Meal PLans
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misfitswayoflife
Posts: 134 Member
Does anyone else on here meal plan?
I absolutely hate it,,, But I can't deny all the benefits
Being prepared, reduces the chance that I'll binge, save money on groceries, reduces waste....
I'm trying to build one now for next week. If you have any good recipes or example meal plans to contribute that would be sweet!
I absolutely hate it,,, But I can't deny all the benefits
Being prepared, reduces the chance that I'll binge, save money on groceries, reduces waste....
I'm trying to build one now for next week. If you have any good recipes or example meal plans to contribute that would be sweet!
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Replies
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I try to plan meals at the beginning of the week—but it IS hard!!
I like to use Pinterest... I pin recipes during the week, and then I'll do a quick inventory of my kitchen and pantry to see what I have. Then I'll browse what I've pinned and pick out the things that work with what I already have! I'll write them down on a magnet pad I got from Target that has a meal schedule on one half and a shopping list on the other. Then, I'll add to the list whatever ingredients I don't have.
I like to pick what I feel like eating for that day, so I actually don't stick to a "this what I eat on Monday, then this on Tuesday... etc" sort of plan. I'll make a plan for the week, with 7 days of dinners, then just pick from the list each day. That way I still feel like I'm eating what I want to eat and feel like on any specific day. I'll save leftovers for lunches so I don't have to spend time packing in the evening—and I'll often freeze more than one lunch, so I can have sometime in the future. I hate having the same leftovers more than one day in a row!!
Sometimes I'll do a bunch of cooking on a weekend day, like Sunday, and pack or freeze those meals. I usually pick intensive recipes for the weekends—I really enjoy cooking, but just don't have enough time in the evenings on weekdays after work and Zumba! So I'll pick salads or quick meals for evenings, leftovers for lunches, and fun, extensive recipes on weekends.
I think it works pretty well!0 -
Clean Eating magazine has a meal plan in every issue including grocery list. Take a peek and see if its tempting.0
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Great! Thank you ladies and thanks for the link I'm going to check it right now0
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I totally agree with the others in that I ABSOLUTELY MUST meal plan. About a month ago I subscribed to a website that sends me weekly meal plans (5 days), a shopping list to cover the meals (it even breaks down the meals so you know the cost), and the nutrition facts. It was a groupon @ $24/year. I bought the Gluten meal plan (not that we have gluten issues but it just looked so yummy). I recently bought another one (same company) for Vegetarian (again, not that we're vegetarians just that the meals looked sooooo good). So far I’m VERY pleased with the Gluten menus. They deliver an em to me every Friday morning; I print it out and do the shopping (according to the list they send). Then I put it in a binder so that when evenings get crazy with schedules whoever is home first can just open up the binder and start on dinner. It’s only been 4 weeks and the theory behind the menus is using only fresh ingredients so I rarely have to swap out recipe items b/c they’re really pretty clean to start with. I love the convenience of it and I really love the variety in the recipes. It’s definitely moved us beyond our same old, standard, fall-back recipes. This upcoming week's menu includes: (M) Rosemary Chicken with roasted potatoes & carrots; (T) Sole Gremolata with brown rice pilaf and spaghetti squash; (W) Spicy sausage spaghetti squash; (Thrs) Chicken with wild rice pilaf and balsamic roasted pears, and (F) Savory pear & apple soup with cheddar and apple quesadillas... can't wait to try 'em
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Can you share the website? Do they have raw food meals?0 -
I'm using the same meal plan (classic version), and it's so great! I'm working FT and finishing my PhD, and my hubby in in law school, so our free time is precious. We don't want to revert to eating take-out and frozen pizza, so we're fine with spending 30-ish minutes every night making a fresh, real dinner. However, the meal planning falls to me, and I realized I just don't have the time or the energy on the weekend to spend 3+ hours finding quality meals that are in season, use real ingredients, generate a shopping list, provide nutrition info, and use the same ingredients over the week so nothing goes to waste.
With this service, all that is done for me (for those interested, it's called The Fresh 20). Love that you can make 5 dinners with 20 ingredients, and since we don't have kids, we automatically have leftovers for lunch. We were able to do the grocery shopping in less than an hour, and the menus and recipes are right there ready to go when we get home from work. We're actually eating dinner before 8 p.m. now! And so far, it's been pretty delicious. My only concern is that I was kind of hungry after eating my portion of the chicken and potatoes... but perhaps because I am just restarting watching what I eat with MFP, so my stomach is used to me overeating larger portions...0 -
Sorry heroyalslimne - it didn’t send me any notification to let me know there had been more activity on this thread.
I totally agree with you, zephyrindc – we don’t have kids in the house either so the menu plans are perfect for four meals (dinner and lunches the next day). I think in our case, we have eaten clean for a long time; but portion control had become an issue for us. It’s nice that these are “fresh” so I’m still able to stick to “clean eating”. Also in our case because portion control had gotten soooooo out-of-whack that now that we’re eating the correct portions we’re still adjusting to some hunger pangs like you in DC. I too get hungry a few hours afterwards so I just have a piece of fruit or something that’s approx ~15-20 carbs. For me that works out b/c I try to do 3 meals at 45-60 and 3 snacks 15-25’ish. I absolutely LOVE the prepared “Shopping List” – I just add whatever extra items I need to it.
