Meal planning is essential?

bobshuckleberry

I grew up poor. You meal planned when you made your grocery list. It didn't mean that on this day you must have chicken and on this day you must have soup. It just meant that you had the essential ingredients to provide meals until the next time you shopped. I still do that. Since I have a busy lifestyle I usually cook on Sunday so that I have left overs for lunches. I am lucky because my husband is home on Monday's and Tuesday's and he makes supper, then I have left overs for lunch again. Some folks plan down to the exact thing they are going to eat each day, more power to them. I do pretrack sometimes and if I change my mind or my menu, I just correct it. No biggie.

maryannprt

For those who say they don't plan... do you shop daily? I shop 1- 2x a week, we eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg. I also keep a variety of whole grains, canned and dry beans and legumes and spices/flavoring components on hand. That way, I may know I'm having chicken today and tomorrow but I have options as far as how I'm going to cook it. As long as everything gets used up before it goes bad, Tonight, sauted chicken and beet greens. We ate beets last night and I did a quick pickle with some to throw in a salad tomorrow or the next day.

GottaBurnEmAll

I sort of loosely plan by mood and what's on sale at the grocery store, though I tend to shop almost every day since we always seem to need something or another.

However, I generally know each morning what I'm going to eat that day (I might have an either/or idea for a meal or two).

Having focus keeps me on track and away from grab and go foods and just mindlessly eating. It's where I arrived after sort of becoming habituated to preplanning by prelogging my days for the first year I dieted.

But this is me, and a big problem of mine used to be mindless eating and mood eating. I have to have a means of countering that in place in order to keep those old habits in check. Someone else might be different and able to be more spontaneous.

EatingAndKnitting

I have a bad habit of going to the store every day and buying breakfast. I usually buy high calories, non-nutritious foods, like frozen pizzas. And I never meal planned, other than having a lot of pasta and beans on hand. My eating was a MESS, horrible nutrition wise, and expensive.

Despite all that I lost 45 pounds.

But two weeks ago I sat down and planned all three meals for the next two weeks. I calculated the calories and pre-logged them. Then I cut down my shopping trips to a couple times a week, because I'm still getting used to being more organized and planning. When I went to the store I did still buy stuff I shouldn't have and ate off plan those days, but I did better than I have been. Eventually I think I'll get it under control so I only go shopping once a week. The store is only two blocks away, but it adds up.

For me extensive and detailed meal planning is essential. Not to weight loss, obviously, but to nutrition, health, and budgeting. I have bad ADHD though, so I require different things than a lot of people do.

nvmomketo

I only plan ahead when I have to be out of the house or traveling, and that is for safety because I am a celiac. No other reason.

Meal planning tends to backfire on me. I might eat what was planned but then eat again to eat what I actually wanted. When I log, it is always after the fact. Never pre planned. That feels too restrictive - this coming from someone who eats keto. LOL

Need2Exerc1se

maryannprt wrote: »

For those who say they don't plan... do you shop daily? I shop 1- 2x a week, we eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg. I also keep a variety of whole grains, canned and dry beans and legumes and spices/flavoring components on hand. That way, I may know I'm having chicken today and tomorrow but I have options as far as how I'm going to cook it. As long as everything gets used up before it goes bad, Tonight, sauted chicken and beet greens. We ate beets last night and I did a quick pickle with some to throw in a salad tomorrow or the next day.

I do not plan or shop daily. We grow a lot of our food so I suppose you could say we shop in the garden and root cellar. We always have plenty of food on hand though - fresh, frozen, canned, pickled, dried, etc. Finding food to make a meal is never a problem here.

ccrdragon

maryannprt wrote: »

For those who say they don't plan... do you shop daily? I shop 1- 2x a week, we eat a lot of fresh fruit and veg. I also keep a variety of whole grains, canned and dry beans and legumes and spices/flavoring components on hand. That way, I may know I'm having chicken today and tomorrow but I have options as far as how I'm going to cook it. As long as everything gets used up before it goes bad, Tonight, sauted chicken and beet greens. We ate beets last night and I did a quick pickle with some to throw in a salad tomorrow or the next day.

We do bulk shopping once a week. We get all of the items we need to pack my daughter lunches for the week, bulk packs of chicken breasts and ground meat, and any other meat that is on sale that looks good or that we haven't had in a while. We also buy bulk fruit (if that fruit will keep for a week or more) and a couple dozen eggs. We then build meals on a daily basis depending on what we want for dinner and feel like cooking. Usually, my wife and I text/talk each day during work about sounds good for the evening meal and then one of us will go to the store after work to get veggies and what ever else is needed to complete the meal.

So we semi-plan, given that we have the meat for the week, but don't plan since when we eat the meat varies depending on schedules and feelz.

J72FIT

I think having a plan is essential. That plan may or may not entail meal planning.

hesn92

I can't imagine not planning. My trips to the grocery store would be very chaotic and expensive if I didn't have a plan for what I was going to make for dinners that week. I'm guessing I would get home and have ingredients missing etc too. But whatever works for you.

GailK1967

It's essential for me. I'm on call for my job and get up and out to work at all hours of the day and night. I can be away from home for 70+ hours straight so meal planning and preparation is essential or I will eat the only crap available. It's hard. At times I have to have 3 meals cooked and packaged and figure out how to bring them along without them spoiling but it gets a little easier with practice.

Matiara

bobshuckleberry wrote: »

I grew up poor. You meal planned when you made your grocery list. It didn't mean that on this day you must have chicken and on this day you must have soup. It just meant that you had the essential ingredients to provide meals until the next time you shopped. I still do that. Since I have a busy lifestyle I usually cook on Sunday so that I have left overs for lunches. I am lucky because my husband is home on Monday's and Tuesday's and he makes supper, then I have left overs for lunch again. Some folks plan down to the exact thing they are going to eat each day, more power to them. I do pretrack sometimes and if I change my mind or my menu, I just correct it. No biggie.

Exactly. I have to be very careful with funds and in order to stick to my budget, I must have a list for the grocery store. I just jot down what's on the menu for the week and buy the fixings. As you said, putting roast chicken on the menu for Monday doesn't mean that I *have* to have roast chicken on Monday, it just means that I'll be having it sometime during the week and will have all the ingredients on hand. I also keep some of Trader Joe's pre-made meals on hand for days when I don't feel like doing anything other than tossing something in a pot and heating it up. It saves me from wasting money on pizza.

Also, I don't own a car and while my city has excellent public transportation, I want no part of going to the store after work every day. The only thing I want to do when I leave the office is go home. If my bananas go bad by mid week, then too bad. No bananas until Saturday.