Do you find meal planning helpful?

YES meal planning is helpful. How rigidly and how far in advance are more personal and based on your goals. When I'm busy, it helps to have everything planned, so I know when I have to cook and prep things and how much time I have. I usually don't plan more than 2 days out, unless it's something like "Oh I've been meaning to make chili! That's a perfect meal for Tuesday." Mostly, I meal plan to make sure I'm in the right ballpark on my protein intake.

Meal planning is also really helpful for preventing food from going bad - anything that's been in the fridge a little while goes on tomorrow's menu!

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I make stuff ahead, but I'm not big into it. I have stuff in the freezer I could pair with a veggie and make a quick meal. I make soup or stew and just eat it until it's gone or it's gone bad, whichever happens first.

I do plan meals ahead of time when I visit other people or travel now. I stopped eating meat and I don't expect people to make meals around my dietary choices, so I make sure I bring something that could be a side if other people like it or a just main for myself. And it's a good thing, last time I went to someones house for dinner they lovingly prepared a nice vegetable soup and I was one bite in when they told me they used chicken stock from dinner the night before...it would have been potatoes for dinner if I hadn't brought something. Some people just try to serve me fish, like that isn't meat I guess? Either way, I plan ahead if I'm going to be out.

I plan 3-4 days in advance, because that's how long a lot of veg and meat will stay fresh (as I want it) for me in the fridge. I do have some freezer and pantry staples that I work with, but fresh stuff is a good 75% of my diet. Sometimes I will really write it all down and shop properly, but I have a pretty good range of easy meals I like so it's fairly easy to pick up this and that to supplement what's at home. I don't "meal prep" as I hate reheating most meat stuff. Stews and soups are an exception, I'll happily eat those leftovers.

I've always done meal planning as a way to keep from getting bored eating the same things over & over, and a way to control grocery spending. Even when I was at my heaviest and baked/cooked 5 full-on desserts per week along with the actual meals, I relied on meal planning to avoid situations where I would have a chicken breast, can of beans, and a big bag of potatoes on hand and wind up just ordering takeout.

Now, it's the same principle but healthier fare. My husband is an amazing cook and makes most of our lunches & dinners from scratch (he also works from home). But I am the one who usually comes up with the majority of meal ideas. Or I'll suggest a meal and he'll make it healthier and meatless (which we prefer). If we just went to the grocery store without a list and a solid plan for our meals, we would probably rely more on frozen and prepared foods than we do currently. We also make a point of sticking as many fresh and in-season veggies in our list as we can. Two heads are better than one for that stuff, and we typically plan this in about 10-15 minutes over a leisurely brunch at home on Sunday.

As for how we do it...we come up with 5 breakfasts (VERY frequently repeated btw, we don't mind repetition as much for that meal), 5 lunches, and 5 dinners. We don't assign them to specific days so it allows some leeway for various activities or choices. If we need another dinner we may go out or we may piece something together or have leftovers. It works very well.

Most of the time I always try to meal plan. Usually Saturday or Sunday my boyfriend and I sit down and decide on 3 or 4 meals we'd like to have for dinner that week and plan around those. Fridays are always pizza and video game night, and then the other nights we'll fill in leftovers. We plan everything so that we only have to run to the store on Sunday, unless we end up using a full container of mushrooms when we originally planned to use half, etc.
Meal planning, list making, and grocery shopping are actually fun to me, so much that sometimes I'll scroll through pintrest to get meal ideas for the next week as well.

On Sunday I plan my dinners for the week. Each day I pre-log what I plan to eat for each meal the next day.

The combination has been incredibly helpful for me.

I find it very helpful...especially for my wallet. I plan a menu on Friday based around the weekly specials at my local stores. On Saturday, I go to the grocery store. Sunday I cook all of hubby's breakfasts for the week. Then the week is planned out and it's leftovers for hubby's lunches. If Cookout and Chickfila call, the menu just gets bumped down a day.

I think it's very helpful and like planning ahead!

I plan my weekday breakfasts & lunches usually a couple weeks at a time (same thing for each meal, then switch to something else for the following week). So I can look ahead 2 or 3 weeks and see what I'm having or what I need to add to my grocery list. I also prep everything the Sunday before the week starts so I can just grab & go in the morning.

For dinners I plan the entire month at one time. My husband's work schedule varies, so I don't have to cook full meals for us each night. When I get his schedule I sit down with a calendar and plan the month out. That also helps because if I see one week we are having particular high calories dinners all week I can adjust my breakfast/lunch plans to be lower cal for that week.

I've been doing things this way for almost a year and I don't think I'll be stopping anytime soon.

I do not find it helpful.

kgirlhart wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

I do not find it helpful.

I don't find it helpful either. Maybe I would if I lived by myself. I do tend to eat the same things for lunches and basically the same meals throughout the week so when I do my grocery shopping I pick up the foods we usually eat. But I never really know what I am going to eat until I get ready to eat it.

It's just me and my husband but we don't eat the same things much. Well, there are few favorites we might eat twice in one month. But it's the same with us. I don't know what I'm going to be in the mood for until it's time to eat. It's 3:30 p.m. here and I have no idea what we'll be having for dinner.

I just started meal planning and it has quickly become essential to me. I used to go to the store daily and buy breakfast, usually high calorie non-nutritious foods, along with whatever sounded good and cheap for dinner. We ate a lot of pasta, and I always ran out of food money by the middle of the month.

If I go to the store I buy junk. I have not yet figured out how to say no to myself. I'm working on it, but it's hard to break years of bad habits.

But, two weeks ago I sat down and planned all my meals for two weeks. I figured I the calories and logged them. I tried to do all my shopping then that Sunday, but ended up going to the stire a couple times during the week, and bought junk. But I'm doing better than I was.

So, for me, planning is helpful. I'm going to come up with like two months worth of dinners that I can rotate through and mix up so every week won't be the same thing, but I'll know all the calories and logging/shopping will be easy.

I won't meal prep though. I've got plenty of time to cook, and will not eat leftovers. I won't even eat food I've cooked and then frozen. I'm good at cutting down recipes for two people.