Do you find meal planning helpful?

walkinginplace

If you do, how far in advance do you plan for?

avskk

Super, super helpful. I usually plan three or four dinners for each week (I don't assign them to specific days, though), assume we will have takeout or sandwiches one night, and leftovers the other nights. I choose meals that will make enough to use the leftovers for lunches, as well as another night's dinner. Whatever extra we end up with at the end of the week, I portion and freeze for busy days or weeks when money is tight. I actually find the whole process of seeking new recipes, planning for the week, making my grocery list, etc. to be kind of fun, and I save a good deal of money, too.

JeromeBarry1

One day or less. I need to plan the day early in the day or it turns into a day of me eating too much. My diary at the moment doesn't show a dinner plan yet, but I do have a dinner plan based upon what I find in the refrigerator when I get home. Longer term, I make sure to have plenty of supplies for my pizza and my non-pizza dinners with a modicum of variety.

ottermotorcycle

YES meal planning is helpful. How rigidly and how far in advance are more personal and based on your goals. When I'm busy, it helps to have everything planned, so I know when I have to cook and prep things and how much time I have. I usually don't plan more than 2 days out, unless it's something like "Oh I've been meaning to make chili! That's a perfect meal for Tuesday." Mostly, I meal plan to make sure I'm in the right ballpark on my protein intake.

Meal planning is also really helpful for preventing food from going bad - anything that's been in the fridge a little while goes on tomorrow's menu!

AlabasterVerve

Yes, very helpful as I need to meal plan in order to make up my grocery list. I shop once a week so I plan for seven days.

We eat pretty much the same things for breakfast/lunch everyday so that's easy and dinners vary. This week was/will be: Pot Roast, Chili, Hamburgers, Beef & Broccoli, Ribeye, Pork Chops. Saturdays I don't cook.

kommodevaran

Yes! It's helpful and fun! How long I plan for, depends on several factors - if I have something that needs eaten up, I will plot that in, up to two weeks ahead. If there's something that needs special attention, for instance foods that spoil very easily or a combination of foods that are difficult to find, I have to plan extensively, and be creative. I rotate dinners weekly by "theme"; I often plan all dinners for the week as a whole, to avoid repeating similar foods too soon. The finer details of some meals are decided the same day.

Meal planning and running inventory is necessary to schedule shopping and make shopping lists. A good shopping schedule and a specific and flexible list makes shopping easier - it reduces the amount of time and mental energy I have to spend in the grocery store, and thus reduces impulse purchases and increases the probability of coming out with what I was actually going in to buy. I love the predictability meal planning provides, and I love looking forward to eating the meals I plan. Meal planning reduces waste to the absolute minimum, so I save money too, not to mention the reduced amount of guilt, and there is no stress when I cook, because I have everything ready, so now cooking is fun, and it feels very satisfying.

klowieislyfe1

I find the whole idea of meal prep sort of unappealing (I'm not big on leftovers) but I do usually plan my dinners one day in advance. If I'm having something like salad that involves a lot of ingredients I'll chop up some of the non-wilting vegetables that morning or the night before because I know if I get home after a day of intermittent fasting I'll be too hungry to cut up a bunch of vegetables and will just eat bread or something quick.

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gorillababyface

I usually buy food on the weekend and prepare on Sunday for atleast 4 days of lunch. Then I prepare snacks for the week exp: boiled eggs and cheese. And finally breakfast for the week, egg casseroles with spinach or a pound of bacon. Frozen veggies are good and quick throughout the week when you want something different, and when you want fresh veggies get them the day of or before so you make sure you use them on time.

LiveLoveFitFab

I make stuff ahead, but I'm not big into it. I have stuff in the freezer I could pair with a veggie and make a quick meal. I make soup or stew and just eat it until it's gone or it's gone bad, whichever happens first.

I do plan meals ahead of time when I visit other people or travel now. I stopped eating meat and I don't expect people to make meals around my dietary choices, so I make sure I bring something that could be a side if other people like it or a just main for myself. And it's a good thing, last time I went to someones house for dinner they lovingly prepared a nice vegetable soup and I was one bite in when they told me they used chicken stock from dinner the night before...it would have been potatoes for dinner if I hadn't brought something. Some people just try to serve me fish, like that isn't meat I guess? Either way, I plan ahead if I'm going to be out.

mlrtri

Meal planning is my way of surviving. I have meal planned for many, many years. I have just had to change what the meals are

We live 20 min from closest grocery store ( although we are blessed to have some AMAZING farm stores close- too bad I can no longer eat their cheese) so there is no way I am running to the grocery every day or two. I plan my meals and keep my pantry and freezer stocked and we are good for a week or more.

