Meal Planning for Success
One of the most powerful things you can do to help yourself succeed on a weight loss/fitness journey is meal planning. Failure to plan your meals may lead to bad choices. Planning takes time and that is why most people struggle. I’m going to show you how to plan out several weeks of dinners in just minutes, and we will not be eating the same thing over and over!
What you will need
- Post-it notes (you can use one color for planning dinners, or you can use different colors depending on the protein you choose: chicken, pork, fish, etc.)
- Small 3-ring binder
- 3-ring subject dividers
- Pen
- Timer
- What’s for Dinner worksheet below (print from email – I laminated mine)
It's time for some fun
This part would be fun to do with the whole family, especially if you have children. Getting them involved when making choices for meals is important and it will help you plan!
Select a post-it pad and decide which protein you are going to start with (i.e. chicken). Set a timer for 1 minute. When you start the timer you (and anyone joining you) write a chicken meal on a post-it note, pull it off the pad, and then write another meal on the next note. Continue writing as many chicken-based dinners as you can think of during that one minute.
Continue this process for each protein you are using for your dinners. You can make it a contest if you are working with kids. Assign points to meals with the healthier choices getting more points…be creative!
Organizing your meals
Once you’ve finished each protein take a look at the meals and remove any duplicates (if you are doing this with others). You will now use your subject dividers to “hold” your meals. Protein by protein place the meals on the divider sheets, using a new one for each protein, as a holding place. Use the front and back of the divider sheet if you need the space, they can overlap them some but you should be able to read the meal on each post-it. Write the protein name on the tab of the divider sheet.
Plan your meals for the week
Now take your “What’s for Dinner” worksheet and fill in each day by pulling a meal off of the divider and placing it on the worksheet. Be sure to flip through the protein choices to change it up. Now you are ready to make your shopping list and head out the door with a solid plan for a week’s worth of dinners.
Making good decisions in the kitchen is key to being healthy BEFORE you NEED to be healthy!
