Our gut health is always important for our overall well-being, whether it’s our digestion, immune system, or our mental health. We should be more mindful of what we put in our stomachs and bodies. However, as busy people, it could be challenging to find the time to cook healthy breakfasts, lunches, and dinners each day of the workweek. But it’s possible if we learn to plan and find easy, time-saving recipes. That’s why I found a good example online of a simple gut health meal plan for busy people that could save them time and effort. Let’s figure out how you can better prepare your week for a delicious, healthy meal plan and use the sample meal plan as inspiration in planning one.
Why Gut Health is Important for Busy People
The health of every part of your body matters, but your gut health has a huge impact on your mental health, immune system, and digestion, to name a few. The gut microbiome is a community of 39 trillion microorganisms that has a huge influence on the brain’s health. Research shows that bacteria in the microbiome could impact personality traits. This is because the gut microbiome and the brain communicate with each other through a network called the brain-gut axis. A nerve in the autonomic nervous system called the vagus nerve connects the brain and gut to pass through information that gives you the ability to digest and swallow your food.
Maintaining stable gut health is vital for so many reasons. What you’re putting in your mouth could have a big impact on your stress levels and mood. Besides mental clarity, it could also impact your energy throughout the day and your concentration at work or school. For busy people who are always on the go, it could honestly be hard to always eat healthy. People like this are usually likely to find quick foods such as fast food meals. Their hectic lives could also cause them to don’t even eat every day like they should. If this is you, there are ways you can boost your gut health with a time-saving weekly meal plan you can start today. But let’s first figure out how we’re going to prepare a week-long meal plan for gut health.
How to Prep Your Week for an Effective Gut Health Meal Plan
Before you decide what you’re going to make from day 1 to 7, you have to prep yourself with what you’re going to make for breakfast, lunch, snacktime, and dinner. You can do this by setting aside a weekend to write your daily plan down. Once you’ve done this, start your meal prepping by cutting up some veggies and batch-cooking for the week. Be sure to choose gut health-friendly recipes that are loaded with key nutrients such as fiber, healthy fats, prebiotics, probiotics, and hydration. Consider easy recipes with a few ingredients to help you save time. Be sure to make use of portioning by storing your cooked dishes in airtight storage containers to keep them fresh enough to eat during the week.
A 7-Day Gut Health Meal Plan You Can Try
I’ve been researching various recipes that are good for gut health. I found plenty of meal plans for gut health that are packed with all sorts of nutrients. You can take a week to follow this breakfast, lunch, snacktime, and dinner plan that promotes healthy gut bacteria growth and maintenance. Each day comes with easy-to-follow recipes and ideas any busy person could prep on the weekends or the evenings. So without further or due, here is a list of recipes and ideas of what you can eat each day to improve your gut health. These are just examples of gut-friendly recipes you can try during a 7-day week. You can change or tweak them based on your nutritional or dietary needs.
Day 1: Breakfast- Try this Creamy Blueberry-Pecan Overnight Oatmeal, only 291 calories and 6 grams of fiber.
Lunch- If you’re looking for something delicious and filled with plant-based protein, try this Green Salad with Edamame & Beets.
Snack- Pair up some veggies with a healthy dip such as Carrot sticks with Hummus.
Dinner- Eating chicken baked is one of the healthiest ways to eat chicken. Try this delicious chicken dinner recipe combined with a Mediterranean-style salad with veggies, orzo pasta, and a healthy vinaigrette.
Day 2: Breakfast- Pack in some fiber in your diet this week with a Strawberry-Peach Chia Seed Smoothie.
Lunch- You can never have enough greens with this Kale Salad with Quinoa & Chicken. Try making your vinaigrette to go with your salad.
Snack- If you have some almond butter in the house, spread some on a few apple slices.
Dinner- This Honey-Garlic Salmon is perfect for busy working people because it’s quick and easy to make. Pair it up with some brown rice and a mixed green salad.
Day 3: Breakfast- Try this simple and quick Peanut-butter-Banana Cinnamon Toast. Filled with nutritional ingredients in peanut butter, bananas, and cinnamon spice, this breakfast meal is perfect for busy people who don’t have time for a big breakfast.
