Meal Plans

ShannonMJ2012

Hi everyone,
Does anyone know of a place I can look to for meal plans? I can do my own but really, I want something easy to flip to and just hit the store. Like everyone else, I have a really busy schedule and don't have the time to consistently create my own. I would prefer to access free meal plans but I don't have a problem paying a small amount for them.

rbfdac

There are those words again--- "easy" and "no time". Nothing about this lifestyle change is easy and you've got to make time if you want to see change. It looks like you are new to this site, so I'm just giving a little advice- that attitude more than likely will not get you very far.

I don't have any advice about where to go to find "quick meal plans"-- my only advice is to make sure you're getting plenty of protein with every meal and rounding out your meals with fruits, veggies, and carbs. For ideas, add some friends on MFP with open diaries and check out their daily meals. Good luck!

bellaa_x0

make time. everyone has the same 24 hours every single day. i manage to prep my food and stay on track even when working 60+ hours a week. and besides, one person's "meal plan" might not necessarily work for you anyway.

crystalflame

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/meal_plans/plans#/

PowerfulHunt

Organize Yourself Skinny -- she has meal plans & if you subscribe to the blog she emails them weekly.

ebr250

Clean Eating magazine has some nice meal plans in it every month. For everyone knocking on the OP - relax! She is just looking for a central place to find ideas. What is so wrong with that?

ShannonMJ2012

Hey, Negative Nellies...I understand that fitness and health are not easy and require a lifestyle change. However running 2 business, working full time for a 3rd and part time for a 4th, volunteering, and spending time with my family does not leave me much down time. Unless I can come up with a way to add more hours to my day, this is one avenue I will leave to people that have the time to create these things. So, unless you have a positive and helpful suggestion for me please refrain from commenting.

Thank you every one else for your suggestions, I will look into them. I do appreciate the recommendations.

rbfdac

ShannonMJ2012 wrote: »

Hey, Negative Nellies...I understand that fitness and health are not easy and require a lifestyle change. However running 2 business, working full time for a 3rd and part time for a 4th, volunteering, and spending time with my family does not leave me much down time. Unless I can come up with a way to add more hours to my day, this is one avenue I will leave to people that have the time to create these things. So, unless you have a positive and helpful suggestion for me please refrain from commenting.
Thank you every one else for your suggestions, I will look into them. I do appreciate the recommendations.

We all have super busy lifestyles, sister.

You are obviously new to this forum.

my3boys424

Emeals.com has great plans. There is a small fee, but it seems worth it. They give you lots of choices then send a weekly plan with shopping list.

bellaa_x0

ShannonMJ2012 wrote: »

Hey, Negative Nellies...I understand that fitness and health are not easy and require a lifestyle change. However running 2 business, working full time for a 3rd and part time for a 4th, volunteering, and spending time with my family does not leave me much down time. Unless I can come up with a way to add more hours to my day, this is one avenue I will leave to people that have the time to create these things. So, unless you have a positive and helpful suggestion for me please refrain from commenting.

Thank you every one else for your suggestions, I will look into them. I do appreciate the recommendations.

don't think anything about what has been said was "negative".. more so just the honest truth

acheben

Just eat smaller portions of what you usually eat so that it fits your calorie limit.

tibby531

http://www.eatthismuch.com

you can even adjust the macros, if that's your thing.

kristen6350

Sorry, it's the truth. I spend hours on Sunday planning a grocery list, prepping produce for the week, making breakfasts and lunch for work. Every Sunday. Yeah, there's stuff I'd rather be doing but I don't because I know this is the only way I'm getting to my goal. Prioritize yourself over EVERYTHING else sometimes. If you are going to commit to this something has to give. Someone could give you a meal plan that eats 1600 calories a day and you can only eat 1300. So that wouldn't work. Someone might give you a plan that is high in fat and you need one high in protein. Only you will now how your body reacts to certain foods and it's all trial and error. Some of us have been doing this for years and we know what works. You need to find out what works for you.

Trust me, I wish there was an easier way. I wish when I started someone said "eat this". Now, if someone did I'd quit after 2 weeks because I was tired of eating "that". I needed to break MY bad habits and find food that made sense in my lifestyle.

bellaa_x0

kristen6350 wrote: »

Sorry, it's the truth. I spend hours on Sunday planning a grocery list, prepping produce for the week, making breakfasts and lunch for work. Every Sunday. Yeah, there's stuff I'd rather be doing but I don't because I know this is the only way I'm getting to my goal. Prioritize yourself over EVERYTHING else sometimes. If you are going to commit to this something has to give. Someone could give you a meal plan that eats 1600 calories a day and you can only eat 1300. So that wouldn't work. Someone might give you a plan that is high in fat and you need one high in protein. Only you will now how your body reacts to certain foods and it's all trial and error. Some of us have been doing this for years and we know what works. You need to find out what works for you.

Trust me, I wish there was an easier way. I wish when I started someone said "eat this". Now, if someone did I'd quit after 2 weeks because I was tired of eating "that". I needed to break MY bad habits and find food that made sense in my lifestyle.

+1

tabilynn0712

She wasnt looking for people to tell her what she should do ,and how to live her life. She simply asked for meal plans. Not opinions.

