Meal Planning Tips

It depends on how busy I am. I usually like to make some go-to items like rice and lentils ahead of time and store in the fridge. Also, I just got done portioning out my meat for the week. I weigh it all out and put portions into baggies and write the weight on them, then store in the freezer. I usually get chicken, thin cut steak for stir frys, and shrimp. I portion them by themselves and in different combinations. I try to plan out all of my meals the day before. sometimes things get hectic and it doesn't always work, but it keeps me on track better than when i don't plan at all. If you look at my profile I posted a thread recently about grocery shopping on a college student's budget. Even if you're not a student, it's some good common sense stuff on buying healthy foods while keeping costs down. If you have any questions feel free to message or add me . =]

iUsually cook my fish/chicken for the week (or at least the next day) in advance and put in containers plan in your head what you wanna eat and what time you wanna eat it and stick to that :glasses:

Plan around your macro goals. Once I know what I am looking for on a day, preparing for it is much easier for me.

I buy food every two weeks, so freezer is packed with meat

I cook food everyday, but I don't have much time, so usually just prepare something which can be cooked in 15mins (which everyone can spare) and that satisfies me.

I cook once a day, and prep food for the next work day too. Since I do not have much variety in my diet atm, its fairly easy for me to achieve this (I just cook white meats like chicken, lean pork, veal or fish, take a can of tuna every two days and veggies). All these can be cooked really quickly and taste good without the need for any particular dressing, sauces or whatever.

I purchase a case of chicken, eye round, pork loin, pork ribs, pork butts, whole roaster chickens, flap-meat from our local Sam's and I break it all down and freeze it. I usually do this every four months, and everything gets rotated.

Fresh produce is purchased every week.

Fresh herbs are purchased as-needed and properly stored so they dont go bad.

Lemons and Limes are weekly as well.

Spices - oh hell, Im always purchasing spices (restaurant sized) because I make my own season rubs all the time, and make my own BBQ sauces all the time. Marinades as well!

Personally, I consider some level of meal planning really important to maintaining health and fitness - the lightbulb really just went on for me recently regarding this. I can offer my 2 cents on what has worked for me:

1) My Freezer and storage pantry have become my best friends - I makes sure to ALWAYS have my staple foods on hand. For me some of my staples foods are: Oatmeal, banannas, blueberries, crushed walnuts, salad bags, Almond Milk, Egg Beaters, high quality italian bread, Cento jarred veggies, olives, chicken, tofu and some steaks.
2) I store stuff in portion quantities - not bulk - so for example, my butcher individually wraps my meat cuts for me and I cut my bread and freeze it in sandwich and dinner size chunks
3) I found a really good cookbook I liked and I committed to making 3 or 4 of the meals I like from it on a recurring basis and freezing them. For example, last week I made a big Veggie Lasagna - I did not eat any of it on the day I made it - I made it straight to freeze for meals - I got 6 entrees from it and they are stored in Glad containers in the freezer
4) I generally have 4 or 5 recurring breakfasts I love to eat - so I always make sure I have the ingredients on hand to make any of them and I generally don't have to think much about it - I know I eat my Power Oatmeal every other morning, I can make it in my sleep now and so long as I have all my staples on hand it's a no brainer.

For me it was about finding healthy things I like, learning the easiest fastest way to make them and always having the stuff on hand.

Hope that helped somewhat!

I found that what works for me is being consistent with what I eat for lunches and dinners week over week. My meals are not the same day to day, but every Mon-Fri i know exactly what i will eat before hand. For example, every monday for dinner i wil do a whole wheat flatbreat pizza - no sauce w/fat free cheese. Tuedsays are taco tuesdays made with 99% lean ground chicken. I was afraid that this would get "predictable" and boring, but i was wrong. I found some great tasting/healthy meals that i love to make with lean meats. Couldn't be happier.

Also, i will prepare my lunches and snacks for the week on Sunday night. I weigh everything so that i know what's going into my body. This allows me to pre-fill in days on MFP. So on a monday i might already have tues and wed already filled in with my foods. This has helped me tremendously.

What I try to do is sit down sunday and take an inventory of my fridge and pantry. I make a meal plan for the week based on what I have. Then I go food shopping based on what I need for the plan. I don't keep tempting things in the house. Also on sunday I do bulk cooking- making a gallon of veggie chili or chicken stew or lentil soup or whatever then portion and freeze it for those days I'm too tired to cook or something unexpected comes up.

I'm a new culinary arts major, so naturally I'm passionate about cooking and do it most of the time. (If I happen to be sick or something, I may do some calorie research on a Subway sandwich).

I don't really plan ahead either. For me, the idea is to really keep things in the house that are good for you. For instance, I always keep raw chicken or fish handy since there are limitless ways to prepare both with a different taste every time. Just don't let yourself get burned out on one thing like I have done a time or two!

I would also suggest keeping a rack of your favorite seasonings around. One of my favorites is lightly seasoning a single serving of skinless chicken in garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Put a little bit of olive oil in a pan and allow the pan to get hot enough so that when you put down the chicken, it sizzles. Let it cook though and it's some of the most tender chicken you've ever eaten! There are other ways but this is just one of my favorites. Of course, keep some of your favorite veggies around to eat with your chicken.

I would suggest staying stocked up in your favorite vegetables as well as a few healthier meats such as some fish and chicken breast. If you're like me and you get the craving for red meat, keep a small pack of lean ground beef around for every once in a while. If I have the craving, I may just shoot for a serving sized hamburger patty with my preferred seasonings instead of the usual fish or chicken.

As far as recipes go, find a few you like and put your own spin on it. It's your food and make it how you like! (While being true to your diet of course!)