Meal Planning 101: My Step by Step Routine
Eating healthy consistently is soooo hard. So hard. Whether you are a young, single professional or a toddler parent or a soccer mom, it can be daunting to think about trying to stay consistent week after week.
Step One: Plan to Plan.
This might sound silly when you thinking I barely have time to prep, let alone PLAN to prep. But this is exactly why you must do it. I typically use Sunday mornings as my planning time. I am more of a morning person and that is my least busy day, usually. So I know on Sunday morning I am going to drink coffee and make a meal plan. Now, I travel a LOT for work and I am not always there on a Sunday or maybe I am leaving Monday and it seems silly to plan for later in the week when I return. So I adjust as necessary, make sure the necessities are covered for my return so I don’t eat fast food or frozen pizza, and I use the boring time on the plane to meal plan for my return. But finding some consistently is important.
Step Two: Write it Out.
I am totally old school when it comes to this, but I have to physically write it out to even feel remotely excited about doing it. I use a paper meal planner that has a tear off grocery list and I stick the plan to my refrigerator when I am done. I have used apps before and have taken my iPad to the grocery store or used my phone, and they work okay and if that’s your preference, by all means. But I am just a pen and paper gal. Having it where I can visibly see it is a reminder to stick to it. And when it’s on the front of the fridge, I pause before reaching for a random snack.
Step Three: Plan to Shop.
I also look at my schedule ahead of time and when I am deciding the best time to plan my meals, I make sure I will actually have time that day to also shop for my groceries. I have my list, and I am in and out with exactly what I need. Nothing more (most of the time – darn you, Halo Top ice cream bars!). If we have a crazy day ahead, I might plan to grab just the necessities for a quick dinner that night while we are out, and plan to grocery shop the next day. I just make sure and have something so we don’t always defer to eating out or ordering takeout.
Step Four: Prep.
I struggle with this at times because I have just planned AND shopped and I have other things I need to do. So what I find works for me, is just prepping what I need to for the next day. I am not a fan of cooking a ton of food and having 15 containers full by the end of the day on Sunday because by Wednesday, I am either sick of eating it or it loses flavor and is less appetizing. I think it can also lead to burning someone out because you can lose an entire day. Make this manageable. Cooking most evenings is therapeutic to me and I also incorporate a lot of crockpot meals for our busier nights. So I prep all week. When putting dinner together, I take a quick look at the next day’s meals and I might lay out the meat or set a reminder to put it in the crockpot in the AM.
Step Five: Shop Recipes.
If you are making the same 5 – 10 recipes on rotation each week, your meals are going to get boring and you are going to order out or find an alternative. So keep things interesting by “shopping recipes.” I try to save a few per week on my Pinterest and plan each week to be a mix of new and some go-to recipes. And don’t tell me you don’t have time for this because I know you are scrolling through the Gram before bed when you could be saving a couple of recipes to try.
Step Six: Leftovers for Lunch.
Just coming up with 5-6 meals per week is daunting. I don’t like to add lunch recipe plans on top of that. Instead, I focus on the dinners and making sure there is enough to also be lunch the next day. I keep deli meat and salads on hand also because if you are trying new recipes, let’s face it, you end up with some things you’d rather not have to eat again! Trial and error!
Step Seven: Have Backup Plans.
This is something I am just now embarking on. There are times that life just simply gets in the way of the planning or the shopping or the prepping and we end up ordering pizza. Nothing wrong with the occasional pizza night, but I discovered some blogs about freezer meals. I plan to make a few of these to have on hand that we can throw in the oven for times such as these. I will let you know how it goes!
I am always evolving my process to make sure that it continues to work for me as I progress through different seasons of life. Do you have any tips or ideas to add? Drop in the comments below!
Happy trails,
Diana
Ranch n' Business 