Danny_Boy13

What I did was spend a little bit of time to plan out the meal and prepare / cook on Sunday evenings for the week. Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners & Snacks. I will say the first couple times it took me a couple hours but I now have it down to a science that a whole weeks worth takes me under an hour. Then during the week I just grab and go. Here is an example week for me:

Breakfast (8am):
- 3 eggs (scrambeled)
- 1 Bagel w/ PB
- 1 banana
- 8oz OJ

Snack (10am):
- 6oz chicken breast
- 1/2 large grape fruit
- 1/2 cup almonds

Lunch (noon):
- 10oz lean steak
- 1 cup rice
- 1 cup brocholi
- bowl greens

Snack (3pm):
- Chobani Yogurt
- 1 banana

Pre-work out (5 pm):
- Cliff or Kind bar
- PWO supp mixed with 6-8 oz oj

Post Workout (6:30ish pm)
- Protein shake

Dinner (7:00pm)
- 8 oz Salmon
- 1 cup rice
- 1 cup broccoli

Pre Bedtime Snack (9:30ish)
- 1 cup cottege cheese
- 1 cup almonds

or

- 1 PB&J sammich
- 8 oz milk

As you can see all that I only really cooking is the eggs, chicken breast, steak, fish, rice, & broccoli. The rice is easy... I just stick it in a rice cooker and start the rest of the cooking. I could also steam the broccoli in the same rice cooker at the same time as the rice but I prefer to stir fry my veggies. I cook on the stove top the eggs and steak at the same time while the chicken and salmon is baking in the oven. Little prep time required. As you can see I have rice and broccoli for lunch and dinner so I am not having to cook so many different items. Most items are fresh... I try to eat as little frozen items as possible, minus fresh veggies that are frozen without preservatives. Those I will buy frozen. Then all I do is package them in a container. This was a bulk plan but even on a weight loss plan measure, measure, measure. Buy a cheap food scale... it helps. Then clean up time I just throw it all in the dish washer.

I will say that the first week it took me like over 2 hours because I did not have a system down. I would cook breakfasts.... then lunches... then dinners... then prepare snacks..... I do it all at the same time now and I can have all of this prepared, cooked, packaged and kitchen clean in max 1 hour. Then I have 5 days of not cooking a damn thing. I just grab from the fridge and microwave. You can check out YouTube. Search for meal prep cooking for the week or something to get ideas. Sure I am eating the same thing for 5 days but it is hella cheap and easy. I can eat all of that from the grocery store for $50 - $60. The best advise I can give to keep prep / cook times down is to keep it simple. If you try to cook 5 different meals then yeah, it will take you a long time.

Hope this helps. If you need any more help just reach out.

rbfdac

tabilynn0712 wrote: »

She wasnt looking for people to tell her what she should do ,and how to live her life. She simply asked for meal plans. Not opinions.

Welcome to the internet! I see you're new here, too

Danny_Boy13

tibby531 wrote: »

http://www.eatthismuch.com

you can even adjust the macros, if that's your thing.

Holy crap!!! That is awesome!!!

JodieP13

I love All Recipes meal planning. It's $9.95 for 3 months, but it's saved me about $500 already in non-wasted food! I plan two weeks of meals at a time, and then try to make them all ahead to freeze when possible. It's a lot easier to stay on track when you ALWAYS have something ready for dinner. Worth every penny!

tibby531

Danny_Boy13 wrote: »

tibby531 wrote: »

http://www.eatthismuch.com

you can even adjust the macros, if that's your thing.

Holy crap!!! That is awesome!!!

thank you! spread the word, tell your friends.

ShannonMJ2012

My goal is to have someone else come up with the meal plan. I can adjust how it needs to be. I know what I need during the day. I just don't have time every week to sit down and figure all this out. By having someone else do it I can put together a shopping list, run to the store, prep and cook for the week. Easy peasy. During the work week I don't have time to think about meals and that's what I make poor choices. I know myself well enough that if I don't get this sorted out I will have more of an issue.

Tibby531 - That is fantastic and exactly what I'm looking for.
Danny_boy13 - thank you for your advice and support
JodieP13 - Thanks! i'll look through that. I love all recipes for other things but never thought that they would offer something like this.

ShannonMJ2012

tibby531 wrote: »

Danny_Boy13 wrote: »

tibby531 wrote: »

http://www.eatthismuch.com

you can even adjust the macros, if that's your thing.

Holy crap!!! That is awesome!!!

thank you! spread the word, tell your friends.

I definitely will. That's a wonderful tool to use.

reachingforarainbow

that "eat this much" site is awesome!

drabbits3

try the 100 Days of Real Food site. That mom publishes meal plans periodically and I paid $9.95 for a fairly large download of a big lunch plan-like for packing kid lunches, but I use the recipes for my own lunches and even for dinners.

ShannonMJ2012

Thanks drabbits3! i will.

estud003

There is a book- Drop Two Sizes by Rachel Cosgrove that includes a meal plan for 12 weeks. It's pretty good. You may need to add, subtract, or change a little food depending on your goals but it was definitely a good and sustainable meal plan.
- It has a shopping list that includes good pantry staples to have on hand, and the workout plan in it was a great starting point too!

( When I was following the book I had a very active job so I needed more calories. I just used full fat instead of the reduced fat dairy she suggests, and added a slightly bigger serving of the carbs)