Meal Planning and Obligations

MCEOCHAIDH

As a father of and a full time carer to a child with severe autism I find getting the time to plan a meal near impossible. Consistency is so hard when you're the mother, the father and the carer with a small windows of three hours to yourself a day. I try to fit in at least three workouts a week but mealtimes are what's killing me. I always end up picking at the fridge on top of just eating whatever the kids are eating because I'm starving by dinner time and then I end up hungry again by 9pm when they go to bed. It's SO bloody hard to stay consistent when your life is anything but consistent!

I think I need a training partner to work with me but who can afford a personal trainer all the time like. It's so hard to do this alone!

aimeetu

I hear you - how old is your child with autism? Perhaps when he/she is in therapy you can grab some time to write down your plan or perhaps "whatever the kids are having" could be something geared more toward your goals? I know having a child with special needs is hard - especially when they're young it feels endless - hang in there !!!

deannalfisher

I alsways recommend ppl sit down on weekends with family and schedule stuff (to best ability) and meal plan/prep then - highlight meetings/therapy/time periods you can’t do stuff

Identify 2-3 recipes that you want to cook and prep on weekend etc

vampirequeen1959

Is your child open to trying new foods? If so, why not cook the same for the children as you do for yourself.

angelexperiment

Meal prep. It’s a pain but I get up crack of dawn and prep before my workday for the week. Breakfast lunch dinner snacks. Then when I’m hungry boom there it is and I have no excuse to reach for anything other than planned foods.

AnnPT77

Without getting super-elaborate about meal prep, how about keeping some easy things always on hand? A big portion of microwaveable frozen veggies, a protein (whatever's easy), and maybe a piece of fruit is a pretty nutritious meal, easy/quick to fix, can be kept in the freezer (assuming you have one with enough space ) and need not be expensive.

ElizabethKalmbach

Tons of "kid foods" are healthy, just inappropriate in volume, so you might need to eat more. For lunch today I totally had one of the cottage cheese cups and a fruit cup that I keep around for my kid to nosh on for casual snacks. Since that was only 200 calories, I also had a chicken and broccoli salad that I mix in bulk on the weekend. Logging can help you ensure that you're eating enough to be satisfied. There's nothing wrong with eating like a kid, though it may not be necessary for you to take one bite out of every pepper in the drawer to see if there is any difference in flavor... ;-)

corinasue1143

Agree with others. Put a pot roast in oven. Have it all week. Next week, bake a whole chicken or chicken legs for the kids and whatever you like for you. You can bake rice in the oven at the same time. Crockpot of chili. Always a fruit bowl with apples, oranges, bananas. Maybe not as exciting as something different each night, but definitely time saving.

DevonKaroline

Lots of good advice in comments. I would multi task and make what you make for the family work for you.

While they may have larger portions of carbs, you might decrease your portion and increase the protein and veg.

Keeping convenient steam in bag veggies in freezer or already cooked stuff in fridge ready to go could be helpful too.

amtyrell

Growing up we had the same meals every week.
Sunday chicken
Monday meatloaf or lasagna
Tuesday pasta
Wednesday wild aka scrounge fridge for leftovers
Thursday pork
Friday pasta
Saturday sausages

There is no shame in rotating the same meals with the same sides every week. It means you get to have the same grocery list every week and you meal plan once and eat every week.

Speckle38

I’m parenting 3 children on my own half the time because my partner works away. Meal planning has actually helped us to stop picking. On the weekend, I plan the meals for the week, and I put them on the fridge. I normally do the grocery shopping online and pick it up on the way home from work. I find that if I know what I’m cooking, I just get in and do it, rather than standing with the fridge open trying to decide. We also get Hello Fresh from time to time, which cuts out the shopping aspect.

How old are your children? Mine are old enough to be helping, which means we also get to chat about the day. My eldest will sometimes cook dinner, which gives me a night off.