Lunch- Do you like pita-pocket sandwiches? This Roasted Veggie & Hummus Pita Pockets is satisfying, tasty, and packed with roasted veggies and hummus. Make sure to roast some root veggies in a sheet pan before assembling them in the pita sandwiches.
Snack- Nuts are always nutritious to eat as a snack and you can combine some with fruit such as blueberries or raspberries.
Dinner- Roast your root veggies ahead of time and pile them on some spiced lentils and greens for this easy weeknight recipe.
Day 4: Breakfast- Here’s another nutritional smoothie recipe to try that’s also nice to your gut. This Berry-Kefir Smoothie gives you that probiotic boost you need in the morning.
Lunch- If you’re looking for a healthy fried rice recipe, check out this one-bowl Pork & Kimchi Fried Rice. This recipe is packed with veggies, kimchi, cooked brown rice, and pork tenderloin.
Snack- Cut up a red bell pepper into strips and add in a protein-pack yogurt dip such as this Avocado-Yogurt Dip.
Dinner- For the last meal of the day, check out this healthy, quick, and easy Vegetarian Black Bean & Quinoa Burrito Bowls. It kind of reminds you of the Chipotle burrito bowls. This one’s more healthier adding in protein-rich quinoa instead of tortillas.
Day 5: Breakfast- Here’s another avocado toast recipe to try. This one adds rinsed and drained white beans to make a fiber-rich topping.
Lunch- Make a salad that’ll keep you full for hours. Add it in a mason jar and you have yourself a power salad packed with 26 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber.
Snack- It’s pumpkin season and you could try making this version of energy balls- pumpkin spice energy balls, that is.
Dinner- Bring out your whole-wheat linguine, veggies, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese to make this Lemony Linguine with Spring Vegetables dish.
Day 6: Breakfast- Here’s a quick omelet recipe you can try in the morning. Eggs and cheese bring on the protein and fresh dill livens up the breakfast meal.
Lunch- Looking for a hearty, healthy, and quick stew to add to your gut health meal plan? You’ll really like this one packed with a ginger-flavored broth and greens. Perfect for the upcoming winter season.
Snack- Much on a juicy large pear with a cup of low-fat plain kefir.
Dinner- Grilled chicken is always delicious with salad topped with chickpeas and feta. Perfect recipe to make on a hot summer night when you feel like firing up the grill.
Day 7: Breakfast- Start your day with a green smoothie. Add in some spinach, flaxseeds, a banana, and kefir instead of milk for some probiotics in your gut.
Lunch- For lunch, try making this Lemony Lentil Salad with Feta. You’ll be finished with this dish in just 30 minutes. Perfect for the summer season.
Snack- Snack on some sliced fresh strawberries when you have the after-lunch munchies.
Dinner- Do you like fish tacos? Here’s a recipe that’s filled with all sorts of herbs and spices. Try this very quick and easy Blackened Fish Tacos dish. Add in some Spicy Cabbage Slaw as a side dish.
How You Can Stay Consistent and Avoid Common Pitfalls
Now that you’ve put together a full week meal plan for your gut health, you’re probably wondering, how can I stay consistent with this form of eating? This can be incredibly hard for people who are usually busy. It could be so easy for most people always on the go to fall back into eating processed foods that contain added sugars or preservatives. But you can stay consistent in eating gut-friendly foods and recipes past a week with these tips:
- Batch cook soups, stews, or curries in a slow cooker.
- Keep frozen produce in your freezer to make some smoothies or stir-fries.
- Repeat certain meals and snacks during the week.
- Cook in heavier amounts to store in airtight containers for leftovers.
Create a Time-Saving Meal Plan for your Gut Health
As busy people who are always on the go, it could usually be hard to eat healthy as much as we should. But if you put together an easy list of recipes and plan on the weekends to prepare them, you could potentially make a time-saving meal plan to boost your gut health. Just making small changes day by day can lead to lasting improvements in both gut health and overall well-being, despite having a busy schedule.
Do you follow a week-long gut health meal plan despite being a busy person? Have you ever tried following one like the one above? Share your experiences or tips for maintaining gut health while on the go in the comments section below. You can also download my free printable meal planner I created in Canva to help you put together your meal plan. As always, be sure to like or share this post with the next busy woman you know.
