You've probably heard the old proverb "failing to plan is planning to fail". I believe this is absolutely true if you are trying to eat a healthy, well balanced diet. Planning meals in advance is NOT just for someone trying to lose weight, it should be something everyone includes in their weekly routine to make healthy eating a way of life. This doesn't have to take a lot of time, and it will actually save you time over the course of the week by cutting back on the number of stops at the grocery store and time spent staring at the pantry trying to decide what to cook for dinner.
This is something I've been doing for awhile, and my system has become part of my weekly routine. You may find that you want to modify some of my methods to work better for you, and that's fine. The goal is to plan your meals in advance and have the food you need on hand so making healthy choices is easy!
Here are the steps I follow:
1. Take Out Your Calendar
First I will look at my schedule for the upcoming week so I can get an idea of when my meals will fit in, where I'll be eating my meals, and which nights I have more or less time to cook.
2. Plan Exercise
Before I even start planning my meals I plan when I'll be able to fit exercise into my schedule and what type of exercise I'll do. I find doing this in the beginning makes exercise a priority, and similar to step 1, this allows me to see how much time I'll have to prep meals. Try to plan exercise on as many days of the week as possible so that if you have to miss a workout you already have backup workout planned into your schedule.
3. Do Inventory on Your Food Stock
I' look in my pantry, fridge and freezer to see which staples I have and what I need to restock. I try to plan meals around the food I already have to cut down on my weekly grocery bill. I'll add anything that needs to be restocked to my weekly grocery list.
4. Plan Breakfasts and Snacks
I typically start with planning breakfasts and snacks because these meals tend to be about the same from one week to the next. I like to have 2-3 different options for breakfast and 3-4 different snack options. If I need to restock any of my staples I add them to the list. Since a lot of snacks and breakfasts include fruit, I typically need to add this to the list each week.
5. Plan Dinner
Planning dinner takes the most time, and I typically do this before planning lunch since I like to eat leftovers for lunch whenever possible. At this point I look back at my weekly schedule and figure out which nights I have the most time to cook, and which nights I need to either prep in advance, plan a slow cooker meal, have leftovers or choose a meal that take minimal prep and cook time. I usually plan for one slow cooker meal per week for nights when I am taking a late fitness class, working late, or have another commitment that will keep me away from home during my typical dinner prep time.
I'll then think of what meals I feel like cooking and eating in the coming week and go to my recipe binder, cookbooks and online to pull recipes for the meals I decide to cook. I'll look through my pantry again to see what ingredients I have, and I'll add anything I don't have to my grocery list.
6. Plan Lunches
As I mentioned before, I like to have leftovers for lunch whenever possible. If the meal I'm cooking should have leftovers I'll plan to have that for lunch the next day. At this point I look at my weekly schedule again to see where I'll be eating lunches. My job has me in the car a lot, so unfortunately I eat a lot of meals in my "mobile office". These meals need to be portable and easy to eat on the go, so I have to take that into consideration when planning lunches. If I'm lucky enough to eat at a table I'll typically go for something that's not as "portable", like soup, since it's rare that I have to opportunity to sit and eat at a table!
I almost always have a salad with lunch either as my main course or as a side, so I'll add my lettuce and salad fixings to my grocery list since I need to replace them weekly. I like to have a piece of fruit with lunch too, so I'll add another fruit to the grocery list at this point.
7. Add Non-Food Items to Your Grocery List
The only reason I mention this here is because one of the goals of meal planning in advance is to minimize your stops at the grocery store. I find extra stops at the market can equal extra (unplanned) food being brought into the home! So take a look at what else you may need to pick up at the store and add it to your list.
8. Now You're Ready to Shop!
I'm a big fan of Fresh Direct, a grocery delivery service in my area, so I just place my order on their website. About once a month I'll take a break from Fresh Direct and do my weekly shopping at the grocery store since Fresh Direct doesn't always have everything I need and their sales are limited. Since I've created a list of what I need I rarely add anything that's not on the list to my order unless there's a sale on something I use often.
9. Post Your Meal Plan in the Kitchen
I have a small magnetic dry erase calendar similar to this one that I keep on my refrigerator and write the weeks's planned dinners so my husband can see it. I have another planner like the one I posted that includes all my meals and snacks for the week, and I usually keep this on my desk since that where I do most of my planning.
10. Prep In Advance if Needed
I try to do any prep work while dinner for the current night is cooking, if possible. Otherwise I'll do my prep after I eat.
My prepping involves packing my lunch, snacks (and sometimes breakfast) for the next day the night before. I find his is absolutely essential to make sure I eat my planned lunch and snacks while I'm working. If I leave this for the morning there's a good chance I'll be running late, won't have time to pack my food, and end up eating lunch out. When this happens I tend to eat more than I planned because I don't have snacks so I'm starving by meal time, and food outside isn't as healthy as what I pack for myself.
At this point I'll also look at my planned dinner for the next night to see if any prep work needs to be done in advance. If I'm having a slow cooker meal the next night I'll do all the prep work the night before and put the crock pot (minus the metal base) in the fridge, then I just pull it out and turn on the cooker in the morning. I also make sure I put any frozen meat in the fridge to defrost so it's ready for tomorrow's meal.
11. Revise as needed & Have Backups On Hand
Let's face it, as much as I plan it's inevitable that things will some up that interrupt my plans, that's life!
I like to have some "backup meals" on hand if I don't have time to cook what I planned or if I just don't feel like cooking one night. My freezer is always stocked with a few backups like turkey burgers, homemade soup and homemade tomato sauce that can easily be defrosted and made into a quick meal.
I hope these tips help you plan a healthy week of meals and snacks. Feel free to download my meal planning template and use it to help you plan your week. Happy planning!
In Health and Happiness,
Colleen
www.colleenmagnani.com
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