do you plan your meals ahead? eating healthy seems daunting.

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Megabot
Megabot Posts: 173 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm thinking of trying to plan my meals ahead. I've been finding that I'll wait until I'm actually hungry to eat these days. That's good because I'm starting to consume less food - but then I reach for canned foods, or "healthy" frozen dinners. (smart ones/lean cuisine) and don't want to spend the time cooking something that takes 30 minutes.

So do you plan your meals ahead? Daily? Weekly? Do you know what you're having for dinner, tonight? Do you plan your snacks, too? I feel this might be a good step towards both controlling what I eat and starting to add in healthier dinners.

I never have anything interesting planned, or have ingredients for anything. I'm hoping if I choose some things, go get the ingredients, and just stick to it, I will have healthier food kind of lying around. And then also if I decide to cook at certain times, maybe I'll actually attempt cooking something prior to when I'm starving for food.

So - How much do you plan vs. just "eating well" on your own? I am still a little daunted by people who eat healthily all the time, and somehow have the wherewithal to actually cook food that's good for them consistently. (Also I fear that they might be imaginary, and that I'm holding myself up to a standard that I can't possibly achieve.)
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Replies

  • Flafster
    Flafster Posts: 106 Member
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    I batch cook at the weekends. Nothing more stressful that trying to cook when you're Hank Marvin.

    Radio on, cup of tea and a few hours pootling about in the kitchen means I have most of the week's food sorted.

    Lots of veg curries, slow roasted meats & casseroles, ragus, breads so all I need to do in the week is take it out the night before take it out & bung it in the fridge. Come home, cook carbs & veg and dinner is fast & easy.

    (Also you have far more options if you're not restricted to a 30 min time limit for meals)
  • Megabot
    Megabot Posts: 173 Member
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    This sounds like great advice. Didn't really consider cooking FAR in advance of when I'd need dinner :)
    I batch cook at the weekends. Nothing more stressful that trying to cook when you're Hank Marvin.

    Radio on, cup of tea and a few hours pootling about in the kitchen means I have most of the week's food sorted.

    Lots of veg curries, slow roasted meats & casseroles, ragus, breads so all I need to do in the week is take it out the night before take it out & bung it in the fridge. Come home, cook carbs & veg and dinner is fast & easy.

    (Also you have far more options if you're not restricted to a 30 min time limit for meals)
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
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    Both. I plan dinners ahead by the week. I try to eat about the same thing every day for breakfast and snacks so the only thing I really have to do is choose the dinner or lunch for the day. I also eat my snacks whether I am hungry or not. I cook healthy dinners but it isn't grilled chicken and broccoli every night. I usually just take normal every day meals and make them healthier. I also plan at least one meal that can be cooked in a very short period of time. Some days I don't feel like cooking so I need a simple fast dinner to avoid fast food.
  • lancasrj
    lancasrj Posts: 8 Member
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    I plan a week of meals before I go shopping every week. Most of my recipes make 3-4 meals so I save time that way as well. Also, This planning keeps me from buying pre-prepared foods at the store. It also allows me to balance my macros for the week with one planning session so I don't have to think about it later.
  • Megabot
    Megabot Posts: 173 Member
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    Both. I plan dinners ahead by the week. I try to eat about the same thing every day for breakfast and snacks so the only thing I really have to do is choose the dinner or lunch for the day. I also eat my snacks whether I am hungry or not. I cook healthy dinners but it isn't grilled chicken and broccoli every night. I usually just take normal every day meals and make them healthier. I also plan at least one meal that can be cooked in a very short period of time. Some days I don't feel like cooking so I need a simple fast dinner to avoid fast food.

