Help with IIFYM Meal planning

holybell
holybell Posts: 69 Member
edited November 14 in Food and Nutrition
I just got into the idea of Flexible dieting and want to start of with a good foundation. I am a busy college student that doesn't have enough time to dedicate to making food during the day (which I would love to do ideally). So I thought meal planning was the good way to go. I prep/cook on Sunday and regroup on Saturday. (Cooking on weekends isn't a problem for me.)

The problem is that I make one pot meals and I can't seem to either portion or divide it into daily meals to fit my macros. How would I go about doing this? I tried using MFP's recipe maker and inputted a recipe that fits my macros for the day but I want to divide this into 2 daily meals for 5 days.

Do I make 5x the recipe? (Dosen't seem sustainable) Or do I scrap the one pot cooking for something else? Help! :'(

Replies

  • Marchmallow
    Marchmallow Posts: 124 Member
    Not sure if this helps, but I'll make a big batch of something like chilli (I tend to do one pot meals too), and divide it evenly into four tupperware containers, then I put three into the fridge and eat the fourth. For the next few days I'll take the other portions out and microwave them at meal times. I might cook two days in a row, different meals, and do the same with that batch, so there will be six homemade microwave meals in the fridge for my busy week! Good meals to make for this method with one pot are chillis, curries, rice and veg dishes, soups, bolognese sauce, etc. Hope it helps!
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    Forgive me if I'm not following this properly...

    One pot, needed to be divided in to 5 days worth of 2 meals per day?

    So, weigh the total contents and divide by 10.

    Or am I missing something?
  • holybell
    holybell Posts: 69 Member
    cityruss wrote: »
    Forgive me if I'm not following this properly...

    One pot, needed to be divided in to 5 days worth of 2 meals per day?

    So, weigh the total contents and divide by 10.

    Or am I missing something?

    I want to make enough where I meet my macros for each of the 5 days and only have to cook the "one pot meal." I don't know if I am explaining it right, but I want to cook enough that when I divide it the macros match up for each day. When I do it the way you detailed, I get the total macros as if I am fulfilling my daily macro total over a weeks' period.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    edited March 2015
    Hmmm.

    One pot - 5 days of food, each day hitting the same macros.

    So, (made up numbers for arithmetic sake)...

    Target 1000 calories per day 100 carb 100 protein 100 fat

    Pot would need to contain 5000 calories, 500 carb 500 protein 500 fat

    Split equally 5 ways, each meal would be would be

    1000 calories 100 carb 100 protein 100 fat per day!

    Daily macro x 5 = pot total.




  • holybell
    holybell Posts: 69 Member
    cityruss wrote: »
    Hmmm.

    One pot - 5 days of food, each day hitting the same macros.

    So, (made up numbers for arithmetic sake)...

    Target 1000 calories per day 100 carb 100 protein 100 fat

    Pot would need to contain 5000 calories, 500 carb 500 protein 500 fat

    Split equally 5 ways, each meal would be would be

    1000 calories 100 carb 100 protein 100 fat per day!

    Daily macro x 5 = pot total.



    Thank you! I was having a hard time figuring that out, so this clears up a lot. :)
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    i wish there were an app where you could plug in foods and recipes you like and it would spit out macro-tight meal plans.
  • holybell
    holybell Posts: 69 Member
    edited March 2015
    tomatoey wrote: »
    i wish there were an app where you could plug in foods and recipes you like and it would spit out macro-tight meal plans.
    Same here. It would help a lot. But I do know of a website that has the same premise. It makes a meal plan according to what you can and can't eat, your dietary preferences (paleo, vegan, etc) and other factors such as how many meals per day. You can even set the macros to what you want! It called eatthismuch.com. It not the right tool for me, but it sounds like it could help you.
  • acheben
    acheben Posts: 476 Member
    I haven't used this site before, but I've seen it suggested a few times: https://www.eatthismuch.com/
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    acheben wrote: »
    I haven't used this site before, but I've seen it suggested a few times: https://www.eatthismuch.com/

    That same person (people?) brought you this, which I think I like better - even though eatthismuch is newer and supposed to be better.

    http://swole.me/
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    holybell wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    i wish there were an app where you could plug in foods and recipes you like and it would spit out macro-tight meal plans.
    Same here. It would help a lot. But I do know of a website that has the same premise. It makes a meal plan according to what you can and can't eat, your dietary preferences (paleo, vegan, etc) and other factors such as how many meals per day. You can even set the macros to what you want! It called eatthismuch.com. It not the right tool for me, but it sounds like it could help you.

