Two of Meadville Medical Center’s registered dietitians from the Mind-Body Wellness Center, Bethany Say, RD, LDN, CDCES and Stefanie Arblaster, MHSc, RD, LDN, organized a presentation on meal planning at One Vernon Place for the March 2025 meeting of Wesbury’s Bridges Memory Support Group. While meal planning can benefit almost anyone, as outlined in this previous wellness tip on quick and healthy meals, the nutritional perks, as well as savings in time and money that result from successful meal planning, help both dementia patients as well as their caregivers.
Key Tips and Takeaways
Some key takeaways from Bethany and Stefanie’s presentation include:
- Take inventory of items you already own in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry, so that you can build a plan with items you currently have on hand.
- Map out meals and make a grocery list after consulting cookbooks, recipe websites, and even social media pages (try the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Hub as starting points for website and social media).
- If you’re looking to prevent food waste and stay within your budget, all while eating healthy, Bethany and Stefanie also recommend consulting a website called: Eat This Much, which helps to determine daily calorie intake and provide meal suggestions.
- Ensure you include all the main food groups for a wide variety of nutrients. MyPlate.gov is an amazing visual resource to help with this, and this method replaces the food pyramid that many of us may remember!
- When thinking about your meal-planning schedule and needs, include work and/or school commitments so that you can cover busier days and nights during the week.
- Love your leftovers, which save you time and money! Plan ahead to prepare a little extra for leftovers to pack with lunch or to freeze for a later time.
- A printable meal planning guide and tip sheet from MyPlate is available at this link!
At the end of the presentation, attendees were invited to try a very easy-to-make and nutritious Mediterranean chickpea salad, which included a freshly made lemon and parsley vinaigrette!
Find the recipe at: downshiftology.com.
Once you’ve had a chance to put meal planning into practice for yourself, you may find that you are more often eating higher quality, nutrient-dense foods and saving time and money! The nutritional benefits, in conjunction with other healthy lifestyle choices, can contribute to decreasing risk and effects of chronic disease, as well as helping to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
For More Information
If you’d like to learn more about how better nutritional practices could positively impact a chronic disease or condition you are trying to manage, consult your primary care provider and ask if working with a dietitian would be beneficial to you!
To find upcoming dates for the Bridges Memory Support Group, which is open to the public, visit our events and classes calendar or for complete details, see: https://wesbury.com/bridges-support-group/.
