Struggling to plan meals.

Start with foods you like best and go from there. If you get bored with eating the same thing day after day, there's no need to prep a big batch of the same meal. If you like chicken (for instance), you can cook a bunch on the weekend and use it in different ways through out the week.
A lot of prep work is just washing, chopping, and portioning out ingredients. What works for me is to make the same breakfast and lunch for every day of the week (I don't mind the same meals) and pre-chop all of my vegetables for dinner. When I buy proteins, I separate them into individual portions and then grab one out of the freezer into the fridge in the am. For dinner, I can just take the protein and whatever veg I'm in the mood for and cook them very quickly. I oftem make a batch of a grain like rice or freekeh to have on hand as well or I make several baked potatoes or sweet potatoes to use over the week. So, it's very mix and match.
Base your meal plan around things that you enjoy and it will be much easier. If you're having trouble eating your groceries too soon, try portioning them out as soon as you get home from the store (snacks too). I plan everything, and I eat 2 breakfasts, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and after dinner treats.
It also gets easier with practice. You can get a lot of inspiration on places like Pinterest for meal planning.

I think this is the hardest part for most of us. And i think personal lifestyle will be the biggest deciding factor for what will work for you. I also know that my lifestyle needs change often--based on season or holidays or work schedule. One size fits all approach usually leads to losing motivation at some point.

What i found most successful in almost all of the self improvement areas of my life is to start small. Identify the areas that will be a challenge and figure out small tweaks i can do to get me a little bit closer. All or nothing works well for the short term when you have the stamina and excitement of starting something new, but the second life's balance shifts a bit--and it will--you are left with nothing.

I try to build in small habits into my established routine rather than trying to change my entire lifestyle all at once. Maybe you can brainstorm what your typical pre-weightless routine consisted of and we can help you tweak? For me--I usually start just by tracking everything without changing. Even just the accountability usually leads to some weight loss. Then I look at the data I collected and see where I can make changes. At my most motivated I can weigh measure plan and live my ideal plan, but when I am at my least motivated I can make sure I have some easy no brainr meals on hand (Things that discovered from my data that keep me satiated with little effort or calories like hard boiled eggs ready to go or a can of tuna) and give myself a break if I made some less than ideal choices. Aiming for good enough is a better goal for me than aiming for perfect if I want to stay on track.

I had a lot of success with this in the past, but now I'm back with a lifestyle that is quite different than what I was dealing with 2 years ago so I need a different approach. Definitely no one sized fits all solution.

I don't really plan meals, I just eat whatever I've got in my fridge or cupboard that fits in my calories for the day. If that means I have a pork chop for breakfast or eggs for dinner, then there it is.

I meal plan by buying ingredients for 3-4 meals that serve 4 people (single person). I cook about 3 times a week, make meals with similar ingredients to save money, and eat the same food for about 2 days versus 7. The only consistent meal is my breakfast, but that's more for convenience.