Menu planning for weight loss and budget

RivkaS7

Not only on the MFP bog but every article I have read has mentioned menu planning and prep work as tools for weight loss. So for the month of January I planned my menu for all my dinners. Breakfast was a no-brainier and didn't needed to be planned. For me there are about 3 things I eat for breakfast and Sunday is always French toast. I figured my lunches could be leftovers.

So off to the store I went and wow did I buy a lot! I left there having gone over budget by about $85.00! Sometimes no matter how much you plan and reduce recipes and catch sales there comes a time when it just takes what it takes. If you need mayonnaise or soy sauce or mustard for a recipe and all you need is a couple of tablespoons then one has to buy that item no matter what is charged.

So I have now been researching budgeting. Guess what the best tactic is for saving money on groceries? MENU PLANNING! That is not the only one but it was mentioned by all the sources I read. So I will continue to plan my meals and hope next month is not so bad or that I become better at it.

So on to the next strategy: food prep. So I chopped up all my kale for salads, soups and sauté; all my lettuces and cabbages. No matter what I fix with these they will need to be washed and cut. So I won't bore you with the details but I got it all done, made some cabbage soup and to further save money I have made crystallized lemon and orange peels, pita, bread and tortillas. Tomorrow I will be making my own yogurt and next week I will be making salsa and chutney.

Now I know that all the things I need for a healthy salad or sandwich is right at my fingertips. I really hope these strategies work! I will let you know in the upcoming weeks and months.

Rivka

gostumpy

Love it! Me and my wife made a decision this weekend to plan the weekly meals and do a weekly shopping trip, so we have fresh fruit & veggies all week. I also plan my work lunches around leftovers, so I plan to cook an extra portion for lunch the next day.

So far so good!!

EricaAshley913

I need to start meal preping and planning. My down fall is I have craving for different foods everyday...I can eat left overs no problem, but there is times when I dont what I preped and usually that result in wasting food. So my goal for January wil to be preping and planning but moat important sticking with it

kommodevaran

Or you could start small. Maybe you don't even need all those ingrediences at first. I just make a crude outline of meals to come and change plan according to what's on sale and available and what I fancy. Sounds like a lot of work, well done. Hope everything you made tastes good!

zoeysasha37

It will save you money in the long run. Let's use the soy sauce for example. You had to buy the whole jar for the recipe you wanted to prepare, so you where over budget on that shopping trip . Now that you have the whole jar, you won't have to buy another for a very long time. My point is, once your house is stocked up then your grocery bill will decrease because you already have the odds and ends needed. My house is stocked up now so I only have to buy the basics weekly. After a few months, you'll notice that you will have to buy less and less weekly.

AuroraD82

Oh my gosh I am adding you as a friend for the from scratch motivation AND to be MFP's!

softblondechick

Food prep is key for me. A quick salad is awesome, when all the veggies are crisp, washed, and ready to be put in a bowl. They look so yummy in the plastic bags in the fridge, all bright colors.

I have a salad bar ready to go.

oncem0re

This is exactly what I been doing all week and resulted a 5lbs lost meal prep and shopping once a week - It has been really helpful and keeps me organized and at the end really saves money

oncem0re

I have to add I have 2 kids that I keep in mind hence some of these may not be super healthy but I do everything in proportion say I'm having steak for dinner I only have about 50grams and the rest will be salad. I also started buying all light items and only lean protein 97/3 or ground turkey for my ground beef sub. It's good and filling and I don't feel deprived at all!

RivkaS7

Reading your comments reminded me that I bought this book not too long ago that has eight weeks of menu plans in it plus the recipes. I was unable to use it at the time because of budget constraints but I can now so I took the book down from the bookshelf and am going to transfer the recipes to MFP. I hope to find the recipes all online.

I also have not taken full advantage of the information on the USDA website about menu planning and budgeting.