Meal planning is essential?

jemhh

My version of meal planning is deciding what we're having for dinner each day of the week and then buying the right stuff at the grocery store. I don't do the weekly prepping and packing thing.

kristen8000

It's not essential, but it helps. I rarely "meal" plan until the day before/of. Or maybe think of things that go together when I do my weekly shop. It helps be organized and avoid the pitfalls of "not planning ahead", but "essential", no. That's one persons opinion. And you know what they say about "opinions".

Penthesilea514

I "meal plan" by coming up with a rough menu for dinners on my weekly shopping trip, and I have a standard breakfast/lunch that I know I will purchase. I don't often know exactly what dinner I will have day to day, but I know what my options are. I do aim for either a meal that will take less than 30 minutes to make or a crockpot meal. I do make ahead of time crockpot freezer bags so that the night before I just thaw in fridge/counter then dump into crock pot on my way out the door (I have zero time for much else in the morning as far as dinner is concerned). I try to keep a couple of those in my freezer for dinner. I also always keep a frozen pizza there- usually a CPK or something, for those days I really DGAF.

Breakfast is usually oatmeal or greek yogurt with granola or fruit, plus coffee or tea. Depends on my current weekly mood. Lunch/snack is usually a protein bar, fruit, cheese sticks. I am super lazy so I like just being able to throw my lunch and breakfast together quickly- otherwise, I stray.

I do eat fast food about once a week (within my calorie limits) because I want to, usually Taco Bell. Whenever I go out otherwise, I do try to pre-log by looking ahead on the menu so I know what I can fit into my day.

I am going to say that if planning is being equated to awareness of one's meals (pre-logging, thinking ahead, whatever) I will say that it has been invaluable to me. But I think that planning can take many forms- not just meal prep or advance cooking. Just being more mindful of meals is a form of "planning".

Jruzer

It's a useful tool but it's not essential.

Mrs Jruzer does the cooking in our house 90% of the time. I eat what she makes. She sometimes has meals planned out ahead of time, but often does not. She's a good and inventive cook, and often riffs her meals around what's available in the house. Because of this I don't "meal plan" in the sense it is often used nowadays. I do pre-log as much as possible, however.

I have lost and maintained just fine.

Sunshine_And_Sand

I agree that meal planning is definitely not essential to weight loss but for a lot of people it does make it easier. I have two school age kids who both do activities. Between homework, getting everyone to their activities, getting everyone fed, bedtime routines for kids (baths, teeth brushing, etc), both parents working full time, and both DH and I getting to get in some exercise, days get pretty full. I can still stay on track without a lot of "planning" but planning does take a lot of the stress out of it. Having a schedule with kids' activities listed and which of us is going to run/go to gym that day and who is going to take kid(s) to which activity and then filling in what meal/who is going to make it (based on the amount of "free time" we have that day) takes a little bit of he stress/rush out of it all and makes it easier to make the grocery list. Plus DH is an engineer and they love their schedules... Meal planning is a good tool for some when it fits their personality, but I can see how some would find it restrictive. Just do what works for u.

justkeeprunning91

My husband and I are both engineers, and for our personalities, meal planning is the best. I cook our dinners for weeknights on Sunday, we each plan what we need for our lunches for the week, then we have our same breakfast items pretty much every day. I pre log the night before, but leave out snacks so that I can see how many calories I have available for snacks during the day and can change up my plan as needed. It's really about personality, I think. I'm all about routine and planning ahead, so I would be at least ten times more stressed in my daily life if I didn't plan my meals ahead of time. But, that's just my personality. I also commute about 60 miles round trip every day, so it's nice to have a healthy homemade meal when I get home just by popping something in the microwave.

x_stephisaur_x

How does anyone know what to buy at the shop if you don't plan your meals?

To me, meal planning means sitting down and deciding what you're going to buy (and therefore eat) for the week ahead. This means that, as a general rule, there's very little food wastage and we're less likely to end up eating out.

Meal prepping is a different beast, and one I very rarely have time for.

Loug1983

If you'd have asked me if I meal plan I would have said no, but thinking about it I do eat set things for breakfasts and lunches each day. I have a few options for each meal based on what I have in the house, but they're all variations of the same thing and come within a pretty small margin calorie wise.

My evening meal I don't plan for, but I leave most of my calories for evening so that I don't have to. If I didn't eat the set things I eat for breakfasts and lunches I wouldn't be able to be so relaxed about my evening meals so in that respect I guess I do meal plan. And on the rare occasions that my breakfasts and/or lunches don't fall within the norm it definitely makes things more difficult. So I guess the level of meal planning that I do is essential to my success.

Macy9336

zdyb23456 wrote: »

I meal plan to save money and prevent waste. By meal plan I decide ahead of time what I will cook during the week. It is based on sales and what I currently have in the freezer/fridge/pantry.

I'm the exact same way. If we didn't plan out our meals for the week, I'd be a short order cook for my kids. We'd waste a ton of food and money. Plus I wouldn't be able to ensure adequate nutrition/balanced diet if I didn't do meal planning.

ladyhusker39

I would hate meal planning. I have no idea on Sunday what I might want to eat on Thursday for example. And if I tried to make all my meals ahead of time like I see some people doing, I'd be miserable because it's like eating leftovers all the time and I'm not much of a leftover person. It's a lifestyle choice and people should do whatever works for them.

Need2Exerc1se

x_stephisaur_x wrote: »

How does anyone know what to buy at the shop if you don't plan your meals?