I ordered the “Gluten Free” plan. I see that they now offer a “Lunches” plan – for a total of 4 plans offered: Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Classic, and Lunch. I bought mine on a Groupon at a cost of $24/year (I think it was). The website for anyone interested is: TheFresh20.com - I don’t work for them or get anything for promoting it; but if you’re looking to jumpstart your eating, particularly portion control, with flavorful and not the run of the mill meals (at least in my case – I needed something different than my nightly broiled chicken, fish, or pork with a steamed vegetable). I found it interesting when I started putting my meals in daily that others MUST be receiving the meal plans too b/c almost every recipe is in the database. Hope this info is useful - Enjoy
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could you provide us with some examples of what the plan has you eat?
I downloaded a bunch of the clean eating ones the only downside is both my boyfriend and I absoluetly hate fish and it has a loy of fish meals. My boyfriend refuses to eat fish0 -
I can speak to the Gluten Free plan - for this week dishes include:
(Mon) Rosemary Chicken with roasted potatoes & carrots;
(Tues) Sole Gremolata (they also include directions for making this meal with chicken instead of fish) with brown rice pilaf and spaghetti squash;
(Wed) Spicy sausage spaghetti squash;
(Thrs) Chicken with wild rice pilaf and balsamic roasted pears, and
(Fri) Savory pear & apple soup with cheddar and apple quesadillas.
The goal of her plans, whether you have the Gluten, Classic, Vegetarian, or Lunch plan(s) is to make 5 meals (that each serve 4) using 20 fresh ingredients. I think you can still go to the website and download sample plans; that’s what I did when I saw the groupon - and that's how I decided which plan I wanted to try. The website is: TheFresh20.com
Hope this helps - let me know if you have any other questions.0 -
I meal plan
I usually try to prep my meals for Monday-Wednesday on SUnday nights.
Usually I made a "clean" dessert for a snack. I get my inspirations from www.getfitfeelsexy.blogspot.com
I also make hard boiled eggs, bake/grill my proteins (chicken, pork chops, steak)
Steam/season my veggies and pack everything in tupperware.
THis week i'm eating grilled chicken breast and steak for protein as well as steamed broccoli, asaparus and butternut squash(which I seasoned w/cinnamon).
Hope this helps.0 -
The Super-Market Diet book has great meal plans! I got the book from library! And the meals are good too!0
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I have my 'usual' oatmeal, berries, flax, chia, greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey for breakfast. I prepare my snacks the night before: I have an awesome vegetable soup I made this weekend that I can bring to work, I also prepare my salads in advance and then add whatever protein I want to: tinned mackerel, tuna, or some grilled chicken, etc. It's pretty convenient and fast. I am fortunate that I work in a school, so my 'breaks' coincide well with snack times... And I'll usually have sauteed veg (I love kale) with a lean protein for dinner.0
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I've been eating clean for about 2 months but just recently began trying to monitor portions to lose weight. Meal planning is key! I had no idea how "large" some of my meals were and my ratios of carbs, fat, protein were way out of whack! It is hard but the only way to go until you really get the hang off it. Especially if you want to lose weight!0
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Thanks for sharing this link...very helpful!0
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I use Fresh20 too and I love it - the weekly prep does keep weeknight time to a minimum, the food is flavorful and it makes it easy to follow a clean diet, and because of the limited ingredient list it's actually fairly economical. I've tried a couple of others - Six O Clock Scramble (nice flexibility, kid-friendly, but sort of bland meals) and eMeals (super-yummy gourmet Clean meals every night, but it took sooooo long to cook and the groceries were fairly pricey). I find the meal planning helps me stay on track both with eating well and my budget - if I have all the ingredients for a quick tasty healthy meal at home, it sort of removes the temptation to go out for trash. 0
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I used to always have a bunch of cookbooks on loan from the library, and every Sunday I'd pick out at least 5 recipes, write down the recipe name, cookbook and page on a sheet of paper. I'd also make sure each dinner included protein, veg, and grain. That would take up less than half the page. So that was my reference sheet, no bookmarks or anything needed, just stack up the notepad and books on the counter.
On the rest of the page I'd go through all the recipes and make a shopping list (checking to make sure I didn't buy anything I already had).
Anything I ran out of during the previous week went on the list (milk, yogurt, pantry stuff). Went shopping every Sunday and no issues for dinner.
These days, I just get a few pounds of whatever's on sale in the produce section, a few pounds of meat, and a bag of rice, and make soups. I think my roomates are getting tired of soup but the planning is much easier...0 -
I meal plan
I usually try to prep my meals for Monday-Wednesday on SUnday nights.
Usually I made a "clean" dessert for a snack. I get my inspirations from www.getfitfeelsexy.blogspot.com
I also make hard boiled eggs, bake/grill my proteins (chicken, pork chops, steak)
Steam/season my veggies and pack everything in tupperware.
THis week i'm eating grilled chicken breast and steak for protein as well as steamed broccoli, asaparus and butternut squash(which I seasoned w/cinnamon).
Hope this helps.
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My schedule just got a little less hectic, so one of my goals for the New Year was to meal plan as much as possible. I've kind of started this week with making my lunches the night before, but I'm hoping next week, when I'm not working on Monday, I do my prepping for the week. So far this week, I've premade my first breakfast smoothies today and yesterday, and put together decent-looking lunches. Getting home at night is really where I start to falter. Was noshing on chips and dip last night.
Womp womp. Baby steps. 0
