for every meal of the day or as a snack. So what is your favorite cereal flavor?
[00:30:26.045] - Christy
Well, I'll tell you, back in the day, I was a big Honeynut Cheerio fan, I still like them. They're a little too sweet for me now.
[00:30:36.975] - Ashley
Our tastebuds change.
[00:30:36.975] - Christy
Yeah, for sure. I love oatmeal and I love the brown sugar oatmeal combo. When I started making my own combination of oatmeal, I would add a little bit of brown sugar and then real maple syrup, a little bit. Boy, that adds a lot of flavor. It's so good.
[00:31:04.535] - Amarissa
You are making me hungry now.
[00:31:06.705] - Ashley
Well, I love it. Christy, thank you for being a wealth of knowledge for our students and supporting them in feeding ourselves. So, yes, thank you for being on the show again.
[00:31:17.255] - Christy
Thank you!
[00:31:17.255] - Ashley
And like Christine mentioned, tomorrow is Cooking on Campus. What's the theme for tomorrow? Can I ask you, are you allowed to release that information?
[00:31:25.115] - Christy
Yes. Eat your heart out is our theme. It's our pre-Valentine's theme.
[00:31:34.965] - Ashley
I like it. Well, thank you. We appreciate you.
[00:31:37.715] - Christy
Thank you.
[00:31:44.795] - Ashley
And that's our show. Thank you so much for listening, please share with your friends and connect with us on our campus health, social channels and email us at chs-nutritionnavigators@email.arizona.edu to submit your questions and comments about the show. We're excited to bring you monthly content to spark curiosity and further empower you to feel your best. If you let us know what you're looking for, we can better serve the topics that interest you. We're sponsored by Campus Health and our program and health promotion and preventative services.
[00:32:13.955] - Ashley
We want to thank Christy for coming on our show today and talking to us about the benefits of meal planning and how to make it less stressful. It was really helpful. After our conversation, Christy also mentioned some great resources. If you're looking for more tips about meal planning and just getting curious in the kitchen. So I'll be sure to link to those in the show notes. If you're feeling like food is not as accessible lately. Campus Pantry is a student run food pantry here on campus where you can pick up popular food items with ease. All you need is your cat card and they really are here to support students staying well-fed. Also, Tuesday (tomorrow), February 9th cooking on campus has their first class of the semester. It's from 6pm- 6:30pm and it's via Zoom. You can go to nutrition.arizona.edu to find the registration link for the class.
Until next time, be well Wildcats.
Cooking on Campus Feb 9th from 6-6:30