To me, meal planning means sitting down and deciding what you're going to buy (and therefore eat) for the week ahead. This means that, as a general rule, there's very little food wastage and we're less likely to end up eating out.

I buy at the shop according to what is on sale and looks freshest. I will have a list of staples we've run out of but other than special occasions I have never planned meals and shopped according to that plan. Mu shopping is around what's best at the store not what I think I might like to eat next Wednesday.

Plus, we live on a farm out in the boonies and so during growing/harvest season our meals are built around what's ripe at the time. We keep a fully stocked pantry, root cellar and 2 large freezers. We could be stuck at home for a month before we'd even have to start eating weird combinations because we are low on food.

ninerbuff

If I only relied on meal planning, then there's no way I should lose weight at all because I'm pretty spontaneous about what I like to eat on a daily basis.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

magster4isu

I am a definite meal planner. I stock my freezer with premade meals, I have weekly meal plans made and all my food for the entire week is prepped on the weekend. If something unexpected comes up that I can't stick to my meal plan, I just swap what I had planned with the new food (keeping the same calorie plan for that meal). Not only has this helped me save money, but it has also taken my daily focus away from food. I am no longer constantly thinking about what am I going to eat next. I realize that this won't work for everyone, but this is how I have been successful.

ryenday

Yeah OP here. I "plan" that one big meal because it means I need to schedule the time to cook it. And I like leftovers ( often better than the original hot meal) so leftovers in the fridge is always a welcome idea.

I don't have children, and that might be a big difference for me. I just open the fridge/freezer and decide what looks good at that time! And, there is rarely waste or unused bad food, at least on my account. My husband, who is fond of cooking but dislikes leftovers, is now quite grumpy because his calorie dense yummy meals largely go to waste because I don't want to try to budget 3/4 my daily calories for a serving. (I usually take one bite to reassure him how wonderful he is, then stop). In my opinion he needs to eat those leftovers- he has probably 3x my calorie allowance so his meals are appropriate for him, not me.

lemurcat12

x_stephisaur_x wrote: »

How does anyone know what to buy at the shop if you don't plan your meals?

I actually don't plan what I buy for the most part, I get a box of produce and I have a variety of meat and fish frozen in my freezer. When not getting the box (out of season), I still buy what looks good to me, and a variety, and then decide what to eat using what I have.

I do plan to some extent, as mentioned above, but I don't plan meals and then shop for them.

CSARdiver

ryenday wrote: »

Today in my MFP feed a blog post from MFP starts out:

"When it comes to losing weight, meal planning is essential."

Personally I think that is just WOO.

Essential for some folks? I'm sure. But personally I would probably fall off a 'meal plan' on day 2 of my diet. It is one of the reasons that Jenny Craig and its ilk are not for me.

I don't know, that blog entry just irked me because it implies to me that if you are dieting you are doing it wrong if you are not taking a 'meal planning' approach.

About the only thing that is truly essential is using the energy balance to achieve your goals:

CI<CO = weight loss
CI=CO = maintenance
CI > CO = weight gain

Anything else is simply stating what that individual needs to do to be successful.

StarBrightStarBright

sarjenki wrote: »

I agree that meal planning is definitely not essential to weight loss but for a lot of people it does make it easier. I have two school age kids who both do activities. Between homework, getting everyone to their activities, getting everyone fed, bedtime routines for kids (baths, teeth brushing, etc), both parents working full time, and both DH and I getting to get in some exercise, days get pretty full. I can still stay on track without a lot of "planning" but planning does take a lot of the stress out of it. Having a schedule with kids' activities listed and which of us is going to run/go to gym that day and who is going to take kid(s) to which activity and then filling in what meal/who is going to make it (based on the amount of "free time" we have that day) takes a little bit of he stress/rush out of it all and makes it easier to make the grocery list. Plus DH is an engineer and they love their schedules... Meal planning is a good tool for some when it fits their personality, but I can see how some would find it restrictive. Just do what works for u.

^this is what we do too. Two full time jobs, kids with different school pick-ups and activities: I actually plan out my week's worth of meals in advance and usually find that I stick to it, if only because I don't have any energy to deviate from the plan by the time dinner time rolls around. We also try to balance kid-friendly meals with more adventurous/healthy fare so planning that in advance helps as well. As our lives have gotten more full it has no longer become about what I want to eat, but what can go on the table in a reasonable amount of time and also deliver the nutritional goods.

ccruz985

Hmm. I kind of half meal plan. During my workweek I generally eat variations of the same things. My days always include a variation of combinations of cottage cheese, Triscuits, Perdue short cuts, avocado, Lean Cuisines, my breakfast wrap (spinach, hummus, wheat low carb wrap, avocado, grilled chicken), my graze snack boxes, baby spinach, lite dressing, and Greek yogurt. Since I put them in ahead of time, I have an idea of the calories I plan to expend per meal so if I feel like I want to have something else, I'll switch up pieces of my day accordingly to accommodate the change. It's easier to do that when most of my days are laid out already.

janejellyroll

I feel like meal planning is really helpful for me and it would be way more challenging for me to lose weight/maintain my loss without doing it.

But that's just me. I would never think it would be the same for anyone.

That said, if someone is struggling to meet their calorie goals or meet their nutritional needs, meal planning would be one of the first things I would suggest they try. When you plan your meals, you never have to worry about missing a nutritional goal or logging a meal to find out it has way more calories than you thought it did.

amtyrell

I don't plan. I do log before i eat but often only moments before.