Ways
to set yourself up for success:
- Meal Planning
- Shopping
- Meal Prepping
Sometimes
meal planning and prepping can seem overwhelming at first. It took me a few weeks to get the hang of
it. I thought some of my experience
could help you if you are feeling overwhelmed or just don’t know where to
start.
Meal
Planning
I
started by creating a template that I could easily use week to week. This took about 5 minutes, but saves me time
each week. I don’t mind typing my meal
plan, but I know others like to hand write things. This template works for either person. You can easily type your meals, change the
font colors for different items, and even include links to recipes you will be
using.
I
like to start my planning off with what I am going to have for dinner
throughout the week. I write down the
different items I will need for that meal.
An example is grilled chicken, asparagus, and ½ a sweet potato. I like to write out all the things that I
will need so that I can easily make a grocery list from my meal plan.
I
then move onto my lunch because I will take some leftover food from dinner the
night before. I will usually add a salad
to what I had before – maybe put the extra protein on top of the salad. If I don’t take left overs I usually plan
something easy, but I like to have variety through the week. I don’t want to eat salads every day.
After
that I plan my breakfast, which is easy, I have Shakeology every morning with 1
fruit serving mixed in. I then have a
snack around 9:30 at work. It’s either
hard boiled eggs with hot sauce or Greek Yogurt. So I plan that out too even though it stays
the same. Sometimes I will have a bagel
thin with Peanut Butter or Oatmeal with Peanut Butter and Cinnamon. It really depends on the rest of my meals and
how many carbs I am eating.
I
also plan an afternoon snack which is usually a piece of fruit to hold me over
until dinner.
After
you create one meal plan a lot of things stay the same throughout the
week. For example I don’t usually need
to change much for my breakfast and morning snack don’t usually change week to
week. This helps cut down on the
planning time. Sometimes I will have the
same lunches the following week and dinners.
It really just depends on what you are in the mood for when you are
planning!
Grocery
Shopping
If you
make your meal plan with all the ingredients listed this will be easy! I make my list straight from my meal
plan. This allows me to organize things
like produce, meat, dairy all in order on my list so I can make my shopping
trip nice and easy. Sometimes I linger
in the meat department because I like to check out sales and will buy
additional items and freeze them if it’s a good deal!
If you belong to Costco,
BJ’s, Sam’s Club, etc. I recommend
checking the meat selection and pricing there because I usually save money by
buying in bulk and freezing. Another tip
check out the frozen fruit at these locations because I add frozen strawberries
to my shake and it’s much cheaper at Costco for a large bag.
Once
you have your list created head to the store.
While you are at the store, try to avoid the center isles because they
are filled with processed food. I know
that it’s not always possible, but that is where the temptation will get you. If you are thinking about buying something
processed check out the label and see what is actually in the product, can you
pronounce the names, is it 50 ingredients?
That product might not be the best choice.
Meal
Prep
When
you get home from the grocery store do not put all your food away. Make sure you leave your veggies out so you
can prep them for next week’s meals.
Also, if you bought a lot of meat and need to portion it to put in the
freezer keep that out so you can do it right away. I think the easiest downfall is putting
everything away and relaxing on the couch!
Just get it done. At least the
time consuming things like cutting the veggies.
If you’re having hard boiled eggs put cook them while you are prepping
everything else. When you finish cutting
your veggies portion them into single bags that are easy to grab throughout the
week and take with you. Also, if you
have salads on your plan throw them together and store them so they are easy to
grab.
I also like to cook my protein for
lunches at this time. So I will either
bake or grill chicken for my salads or meal.
I will also cook ground turkey to top a salad. I will make meatballs and store them in easy
to grab containers for the week and then have them with steamed veggies. I will cook extra veggies the night before I
have that meal so it’s quick and easy.
My
downfall is the weekends. Make sure you
plan yummy things when you are home on the weekends for lunch because otherwise
you will want to run and get Chipotle, Chinese, Pizza, or a sub….. I try to
plan new things so that I’m excited to try them. I am not very good on the weekends and it’s
something I am working on. I have
noticed that this does help!
I’d
love to hear back from you on this and any comments you have to help me make it
easier! Or even quick meal ideas J Shoot me an email at ashleyfrancisfitness@gmail.com
I
talk about portions and how many carbs I am having in this I follow the 21 Day
Fix meal plan which is simple and easy.
Feel free to shoot me an email about it or you can check out My website
