Meal Planning 101: The You Just May Need.

Life is busy. It can be stressful. Overwhelming. Exhausting.

So understandable that the last thing you want to do is add another thing to your plate and let food and nutrition take up more of your valuable brain space.

Maybe you find yourself ordering takeaway a little too often. Maybe you’re coming home and eating a bowl of 2-minute noodles. Maybe you’re skipping breakfast or starting your day with a coffee then not eating until much later in the day.

Maybe you just need a plan to take away the daily mental load while improving your food and nutrition choices to leave you feeling your best.

Menu planning can be as simple as sitting down and mapping out one meal for the next few days or as extensive as mapping out your entire week of eating. It’s taking that daily mental load and, instead, using just a few minutes on one day to set yourself up for the week.

Whether it’s planning out tomorrow's day on the plate, the breakfasts you’re prepping to eat on the way to work each morning or mapping out what your dinners each night will look like, having a plan can help make deciding what to eat feel a little less overwhelming.

So where do we start? Let’s take a little bit longer to set yourself up for success moving forward (believe me, your future self will thank you!!). 

1. Your “Go-To’s” List

This is a list of all those meals you can throw together with your eyes closed. Those recipes you’ve made a thousand times and just work every time. The meals that hit the spot with minimal effort. The foods you’ve had on repeat yet somehow never get sick of.

Those meals that when you sit there trying to figure out what to eat suddenly fly out of your brain and leave your memory completely.

Your “Go-To’s” list is going to become your cheat sheet. It’s going to be the page you refer back to when you’re completely out of energy to think about anything else. The tool you use to help you plan your meals for the week ahead for those weeks you just don’t feel like trying something different.

The good thing about this list? It can keep growing!! As you find new recipes, meals or foods you enjoy, add them to the list. Keep it growing so on those days you find yourself asking “what should I eat?”, you can easily find yourself an answer in one place.

2. Your “Keen to Try” List

This is the second list to find a home on your fridge. This one is for those foods, recipes and meals you see or try that you decide you want to make for yourself. It’s those ones that come up on social media you save then forget about. The ones you ask your friend for a recipe for and never end up making again. 

This list is ever growing and will become your cheat sheet for when you have that little bit more time or mental space to try something new. It’ll make it easier to mix up your meals and keep your taste buds excited which can help make trying something new that little bit easier.

3. Your Weekly Meal Plan

Now that we’ve got your two cheat sheets, this is where we can start to plan. Start by deciding the meals you want to plan out. Maybe you just want to plan your breakfasts so you can have that extra little bit of sleep in the morning without compromising your food intake. Maybe you need to be organised with lunches or dinners to keep you going through your busy week. Maybe you want to plan all your meals and snacks so you’re never left guessing or aimlessly searching the pantry!!

Once you’ve decided on the meals you’re planning, grab those cheat sheets and start planning. You may like to use a meal planning template, maybe you add it straight into your calendar or maybe you’ve got a whiteboard you can use; the key here is we keep it somewhere visible that you can easily see it each day.

Stuck for a template? Here's a simple version for your main meals!!

Now comes the jigsaw puzzle. Use your cheat sheets to help map out your week (remembering to consider what you’ve got going on… may not be the best time to try a new recipe if you won’t be home til late at night!!). Consider what you’ve got going on for the day, if you’ll have time to cook or will need to prepare ahead and if you’ll be eating on the fly (because I know we’re all guilty).

Know that this is just a guide, suggestions for throughout the week. It can be flexible and change as your plans change so you don’t have to feel trapped by your plan. 

My Top Tips (for bonus points)

1. Think about foods you’ve got in your cupboard FIRST and where you can use the same ingredients across multiple meals. This will help minimise food waste to save you money and reduce the environmental impact.  

2. Create your shopping list at the same time. This will help you see just how much you need to buy which can highlight where you can maybe make changes to be more cost effective by using the same ingredients for multiple meals. Bonus that it also saves doing the extra job later!!

3. Don’t just plan what you consider “healthy”. Life is all about balance and creating a meal plan that you actually use (and enjoy using) is all about creating a plan that balances the foods that support your health and wellbeing mind, body and soul. Allow that sweet treat after dinner, make note of the fact you’re planning a pub feed for Saturday night or that Sunday has a pancake breakfast. While we always want to make sure we include our five key food groups (fruit, vegetables, protein like meat and poultry, dairy and grains), we also want to make sure you’re eating the foods you enjoy because life is all about balance.

Meal planning doesn’t have to be stressful or overwhelming. Taking the time on one occasion to set yourself up for the days you feel you don’t have time or have nothing left to give can make food just another part of life to enjoy rather than another stress to add to the list.

If you are looking for support with meal planning and would like help navigating exactly how to create the best meal plan for you and your family, book in for a chat and we can individualise your strategies to best fit your lifestyle.

Chat soon,

Courtney x