The Protective Factor of Meal Planning

When Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) are creating interventions or programs regarding disease or wellness, they often consider both protective factors and risk factors.  

For example, saturated fat consumption is a RISK factor for heart disease and diabetes, while smoking is a risk factor for many cancers and lung disease.  These diseases can be protected against with exercise,  fruit and vegetable consumption and/or omega 3 fatty acids ( in food).

Exercise is thus a PROTECTIVE factor against disease. 

I believe that planning, preparing, and packing one's meals  is a protective factor against weight gain/obesity or over consumption.   It would be an interesting research study - compare two groups of people who are similar in other ways, but one packs their lunch - within some parameters, and the other does not.


This idea came to me Thursday night or Friday - well - I packed my breakfast and lunch Thursday night and ate it Friday - so both days!


It was really about the breakfast part.  My normal portable breakfast is yogurt with fruit and cereal bar (of course it is a brand and flavor I really like -recall recent post).  I use this portable meal when I have to be on campus early, but you see, I already do that Monday and Thursday - so when I had to go to an early meeting Friday, too - I had just had ENOUGH yogurt.


Instead, I made myself an egg and cheese sandwich on this new Joseph's lavash bread and I decided I would heat it up at school  It looked and smelled wonderful - so much so that I went to bed and woke up thinking about eating it! 
Because it was something I put energy and creativity into, knew was healthy and planned to eat, there was not a Dunkin Donut on this earth that would have turned me from my healthy breakfast.


So - planning, preparing and packing meals can be protective against eating high calorie, nutrient poor foods - and thus, "prevent" weight gain :)