    Lol - thanks! Sorry it's not working for you :/ Why don't you like it?
  • holybell
    holybell Posts: 69 Member
    tomatoey wrote: »
    holybell wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    i wish there were an app where you could plug in foods and recipes you like and it would spit out macro-tight meal plans.
    Same here. It would help a lot. But I do know of a website that has the same premise. It makes a meal plan according to what you can and can't eat, your dietary preferences (paleo, vegan, etc) and other factors such as how many meals per day. You can even set the macros to what you want! It called eatthismuch.com. It not the right tool for me, but it sounds like it could help you.

    Lol - thanks! Sorry it's not working for you :/ Why don't you like it?

    The sad fact is I'm too much of a picky eater to use it to its fullest potential. I can pick a few recipes in case I need to eat something to get to my calorie goal for the day due to a busy schedule.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    holybell wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    holybell wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    i wish there were an app where you could plug in foods and recipes you like and it would spit out macro-tight meal plans.
    Same here. It would help a lot. But I do know of a website that has the same premise. It makes a meal plan according to what you can and can't eat, your dietary preferences (paleo, vegan, etc) and other factors such as how many meals per day. You can even set the macros to what you want! It called eatthismuch.com. It not the right tool for me, but it sounds like it could help you.

    Lol - thanks! Sorry it's not working for you :/ Why don't you like it?

    The sad fact is I'm too much of a picky eater to use it to its fullest potential. I can pick a few recipes in case I need to eat something to get to my calorie goal for the day due to a busy schedule.

    Ah, well, I'm pretty sure I'd be the same - I like what I like, would prefer something really customizable. If it suggests recipes, I probably wouldn't like it either :/
  • holybell
    holybell Posts: 69 Member
    tomatoey wrote: »
    holybell wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    holybell wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    i wish there were an app where you could plug in foods and recipes you like and it would spit out macro-tight meal plans.
    Same here. It would help a lot. But I do know of a website that has the same premise. It makes a meal plan according to what you can and can't eat, your dietary preferences (paleo, vegan, etc) and other factors such as how many meals per day. You can even set the macros to what you want! It called eatthismuch.com. It not the right tool for me, but it sounds like it could help you.

    Lol - thanks! Sorry it's not working for you :/ Why don't you like it?

    The sad fact is I'm too much of a picky eater to use it to its fullest potential. I can pick a few recipes in case I need to eat something to get to my calorie goal for the day due to a busy schedule.

    Ah, well, I'm pretty sure I'd be the same - I like what I like, would prefer something really customizable. If it suggests recipes, I probably wouldn't like it either :/

    As I said before, it suggest recipes according to what foods you prefer. Example being this

    85f8zei3xk3e.png

    I can change the recipes to suit my needs according to what my dietary preferences such as allergies, special diets, etc. So if I need an idea for something to eat be it a snack or meal, I can refer to this and change basically everything. You can even change the complexity of the recipe (for those of us that need to wade into cooking such as myself).
  • lauraldrum
    lauraldrum Posts: 55 Member
    I have a recipe blog and the newest 15 recipes are low carb/low fat/high protein recipes. I have step-by-step pictures too!

    https://facebook.com/thefoodistachronicles

  • lauraldrum
    lauraldrum Posts: 55 Member
    I have a recipe blog and the newest 15 recipes are low carb/low fat/high protein recipes. I have step-by-step pictures too!

    https://facebook.com/thefoodistachronicles

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