Health and Fitness Tip #234 - Meal Planning For the Week Ahead

Meal planning from my house to yours: how to shop for a week using real food. 

This is how I personally plan for the week ahead- it is second nature to me now but this is how I got started and I find it simple and time saving.  I like to cook once a day- dinner time- so this is how I plan my weeks.  Some people may need to spend more time on one day depending on schedules.  

I plan on Sunday mornings and then grocery shop in the afternoon- pick a day that works best for you- for me Sunday works best.  There is no right or wrong way to meal prep or plan- find a system that works for you and stay consistent.

HOW DO YOU PLAN WHAT TO EAT FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY? COMMENT BELOW.

1. Plan out your dinner time meals.  I just use a note book and write out each night.  Whatever I make for dinner is going to be lunch the next day and so on.  I plan my meals around animal protein and add veggies in once I have my protein sources covered.  If you are a vegan or vegetarian, do your best to vary up your plant based source of protein to get the most complete amino acid profile possible in your diet.  This also goes for anyone who eats meat- I like to vary up my protein sources to ensure I am getting all the variety possible and so I do not get tired of eating the same foods.

To figure out how much you will need I plan 1/4 lb-1/2 lb of protein per person per meal.  So for me it is me and my husband so I know we will need about 1 to 2 lbs of each meat type to last us the week- including lunch leftovers.  We train hard (weightlifting) so we eat more protein for this reason.  Most of our meat I actually buy in bulk frozen to save $ and thaw it the day before we cook it.

So once you have your protein sources planned, you can then plan what veggies you want to have.  I actually shop for veggies 2 x a week (Sundays and Wednesdays) just to have fresh veggies available.   

Typically the veggies I love to eat that are simple and easy to prepare are broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, brussel sprouts (we roast these or steam them) and then having some raw veg in the form of salads with avocado usually rounds out our meals.  Most cooked veg will last just fine in sealed containers for lunch the next day.  And you can always supplement veggies by getting some mixed greens and having your protein source on a salad.  

If you have a larger family- just use the 1/4 lb per person rule for protein and do the math! You will get to a point where this becomes routine and you will no longer need to actually write it all out.  I always buy a little more than I think I will need and always save time by cooking extra- once a day in the evenings- so that my lunch is as simple as re-heating the next day. 

Simple at first to me is always best. I love recipes etc but I find that time is limited and we can't always be learning new recipes etc.  So most of the time it is burgers (from any kind  of meat) and lots of grilling and BBQ's.  

Hope this is helpful and gives you some new ideas!