Meal Planning 101

This easy guide on how to meal plan will make you a meal plan expert in no time!

1. Look at Your Lifestyle

Think about how meals fit into your current routine, this helps you gain clarity on your goals and expectations, as well as how you can make meal planning sustainable. Some reasons for meal planning are saving money, portion control (which also saves money), eating fewer processed foods, or simplifying meal-time decision-making when you’re busy.

Before starting a meal plan, be realistic about who you need to cook for, how much time you have to prep, cook, clean up, and go to the grocery store. You may choose to mix home-cooked meals and prepared foods.

2. Start Small

If you’re new to meal planning, try tackling a shorter amount of time. Thinking about how to meal plan for the week is doable for most people, but this doesn’t mean you have to cook every day of the week. Sit down with a calendar, a notebook, a dry-erase board, or even your computer and chart out the meals you typically eat each day, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any snacks.

Meal planning happens before you shop for groceries, so that you’re not stuck with a bag of broccoli wilting in your crisper drawer. (also remembering to take your list with you to the store is a good idea, trying to guess the menu and needed items is a disaster.) or order your groceries to keep you away from any instore temptations.

3. Fill in the Blanks

“Nail down the basics, but stay flexible,” says Rachel Naar, M.S., R.D., C.D.N. “Try to plan meals with four components, a carb, a protein, a vegetable or fruit, and a fat.” This is the hard part of how to make a meal plan, but it can also the fun part — think of it as a game of Tetris, but with food!

Don’t forget healthy snacks to keep your stomach satisfied between meals. I have lots of ideas for both savory and sweet that will keep you on track and never feeling deprived. If you’re stumped, go with a daily theme, like Crock Pot Monday, Taco Tuesday, or Healthy Homemade Pizza Friday. So many options to keep you enjoying this planning and learning to love food for how it makes you feel and look from the inside out.

4. Embrace the meal prepping (reframe leftovers… seen as half eaten, an excess of something and needs reheating, instead see meal prepping as fresh meal that is setting yourself up for success. You deserve fresh, fun and delicious!

To save time, choose recipes you can slot in for dinner and lunch the next day, I also like freezing extra pre-made baggies to carry over into a meal plan for a different week. (more on freezer menu ideas later in January)

Another time-saving hack is choosing recipes with similar ingredients to cut down on meal prep and waste. Seasonal vegetables are also a good source of inspiration.

“Chicken, salmon, rice, and quinoa are some solid staples,” says Naar. “But also work variety into your meal plan.”

5. Keep it Simple

The goal of a meal plan is to help you shop wisely and plan ahead, not prove your culinary mastery, explains Naar.

You don’t need to create a weekly menu filled with complicated recipes. If a snack is a serving of nuts or some carrot sticks and hummus, write that down even if it seems simple or obvious. You’ll also want to schedule meal prep into your meal plan.

It’s really about what works for you, Some weeks I have time to cook dinner and some weeks it’s best to batch cook so there is never a “what’s for dinner” dilemma. Making a double batch of your favorite dishes yields twice the deliciousness, but usually doesn’t take twice the time. It’s a win-win.

6. Time to get to work

It’s also a good time to make sure you have the right equipment for a recipe or enough food containers for the week. Check off what you already have in your pantry or fridge. Then shop online or head to the supermarket. To streamline in-person shops, group your list into produce, dried goods, meat and seafood, and frozen.

Now that you know how to meal plan, you’re ready to put that meal plan into action! Trust me you will not regret taking control over this part of your health esteem routine, health starts with what we consume both body, mind and soul.

Have you mastered the meal planning and prep? feel free to share your ideas and suggestions in the comments.