I prepare breakfast/lunch/dinner and snacks for all 5 of us every day. There is no way I would make it without my plan, my grocery list and my InstantPot/Crock Pot.

MelanieCN77

I plan 3-4 days in advance, because that's how long a lot of veg and meat will stay fresh (as I want it) for me in the fridge. I do have some freezer and pantry staples that I work with, but fresh stuff is a good 75% of my diet. Sometimes I will really write it all down and shop properly, but I have a pretty good range of easy meals I like so it's fairly easy to pick up this and that to supplement what's at home. I don't "meal prep" as I hate reheating most meat stuff. Stews and soups are an exception, I'll happily eat those leftovers.

Aerona85

I plan breakfast and lunch and pack it the night before. 90 percent of my weight loss has been because I started taking lunch to work instead of buying whatever is catered. Dinner I eat whatever I am feeling like that night...sometimes it is leftovers, sometimes not.

seltzermint555

I've always done meal planning as a way to keep from getting bored eating the same things over & over, and a way to control grocery spending. Even when I was at my heaviest and baked/cooked 5 full-on desserts per week along with the actual meals, I relied on meal planning to avoid situations where I would have a chicken breast, can of beans, and a big bag of potatoes on hand and wind up just ordering takeout.

Now, it's the same principle but healthier fare. My husband is an amazing cook and makes most of our lunches & dinners from scratch (he also works from home). But I am the one who usually comes up with the majority of meal ideas. Or I'll suggest a meal and he'll make it healthier and meatless (which we prefer). If we just went to the grocery store without a list and a solid plan for our meals, we would probably rely more on frozen and prepared foods than we do currently. We also make a point of sticking as many fresh and in-season veggies in our list as we can. Two heads are better than one for that stuff, and we typically plan this in about 10-15 minutes over a leisurely brunch at home on Sunday.

As for how we do it...we come up with 5 breakfasts (VERY frequently repeated btw, we don't mind repetition as much for that meal), 5 lunches, and 5 dinners. We don't assign them to specific days so it allows some leeway for various activities or choices. If we need another dinner we may go out or we may piece something together or have leftovers. It works very well.

dwilliamca

I'm home now, so I start my meal planning the afternoon of. Pick a meat/poultry/fish to thaw, decide on a carb side dish, decide on a vegetable or salad, and I'm ready to go. Only time I have to think early is if I use the crockpot. I usually buy what is on sale when I go grocery shopping, so that kind of makes the decision of what meals we are having that week.

rainingribbons

Most of the time I always try to meal plan. Usually Saturday or Sunday my boyfriend and I sit down and decide on 3 or 4 meals we'd like to have for dinner that week and plan around those. Fridays are always pizza and video game night, and then the other nights we'll fill in leftovers. We plan everything so that we only have to run to the store on Sunday, unless we end up using a full container of mushrooms when we originally planned to use half, etc.
Meal planning, list making, and grocery shopping are actually fun to me, so much that sometimes I'll scroll through pintrest to get meal ideas for the next week as well.

Ironandwine69

Very helpful.
I plan the whole work week on Sunday. Weekends are usually something different

janejellyroll

On Sunday I plan my dinners for the week. Each day I pre-log what I plan to eat for each meal the next day.

The combination has been incredibly helpful for me.

kristen8000

Very helpful. It eliminates tempation. If left to last minute decisions, McDonalds may be making dinner.

H_Ock12

I find it very helpful...especially for my wallet. I plan a menu on Friday based around the weekly specials at my local stores. On Saturday, I go to the grocery store. Sunday I cook all of hubby's breakfasts for the week. Then the week is planned out and it's leftovers for hubby's lunches. If Cookout and Chickfila call, the menu just gets bumped down a day.

acorsaut89

Oh man - meal planning and prepping is the best thing that ever happened to me.

I meal plan for about a month at a time - breakfasts, snacks, lunches, dinners, etc.

I prep for a week at a time. I have to shop once and make everything on Sundays. Some people don't like left overs, but I basically eat the same thing for breakfast all week, lunches, dinners, etc. And I'm ok with that - I just have to heat it up in the microwave when I get home and don't have to cook anything really. This helps me stay on track and so that I don't feel like I'd have to worry about what to cook when I finish work. It's also pre-portioned and I can easily count calories and servings.

I know some people might think planning a whole month might be excessive, but it really helps me to figure out how I'm going to grocery shop and it's easier to make the list of what I'll need. This also makes it worth buying in bulk because I know I'll use everything up as I tend to gather meals together that use the same ingredients. Also that way I don't need to buy a bunch of things for only one recipe or meal.

JennJ323

I think it's very helpful and like planning ahead!

