Healthy meal prep and planning is not out of your reach. If you wanted to become that person at work with those healthy tasty portioned meals that didn’t come out of the freezer section of the store, you are in the right place.
If you are thinking that would be nice but I’m too busy to make it happen, I’ve got you covered. You can skip the disappointment in the cafeteria in your building or the over-priced fast food. Meal planning and meal prepping will change your life in both big and small ways. The secret to those healthy, tasty, well-portioned meals is a meal planning and meal prep. Too busy, still right? Why not give meal planning a try for one week?
If you want to take it to the next level from the start, you can meal plan then meal prep. Yes, there is a difference between meal planning and meal prep. Meal planning is the precursor to meal prep. If you don’t know what you are preparing you can’t prep it. Check out some things to know about meal planning to help save time, money, and still prepare healthy meals each.
What is Healthy Meal Planning?
As with any change, you should really start with step one. To reach the goal of healthy, tasty, time-saving meals, you should start with a meal plan. Meal planning is nothing more than figuring out what meals you are going to make in the near future. It can be as detailed as you want. Think back to the days of your school cafeteria weekly menu. It would show the main course, side dish options (usually some veggie that made you want to gag… maybe that was just me. I’m so not a natural veggie lover!), fruit, and maybe a dessert. So, I recommend at least including an option for each category. The more information you include in your meal scheduling, the better off you will be.
If you are thinking that meal planning doesn’t sound like it is saving me time but is adding yet another thing to my week, I urge you to think of how much time you spent thinking, shopping, preparing and then eating your meals this week. You were probably exhausted at least one day this week and just grabbed some half meal that was missing a major food group. By starting with meal planning, you will already know what’s for dinner. Even better in the morning when running out the door, you will grab your lunch and snacks and go. Plus, if you meal plan, you will know what and how to better meal prep. This is going to help save you time because you aren’t running to the supermarket every day trying to figure out what to get for dinner that night.
Bonus: If you are anything like me, you really want to eat healthy every day. But those days where you are so impossibly busy and are exhausted at the end of the day has you battling the easy, fast, comfort food versus the uncooked healthy foods. With a meal plan, you will not have to worry about the comfort food calling to you. Meal prep your meal plan and you are golden because you will just have to reheat or open a container. You will feel better about yourself. Even better you can be that smug person who has an #adulting win!
You already know the meals for at least a week beforehand. Here is a rundown of how meal planning works, though keep in mind there is a lot of room for variation. For this to really work, you have to do YOU. Be inspired and influenced by those fancy Insta pics but be realistic for your life and likes too.
How Many Weeks to Plan For
First things first, decide on exactly how much meal planning you want to do. Do you want to plan just the work week or a full 7 days? Or maybe you want to plan a couple or several weeks at a time. This really depends on you and a number of factors should be considered. Ask you self
- How much time you have for meal planning and prepping? (Are you willing to spend 30 minutes or several hours at one time? Be real with your attention span for these activities. If you plan to spend several hours but you know you have several half-started meal plans, maybe you really reach your limit at 30 minutes. Make decisions, keep it simple, and write the plan down.)
- How often you like to switch up recipes? (If you are the type of person who hates leftovers, plan a remix for extra chicken so it is a different meal. If you are the type of person who will eat the same thing every day for dinner and love it, plan for it. Double the recipe when you plan the shopping list. If you are cooking for one and only want to eat leftovers once but the recipe makes 4 servings, either half it or freeze 2 of the portions. Hint, make the whole thing and freeze if you have the room. It will be like meal planning for 2 weeks in the time it takes to plan 1 week!!!)
- Realistically what is your budget for your meals? (You will probably find that you have more to spend when you think about what you spend out for fast-food or buying lunch out.)
- Check to see how much room you have in your refrigerator and freezer. Planning for 3 weeks ahead of time is fine for the schedule. But when you plan your shopping trip buy only what you can actually store to last for the allotted time. Simply put, you might not want to be buying food for 3 weeks if you don’t have somewhere to put everything.
When you are just starting out, try to plan for just one full week and see how it goes. This should include all meals and snacks you will eat for an entire week, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts. Don’t forget to write in any meals out with friends, potluck social events, and other special occasions. Penciling these things in will save you time and money.
A Good Way to Start Meal Planning
If you’re at a loss for where to start with your menu, open your cabinets, pantry, fridge, and freezer. I bet you have some food to give you a starting point. Make a list of everything and see what meals you can make from those ingredients. If you are the person who has a carton of yogurt and wine in the fridge and some tortilla chips and salsa in your cabinets and nothing else, have no fear. You actually have the makings of a great meal. You could have a nacho night with a few additional ingredients like beans and/or chicken.
With your list of what is on-hand, you should be able to make a good start. All you might need are some filler ingredients. You may have almost all the ingredients you need for homemade fried rice, so you know you can have a meal that uses fried rice as a way of saving money and time. Start considering what the different meals are that you will be interested in, but don’t forget about considering how each of those meals will be prepared. If you know you will be pressed for time, try to think of meals you can make ahead of time or that can be made in the slow cooker all day while you are at work.
How to Be Detailed in Your Meal Plans
Once you have started noting down some meals you would like to make during the week, try to be as detailed as possible. If you think you will have leftovers from a chicken dinner in order to have lunch for 2-3 days, note that in the plan! This helps you reduce how many lunches you need to prepare, which further saves you a lot of time when it comes time to prepare your different meals for the week. After listing the meals, make another list with all the groceries you need to purchase, minus what you already have on hand.
Leaving Room For Flexibility Throughout the Week
While planning every meal is a great way to save time and money, we all know that life happens and some situations don’t go quite as planned. Being flexible will be a key to making your meal plan work for you instead of being a chore. For example, you might have a day where you want to go out to dinner because you got a big promotion and you want to celebrate. Don’t hesitate to celebrate just because you planned to make spaghetti that night. Just adjust your schedule and make it another night. Meal planning is meant to simplify the process, not restrict yourself too much.
Include Leftovers in Your Plan
Always try to think about leftovers or using certain ingredients in your meal planning that can be used for multiple meals. If you know you want to make chicken and rice and are going to buy a pack of chicken breasts, buy more than you need and freeze them. This lets you have enough chicken for that meal, but also for chicken soup, salads, sandwiches, or other dinner ideas. You are going to save money and time by having the extra chicken on hand.
Meal Planning for the Win
Even a packed schedule has time for meal planning. In the long run, it will save you time and money. With a plan, you won’t have to spend extra time debating what to have for a meal. Even better, once you have your menu, you can make a list and grocery shop once. Ending the debate and multiple trips to the store will save you time.
Money is saved when you execute your plan. It is a known fact that store-bought pre-prepared foods, fast food, and meals out add up. Home-cooked meals will help you know what you are eating and it is cheaper than eating out. You will be able to shop sales too. Plus sticking to the list you made from your menu will stop impulse buying and poor food decisions. I challenge you to menu plan for a week and shop based on your menu. You will not only feel better but you will save money too.
Meal planning will help keep your health and fitness journey always moving forward. Do you meal plan for the week (or more)? Comment below and share your go-to menu food. Also, once you have your meal plan, you are ready to start your healthy meal prep. Check out Part II: Health Meal Prep! (Yes its a totally different…)
Telling it one meal at a time,
TJ
Bonus Tip: You really don’t want to plan a menu, google healthy 7-day menu plan and you will have all the menus you can handle and then some.
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TJ Tells It | COPYRIGHT © 2019 · TJ Hadley
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