    I'd honestly eat grilled chicken and broccoli every night, if I remembered! That sounds fine. But I think you're right on, with a "fast" meal for once a week meal that is fast. Do you eat snacks on a schedule at all? It sounds weird to me, but I'm wondering how to make my life more consistent, and wondering if a schedule could work. Just set my phone to "snacktime!" and let it remind me to snack healthily every day or something.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
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    No, I don't plan meals ahead. I tend to eat the same basic combinations several times a week and I log as faithfully as possible most days.
  • drgmac
    drgmac Posts: 716 Member
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    Hi, I don't plan my meals in the strictest sense of "planning". For me, I keep lots of frozen and fresh vegetables on hand as well as cottage cheese, Egg beaters, protein bars, fruit, and yogurt. I really hate to cook, so I also rely on Lean Cuisine from time to time as well as Dr. McDougall dried soups. I try to keep my calorie limit between 1200 to 1500 calories. If I go out to eat, I generally try to keep a lot of vegetables and low fat meats in mind. I do also, from time to time, make a batch of vegetable soup and eat that throughout the week as a way to feel full and get my vegetables in. I also like to throw in some high Protein Kashi cereal to satisfy my cravings for a crunchy carb.
  • Megabot
    Megabot Posts: 173 Member
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    What do you mean by balance your macros? Do you do all the heath /diet info for a week, and just divide it out?
    It also allows me to balance my macros for the week with one planning session so I don't have to think about it later.
  • michellematteson
    michellematteson Posts: 134
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    I try entering what I plan on eating the night before or in the morning so I can keep an eye on sodium, which is my biggest struggle to control. Like what someone else mentioned, I have the same thing for breakfast and snacks, so lunch and dinner are the bad guys. Also helps if I plan to go out, I enter what I will be eating and plan the rest of the day around that.
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    I like to plan ahead and cook my own food, but its often quick things like stir frys, or whipping up a batch of houmous. I'll also usually have things in that will make a quick healthy meal, like tinned tomatos, anchovies, etc, to do a nice sauce for something.
  • Megabot
    Megabot Posts: 173 Member
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    I think I have a problem with keeping things on hand - they never get used! (Except frozen veggies - I usually have those on hand, and they're fine!) I hate wasting food, so my solution of the past was to cook less, instead of using up fresh veggies/etc. Maybe I could start with one or two things in the fridge that I'm always going to be using, and base recipes off that...
    Hi, I don't plan my meals in the strictest sense of "planning". For me, I keep lots of frozen and fresh vegetables on hand as well as cottage cheese, Egg beaters, protein bars, fruit, and yogurt. I really hate to cook, so I also rely on Lean Cuisine from time to time as well as Dr. McDougall dried soups. I try to keep my calorie limit between 1200 to 1500 calories. If I go out to eat, I generally try to keep a lot of vegetables and low fat meats in mind. I do also, from time to time, make a batch of vegetable soup and eat that throughout the week as a way to feel full and get my vegetables in. I also like to throw in some high Protein Kashi cereal to satisfy my cravings for a crunchy carb.
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
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    I always plan ahead for the week. It keeps us on budget as well as keeping the crap food out of the house. If it's not on my list, I don't buy it.
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
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    Both. I plan dinners ahead by the week. I try to eat about the same thing every day for breakfast and snacks so the only thing I really have to do is choose the dinner or lunch for the day. I also eat my snacks whether I am hungry or not. I cook healthy dinners but it isn't grilled chicken and broccoli every night. I usually just take normal every day meals and make them healthier. I also plan at least one meal that can be cooked in a very short period of time. Some days I don't feel like cooking so I need a simple fast dinner to avoid fast food.

    I'd honestly eat grilled chicken and broccoli every night, if I remembered! That sounds fine. But I think you're right on, with a "fast" meal for once a week meal that is fast. Do you eat snacks on a schedule at all? It sounds weird to me, but I'm wondering how to make my life more consistent, and wondering if a schedule could work. Just set my phone to "snacktime!" and let it remind me to snack healthily every day or something.

