Do you struggle to stay consistent with healthy eating? Here are 5 meal planning tips that will help you save time, eat better, and stay consistent with healthy eating.
When I started my journey towards better health, eating healthy food was one of my biggest challenges. I often felt stressed and overwhelmed, not knowing what to cook for lunch or dinner, which led me to order takeout frequently. However, everything changed for the better when I discovered the magic of meal planning.
Meal planning became a crucial part of improving my physical and mental well-being. It brought structure to my daily routine and made me feel less worried about what to eat each day.
Consistently eating healthy food was tough for me, especially at the beginning of my health journey. But I realized that meal planning and prepping were the solutions. Our busy lives don’t leave much time for deciding what to eat all the time, and I learned that spending time planning meals in advance saved me time and stress. It also helped me prepare meals for the busiest days, ensuring I stayed on track with healthy eating.
In this blog post, I’m excited to share the benefits of meal planning and show you how it can make a real difference in your eating habits. I’ll guide you through creating a weekly meal plan, so you can take control of your diet and health. Plus, I’ll share meal-prepping tips that not only save time but also save you money.
So, join me as I show you the power of meal planning to create a healthy lifestyle for yourself and your family. By the end of this post, you’ll have practical tips and more confidence in making delicious and nutritious meals.
This post is all about meal planning tips.
Meal Planning Tips
Meal Planning/Prepping Essentials
- Whiteboard Meal Planner
- Glass Meal Prep Containers
- Storage Glass Jars (I use these to store my homemade granola)
- Meal Planner Notepad
- Ginger Shot/Detox Juice Glass Bottles
- Mason Jars With Lid And Spoon
What Is Meal Planning?
Meal planning is about deciding what you’ll eat for the entire week ahead of time. You choose the meals you want to have, make a shopping list for the ingredients, and do some preparation in advance if you can. This helps you eat healthier, save time, and reduce food waste.
By planning ahead, you can avoid unhealthy last-minute food choices and have nutritious meals ready to eat throughout the week. It’s a way to be more organised and make sure you’re eating well without too much stress.
Benefits Of Meal Planning
Meal planning has several great benefits that I have personally experienced since starting meal planning. Here are some of the benefits of meal planning:
- Weight management: Meal planning can help you lose weight or maintain weight by controlling portion sizes and choosing healthier foods.
- Consistency with healthy eating: When you plan your meals, you’re more likely to stick to healthy choices throughout the week. And it will help reduce the amount of unhealthy takeouts you get!
- Balanced nutrition: Meal planning allows you to create well-rounded meals with all the nutrients your body needs for good health.
- Time-saving: By planning ahead, you save time during the week because you already know what to cook and don’t have to figure it out each day.
- Money-saving: Planning your meals helps you make a shopping list and buy only what you need, which can save money and reduce food waste.
- Reduced stress: Knowing what you’ll eat in advance takes away the stress of last-minute meal decisions and ensures you have satisfying meals ready to enjoy.
How To Plan Meals For The Week
When it comes to meal planning, everyone has their own approach. For me, the key is ensuring that all three main meals and snacks are rich in protein to keep me feeling full and energized throughout the day. Figure out what your goals are, maybe you want to plan meals that are low in calories but high in protein, or maybe you want to eat more plant-based meals. Knowing what your goals are will make meal planning easier for you.
For those who prefer a structured method, creating a digital spreadsheet can be helpful. But, if you’re like me, you might find it more convenient to write down your meals in your daily planner. Simply write down your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for each day of the week.
I highly recommend you focus on weekly meal plans and not monthly as planning for the month can get overwhelming. Find the days you are able to meal plan and do the food shop, as well as meal prepping if needed.
Let me share an example of my typical meal plan that I write down in my daily planner:
Monday:
- Breakfast: Strawberry Chia Pudding
- Lunch: Chicken Caesar salad
- Snack: Bowl of berries (strawberries and blueberries)
- Dinner: Beef lasagna, broccoli, and salad
- Evening snack: Peppermint tea and blended baked oats
By writing my meals like this, I can ensure they are balanced with the right amount of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats to meet my health goals. It also simplifies the next step of the process—writing the shopping list—which becomes much easier and more efficient.
Incorporating meal planning into your routine can help you stay on track with your health and wellness journey. Whether you use a digital spreadsheet or a simple daily planner like me, taking the time to plan your meals in advance will lead to a healthier lifestyle.
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Food Shopping Guide
Once you have written your meal plan go through each meal and write down the ingredients you need for each meal/snack. But make sure you know what ingredients you have at home to ensure that you are not spending money on ingredients that you have already. This will prevent both money and food waste.
Writing your shopping list will also ensure you are sticking to the plan and not making impulsive purchases when you see something that looks yummy. You can definitely buy snacks that you can indulge in but just make sure that it sticks to your meal plan. This is why a shopping list is essential when going shopping!
There are many ways you can write a shopping list. For example, you can write categories such as fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, etc, and write down the ingredients that you need under each category. Or you could write down the list according to the different aisles in the supermarket. For example, when I enter my local supermarket the first aisle I go through is the fruit and vegetable aisle. So I will start my shopping list with that category. This just makes the shopping trip easier and smoother and saves so much time.
Have No Idea What To Add To Your Grocery List? Click HERE For A FREE Healthy Grocery List
Meal Prepping Techniques
Meal prepping may not be for everyone. You may be someone who prefers to make your meals during the day, like me. and that is absolutely ok! I usually only meal prep my healthy snacks, ginger shots, and some of my breakfasts such as granola and chia seed pudding.
But if you are someone who has a really busy lifestyle where you hardly get time to cook then meal prepping is the way to stay consistent with healthy eating. To get started, choose a day, like Sunday, to dedicate some time to meal prep for the entire week. Choose recipes that can be batch-cooked or prepared in advance.
Once your meals are ready, divide them into individual portions and store them in airtight containers or meal prep containers. Your meals can be left in the fridge for a few days. Once you are ready to eat them, just heat them up properly and enjoy.
If you are in need of some healthy meal ideas then click HERE for some inspiration.
I hope you found these meal planning tips helpful and inspire you to start your meal planning journey. Remember, staying consistent with healthy eating can be a struggle but from my experience, meal planning will make a significant difference and will for sure help you stay consistent!
Try these tips and let me know in the comments below if they have been helpful.
Make sure to follow my socials – Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Amazon Storefront, and LikeToKnowIt – for more healthy lifestyle content!
Lots of love, Mariam x
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This post was all about meal planning tips.
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