Last year, I wrote about the benefits of meal planning for weight loss success. Does meal planning REALLY help you lose weight? In my opinion, the answer is YES and for many reasons. But before we get into the reasons why I’m a firm believer in meal planning, we first have to look at what meal planning is in the first place. We hear a lot about meal planning and meal prep, but what IS a meal plan? Generally speaking, meal planning is scheduling our meals and menu ahead of time by planning next week’s meals this week.  Some people choose to plan out their meals and menu for one month at a time. If you’ve never tackled meal planning, I would suggest keeping things simple and try planning your meals for one week at a time until you are very comfortable with the process. In making a plan, we choose all of our meals for the entire week, then make a shopping list based on the ingredients and quantities we’ll need for all of the selections and recipes.

When it comes to making the best food choices, one of the easiest things we can do to set ourselves up for weight loss success is meal planning and following an eating schedule. The good news is, there’s no right or wrong way to do this. It’s totally up to you what your plan looks like. As you begin to try it out, you’ll discover what works and what you’d like to change. Play around with it as you go along.

There are so many ways to develop a meal plan. It can be just for you or your entire family,  focused on specific dietary needs, quick and healthy meals, low carb, crock pot meals, gluten-free, the options are endless. Having a meal plan keeps me organized, saves time and money, plus helps me from making poor food choices. Since I know what I will be eating each day, I am less likely to graze as I follow my food plan and eat per schedule. When I plan my meals, I feel empowered because I am making conscious decisions about the foods I will eat, which has a direct impact on my overall wellness and weight loss. One thing I have noticed is my eating plan allows me to get more creative and play around with my meal ideas and try new things. I create a meal plan for me and my family. I adapt my meals to the portion sizes and other specific guidelines I follow as a bariatric patient.

Here are some basics to get started:

1. Get a pen ( or pencil) and paper. Set aside time each week to put your plan together. I used to write out my entire food plan and shopping list each week. Then I developed a spreadsheet, which I sometimes type in my computer, but I do find it easier to write in pencil as I make changes to my meals.
2. Review next week’s schedule and figure out how many meals you will need for the week and how many you will be able to prepare at home. For example, in looking at last week’s schedule, I had family commitments and other activities on my schedule in the evenings after work, plus a bariatric support group meeting, and exercise, just to name a few things. So I knew ahead of time I would not be able to cook every night. In knowing that, I had a good game plan before the week began so we still had healthy and delicious meals.
3. Look at supermarket flyers for what’s on sale. This step is something I have always done prior to my weight loss. In addition to eating healthy and losing weight, one of my goals has always been, how to feed my family well, without breaking the bank. Every week, I know I need to purchase some groceries and I read through the flyers for deals on what I’m looking for or I add new meal ideas based on some of the items that are on sale. For example, I normally buy Greek yogurt every week or every other week. I like to buy just a few brands of Greek yogurt such as Dannon Oikos, Fage, or Chobani. So I choose one of my favorite brands which happen to be on sale that week. With greek yogurt being the example, last week, Publix had Dannon Oikos 10/$10.00, but I had a store coupon for $3.00 off and I also had a $1.00 off manufacturer’s coupon. Each container of yogurt cost only $0.80!
4. Begin to fill your sheet of paper or spreadsheet. It will take some time to plan your meals for the week. I make numerous changes before the final plan is complete and I sometimes switch things around during the week. Once you set up the week’s meals, it’s quite ok to change things around.
5. Create a shopping list. Remember to include any ingredients or other staple items you are out of or are running low, such as herbs, spices, etc.
6. Cook ahead, portion, and store – In starting your meal planning, I highly recommend cooking a few different meals and portion them to store in the freezer. I usually have a freezer full of portioned meals, such as ground chicken meatballs, roasted pork loin slices, and baked chicken pieces, just to name a few.
7. Create a Master List of family favorite healthy meals and snacks you and your family regularly enjoy. Come up with 5 to 6 quick and easy go-to meals that you would be able to fix on those hectic days when you are pressed for time.

I’m happy to share my meal planning spreadsheet with you, just email me: kim@weightitgetsbetter.com

Please tell me how you plan your meals! I’d love to hear your process.

Now Get Planning!!