Meal Planning

spiritofoctober
spiritofoctober Posts: 23
edited September 27 in Food and Nutrition
I sat down this morning to plan out my meals for the next week (which I've never done) and I'm a little overwhelmed. Do any of you have any tools you like to use when planning? Where do you start?

Replies

  • bellyto5k
    bellyto5k Posts: 26
    Great quesion!!! I am waiting on some good answers! Next week is week #2 and I think I need to pre-plan before I go shopping!
  • baton_gal79
    baton_gal79 Posts: 8
    maybe start with your favorite meals... check on here how many calories, etc they are... if they are too much, substitue that meal w/something else you enjoy. Chicken, veggies, etc. Best of luck to you! for me i like walking around the grocery store for ideas. for most part you'll know what is good and what to steer away from. i was shocked when i found out how many calories pasta and stir fry and chinese food is :( then again, when i start running the marathon miles, i might be able to finally incorportate those foods into my meal to have enough calories in my system so no starvation. Let me know if you want any ideas. Note: for lunches, ham or turkey sandwhiches are very low calories :) these are good with apple sauce or cottage cheese. fruits or veggies. raw cauliflower. sandwhich is only approx 180 calories. buy stuff like apple sauce that will get you thru many meals. grapes are good too! yum. now i'm hungry. ha ha. subway wraps and 6 inch sandwhiches are good number calories too.
  • Winged_Victory
    Winged_Victory Posts: 58
    I don't make a plan for each day e.g. I don't plan for "Monday I will eat X, Tuesday I will eat Y". Rather, I decide what I will have for the entire week and tie it to no particular day so it's more like, "I will have spaghetti, curry, stir fry, baked potatoes with veggies, tacos, etc. during this week."

    I find that gives me the flexibility to go with what my I feel like eating each day since I have options (until I get to the end of the week, obviously) and that makes me more likely to stick with cooking at home.

    I always eat the same breakfast so that is easy for me. I'm just not that into breakfast so I keep it simple. (Oatmeal with fruit... instant packets during the week, steel cut oats on the weekend).

    For lunch, I make enough at dinner to have leftovers the next day.

    Dinner is as I described above about deciding what I will eat for the week.

    Sometimes I also cook a bunch of one thing and freeze it in containers. For example, I have made that with enchiladas just in case I have a night where I just don't feel like cooking (and cooking for one can be hard sometimes for me). Gives me a healthy, homemade ready meal option.
  • spiritofoctober
    spiritofoctober Posts: 23
    Thanks for the suggestions! Going to try again... I figure as long as I don't keep junk in the house I'll be doing swell! ;)
  • milaxx
    milaxx Posts: 1,122 Member
    I don't plan in specific detail unless I am trying a new recipe. I think basics. I sit down with store circulars on Sunday and review what's on sale. I know I need stuff for salads & I need brown rice, If I am in the mood for pasta, I need different toppings. What fruits are on sale? What can I make with them? I know I needs basics like milk and eggs.I make a list of what I need and decide on what stores I need to go to. There are certain items I can only get at Whole Foods, but the other stores I shop vary. I may shop at Taregt, Sav a lot or Acme or another supermarket chain. I also hit the farmer's market at least once a month.

    My goal is to save money and still have enough food I like to stay away from fast foods.
  • lalilalu
    lalilalu Posts: 102 Member
    I spent a bit of time brain-stoming a whole bunch of things that I could use in a plan and listed them under bf/lunch/dinner/snacks. I went to the library and flicked through some healthy eating cook books to get new ideas and searched the net. That gave me a decent list of meals that I could use and then when I'm making the plan I can refer to these lists for ideas, and amend them a bit to mix it up (maybe use a different type of meat, or use a different veg combo for a soup)

    I also keep all my previous plans from the past weeks, and I refer to these for inspiration to see what meals turned out well, and we haven't had for a while.

    Another thing I used to do was try and choose one dinner with fish or seafood/1 chicken/1 beef/1 vegetarian and then just some old favourites maybe 1 rice/1pasta... Plus always leave one dinner free because things change and you might eat out, have lots of leftovers, or just feel like a bowl of cereal for dinner...

    those are my tips...
  • spiritofoctober
    spiritofoctober Posts: 23
    Thank you! Great tips! :)
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
    i have been menu planning for over a year. i include a main dish, an extra side of veggies and a fruit dessert with each meal.

    feel free to stop by my blog for ideas - http://www.everythingisbetterwithcheese.blogspot.com
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