    I eat snacks on a schedule because my breaks are on a schedule. On the weekends I have a hard time remembering to feed myself enough. My first break I eat my veggie snack and my last break I eat protein because I work out after work. I eat a snack as soon as I come home while I am cooking, because if I don't eat a small snack before dinner I over eat at dinner.
  • lkcuts
    lkcuts Posts: 224
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    maybe this is bass ackwards, but i go to the store, knowing what is good for me and go for the basics fresh veggies,meats,lean hamburger fresh cut meat not pre packaged, eggs,low cal bread skim milk, coffee beans (Igrind my own) maybe one kind of healthy cereal.(Ifind Aunt Milles light whole grain is pretty good) once I have at hand I deal with it either the day before on planning my meals. when Iget home from the store i seperate the meats in smaller portions and clean up and store my veggies. I think ok now i know what i have , what do i do with it? I do have peanut butter and light butter, coconut and olive oil to cook with. Example: morning time 3 egg whites cooked in either light butter or coconut oil. coffee and 2 slices of toast sometimes I make a breakfast sandwhich and add 1/2 slice american cheese, tomato and 1/2 teasp of mayo. i measure everything for logging as I go. One morning I don't feel like cooking alot so I opt for 2 slices of toast,honey 1 T of peanut butter and cinnamon.
    any way i already have my meat out of the freezer for the next meal. I may log ahead to say I am gonna have a certain thing, but my taste changes somewhere in the mix and I use something else. If I put out hamburger, i may have just a hamburger and whats left i may make a taco salad. its good to read different recipes to give you more options. If you already have the meat cooked up, its easier just to add the veggies etc. Itried doing it all ahead and freezing it.. I found out that certain things do not freeze well, like potatoes become spongy etc..Cooking, like anything you do, has to become a habit , an automatic thing you do..and yes you do have to think ahead or you will be back on the old junk food trail,
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    I batch cook at the weekends. Nothing more stressful that trying to cook when you're Hank Marvin.

    Radio on, cup of tea and a few hours pootling about in the kitchen means I have most of the week's food sorted.

    Lots of veg curries, slow roasted meats & casseroles, ragus, breads so all I need to do in the week is take it out the night before take it out & bung it in the fridge. Come home, cook carbs & veg and dinner is fast & easy.

    (Also you have far more options if you're not restricted to a 30 min time limit for meals)

    I do this, too. But with the tv on DVRed shows. :happy: A pot of steel cut oats = 6 breakfasts. Last week I had a big bowl of quinoa salad = 8 meals. A batch of chickpea cutlets = 8 'meals' (add veg or other side). It's repetitive but stress-free and it makes the logging super easy! You're far less likely to make a poor meal choice when the healthy choice is sitting there in the frig, just needing plated up or warmed.

    This week I think I'll make an egg casserole and a curried lentil soup. And it's Sunday so I better go get crackin...
  • loztredders
    loztredders Posts: 142
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    I usally plan everything the night before, that way I can wake up and know whats for breakfast and what I have to grab to take to work with me, and also when I get home at 6.30pm I can start preparing dinner straight away.
    If I don't plan, I tend to make poorer and less healthy food choices when it actually comes to making my meals.
  • MissCheese
    MissCheese Posts: 195 Member
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    I plan ahead, try to log the next days diary the night before and have an idea of meals for the remainder of the week at the back of my mind for when I go to the supermarket.

    I don't keep any rubbish in the house, just lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, canned tomatoes, yoghurts, beans and pulses, granary bread, butter, oils, milk. I buy meat/fish every other day.

    It's the only way it works for me, if it isn't in the house I can't have it.

    None of my meals are time consuming or hard to prepare.

    To satisfy my sweet/naughty tooth I do home baking and try to make healthier versions of naughty recipes. I probably have one or two pieces of cake a day, but its high fibre, low fat and low sugar generally. Helps to keep me away from crisps, chocolate and biscuits. A loaf of banana nut bread will last me all week, just made one now.
  • quill16
    quill16 Posts: 373 Member
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    I am a bit OCD about my food plan. I found out that it worked best for me. I plan my meals a week ahead on the day before grocery shopping day with the sale circular at my side. I make a list and stick to it except for the variety of fresh veggies that might be on sale. I buy no junk food and shop produce , meats and dairy. I have a gluten allergy so there are no breads, pasta ,crackers, or prepared foods.I basically eat the same foods each week and vary my snacks.
  • beccahummel423
    beccahummel423 Posts: 72 Member
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    I plan my meals a week at a time. I spend about an hour on Sunday afternoon pre-journaling the week. I find that it works best for me this way. Plus if I know a particular "meal" is coming up, I get really excited.
  • smartandtrim
    smartandtrim Posts: 123 Member
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    I don't plan ahead. What I do is keep only healthy foods in the house (which makes my dad and sister eat well too). No red meats, no fatty snacks, nothing overly salty or sweet. I always have fresh fruits and veggies around to snack on, and ABSOLUTELY NO SODA. I find that when I keep only healthy ingredients around, I am more likely to make good food for all of us (I cook for the three of us).

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