Meal Planning - To Plan or Not to Plan, That is the Question!

UGH. Meal planning.

Who has time to plan anything? I barely have time to plan what I wear every day. I just pull some clothes off the rack and hope they don’t clash.

Who am I kidding, even if they do clash, I’d still probably wear them.

But seriously. Planning meals. Who does that?

Not me.

I appreciate that planning out meals can be really helpful. In fact, at one point I did plan dinners a little in advance, but that was before I started this journey. I’m still working on how many calories to eat in a day and how to get in enough protein.

Well, I guess you CAN probably get in enough protein if you only eat meat, but you NEED to eat protein. Among other things, it gives your body an energy source so it doesn’t steal it from your muscles. 

\YOU NEED YOUR MUSCLES!

Also, focus up there Billy. This is a post about Meal Planning.

Which I don’t do.

At least, not in the traditional sense.

Instead, I have routines that help me be consistent. For starters, breakfast and lunch, especially during the work week, is not very creative. 

Breakfast – Banana Smoothie with Cabot Whey Protein Powder. (I’m thinking of getting a better blender so I can try some smoothies with maybe,.. vegetables in them? I know, crazy talk).

Lunch – Right now it’s Greek Yogurt (plain but with lots of protein), Maple Syrup (because plain yogurt), frozen berries (no, they didn’t quite work to cut out the plain from the plain yogurt), almonds and chia seeds (as a bonus item). Also, a whole or half RX bar, depending on my mood. I also have some other items I COULD flex in there, but I’ll probably stick with this for a bit.

So, breakfast and lunch set. That leaves dinner. For dinner I pick a protein. Chicken. Pork. Steak. Fish. I figure out how many calories I have left (#MyFitnessPal) and then I backwards plan. First the protein – 4oz of whatever I choose. Then vegetables – is it a salad night? Or frozen veggies? Or do I have some other vegetables to use? I just pick one depending on my mood (or my husband’s), what I have on hand, and what I think will fit best with the calories I have left. Then I pick a carb (or not). Maybe it’s just a really big salad with extra toppings, like cheese.

Who doesn’t like cheese?

I figure it all out before I make my plate. I get this much protein. I get a serving of rice, which is a quarter of the pot (why is a serving of rice always ¼ cup, but the instructions are for a full cup of rice – four servings?).  I get this much veggies. Maybe I get a little cheese. 

Yes, I mentioned cheese again!

The next day I do it again. I always make sure to hit my goal and not go over too much. Or be under. 

This also makes grocery shopping, which my husband does, pretty easy. Get some salad stuff. Get some frozen veggies. Check the rice and pasta supply. Check and check. Meal is done. 

On weekends we switch it up a bit. I make a killer egg scramble with vegetables and some leftover protein. That’s definitely legit. I might… and I don’t want you to get too excited about this, but I might splurge and have an English muffin.

RIGHT?!

Shut the front door!

I also have some benchmarks. I know that I want to spend about a third of my calories on each meal which gives me some idea of where I am.

And I thought I’d never use math after high school!!!

So, even though I don’t officially meal plan, I do plan meals.

Just not in the traditional sense.

And more importantly, that works for me. If you find success planning out meals weeks in advance, you should totally do that. Part of me wishes I would do that because meals might be more exciting.

But I'll take the baby steps where I get them.

And more importantly, you do you boo-boo.