Meal planning is one of the easiest things you can do to set yourself up for healthy eating success. This way you make all your eating decisions at once, in a calm,focused manner. It’s easier to avoid stopping for pizza when you know the ingredients for turkey tacos are waiting for you at home. Whether you plan a few days at a time, a week or longer is up to you.
For many of us, cooking dinner at night is a time-consuming and frustrating process, even if you know your way around the kitchen. Here are tips on how to create a meal plan;
1.How Much Time Do You Have/Need To Cook?
Time is very important yet often skipped element of effective meal planning. You can plan all you want, but if you don’t have time to execute it, you won’t benefit from it. You want to give yourself more information about what you’ll need to make; the more specific you get here, the easier it is to find dishes that fit the bill.
If you have a busy week coming up, make a mental note to be on the look out for quick, slow cooker or make-ahead meal that can be served in a hurry.
2. Create A Shopping List.
Jotting down quantities for each ingredient and taking a quick inventory of what you already have, will help you avoid overbuying and save time at the store by grouping your list as they appear in the store. For most grocery stores ,that would mean:
- Dairy
- Beverage
- Meat and Eggs
- Oils and Condiments
- Breads and Grains
- Produce
- Crackers e.t.c…
3.Make A Calendar Meal.
It’s a good idea to keep a paper copy of your calendar in plain view. Hanging a copy on the fridge is a popular choice. Making your meal plan visible may hold more accountable for executing the cooking. Plus you won’t be constantly thinking “What’s for dinner?” You just refer to the board. Whether you use a note card, a printable template or decide to go digital.
4.How Many Meals Do You Need?
Take a few moments to think about what you have going on in the week a head. Take quick inventory of everyone’s plan to get a rough idea of how many meals you’ll need. A sample list might be: Six breakfast for everyone, Five family dinner, One kid-and-sitter, Four solo lunches and one brunch.
5.Set Your Goals.
This may vary by day depending on your activities; example your may need more calories on days that you have a heavier workout or higher activity levels. Weight training will require more proteins, while endurance training will require more carbohydrates. If you just want to do basic health eating meal plan, you may not even need to meet specific macro goals. In that case, focus on maintaining an average total calories intake within a well-rounded, nutritious daily meal plan.
Fit 2 Fine 