I plan my weekday breakfasts & lunches usually a couple weeks at a time (same thing for each meal, then switch to something else for the following week). So I can look ahead 2 or 3 weeks and see what I'm having or what I need to add to my grocery list. I also prep everything the Sunday before the week starts so I can just grab & go in the morning.

For dinners I plan the entire month at one time. My husband's work schedule varies, so I don't have to cook full meals for us each night. When I get his schedule I sit down with a calendar and plan the month out. That also helps because if I see one week we are having particular high calories dinners all week I can adjust my breakfast/lunch plans to be lower cal for that week.

I've been doing things this way for almost a year and I don't think I'll be stopping anytime soon.

cwolfman13

smallstepslongstrides wrote: »

If you do, how far in advance do you plan for?

My wife and I sit down on the weekends and figure out what we're going to make during the week...this not only provides a plan for the week, but also allows us to just go shopping once and get everything we need. It's also efficient from a budget standpoint.

We don't plan it out in regards to Monday is X and Tuesday is Y...just a general plan of what we're going to make throughout the week.

Need2Exerc1se

I do not find it helpful.

kgirlhart

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

I do not find it helpful.

I don't find it helpful either. Maybe I would if I lived by myself. I do tend to eat the same things for lunches and basically the same meals throughout the week so when I do my grocery shopping I pick up the foods we usually eat. But I never really know what I am going to eat until I get ready to eat it.

Need2Exerc1se

kgirlhart wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

I do not find it helpful.

I don't find it helpful either. Maybe I would if I lived by myself. I do tend to eat the same things for lunches and basically the same meals throughout the week so when I do my grocery shopping I pick up the foods we usually eat. But I never really know what I am going to eat until I get ready to eat it.

It's just me and my husband but we don't eat the same things much. Well, there are few favorites we might eat twice in one month. But it's the same with us. I don't know what I'm going to be in the mood for until it's time to eat. It's 3:30 p.m. here and I have no idea what we'll be having for dinner.

shaumom

I would only do a week in advance, in part because if anything changed, and I couldn't make a meal, I would have leftovers to use up that should be in the next week's meal plan, you know?

I will look at sales ahead of time. I will look at what I have on hand that should be used up soon. And I will think about how much time I will have that week, when I am making a meal plan.

I found it helpful, budgetwise, because I tend to waste less food if I'm getting foods for a specific meal that I'm going to make, rather than just food in general, you know?

I found it helpful for the budget as well if, before I make the plan, I looked over the fliers for sales that week at my grocery store. Then I decided on meals based on what was on sale, so that was helpful as well.

I found it helpful in terms of time because I am often home later and my brain is so fried I wouldn't know what to make if I didn't have a little list of things I could do.

One thing I do is to pay attention to difficulty levels of meals vs. my time. So, like, I get home late three days a week. So I try to make sure i have three super easy and fast meals I plan a week (when I'm planning), so they are more likely to get made, and I can have food faster.

Also, if I really feel a time crunch, I may plan something like a huge meal that I eat multiple days, like some giant pot of soup, which helps me with time and not wasting food, both.

EatingAndKnitting

I just started meal planning and it has quickly become essential to me. I used to go to the store daily and buy breakfast, usually high calorie non-nutritious foods, along with whatever sounded good and cheap for dinner. We ate a lot of pasta, and I always ran out of food money by the middle of the month.

If I go to the store I buy junk. I have not yet figured out how to say no to myself. I'm working on it, but it's hard to break years of bad habits.

But, two weeks ago I sat down and planned all my meals for two weeks. I figured I the calories and logged them. I tried to do all my shopping then that Sunday, but ended up going to the stire a couple times during the week, and bought junk. But I'm doing better than I was.

So, for me, planning is helpful. I'm going to come up with like two months worth of dinners that I can rotate through and mix up so every week won't be the same thing, but I'll know all the calories and logging/shopping will be easy.

I won't meal prep though. I've got plenty of time to cook, and will not eat leftovers. I won't even eat food I've cooked and then frozen. I'm good at cutting down recipes for two people.

GottaBurnEmAll

I make a general plan of what we're going to have during the week, and this includes planned leftovers. I'm flexible about what days I make things, usually going by what the general consensus/agreement is given the choices from what I've planned (do you want x or y?).

walkinginplace

Thanks for all of your input everyone! It's interesting to see how many different ways people plan their eating.

kpkitten

Really helpful!
I plan 6 or of 7 days. If 2 of those are eating away from home for whatever reason I count it as being planned!
That way I can prep veggies twice a week, move frozen bits from the garage to kitchen freezer and remove from kitchen freezer in the morning on the day they're needed.
Makes shopping much easier, meal prep is quicker, and I can plan my lunches/breakfast around the evening meal and my intended activity.
Leaving a day out gives me room to change my plans a bit.