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Old 05-07-2010, 04:42 PM   #1  
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Question Do you plan out your weekly meals, or just shop healthy & wing it?

I wanted to see how others on ww flex handle their meals. I've been on ww before and will be starting again as soon as I have the baby (any day now!). I've always done the thing where I do a healthy shopping, but don't plan my meals item for item. I don't make a weekly menu. I will see see what we have and what I can construct for how many pts. (Like I might pick up lean cold cuts, salad ingredients, yogurt, fruit, but come lunch time I'll decide if I want a salad and fruit, or a turkey sandwich with a yogart or sandwich and fruit ect..., but I do not have the weeks menu planned out)

How do you do it? Do you plan your meals at the beginning of the week and create a weekly menu? Do you shop according to your weekly meals? Do you make anything ahead of time and freeze it? (Like I hear some people do it with the 0 pt soup)

Or do you just shop generically healthy, buying lean meats, veggies, fruits and whole grains and wing it as you go?

I'm starting to think that with a new baby, if I don't have an exact meal planned, that I'm setting myself up for not wanting to figure it out right before dinner.

Any input is appreciated!

Last edited by GlamourGirl827; 05-07-2010 at 04:51 PM. Reason: spelling & typos!
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Old 05-10-2010, 01:58 PM   #2  
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Congratulations on the new baby! Hope things go smoothly!

As far as meal planning goes for me: I am super busy with a toddler, working, starting a company, and life in general. I know that I have to do some advanced planning or I will fall back into bad habits of dinner out and fast food. I know without planning I will be lost!

I make a dinner menu for the week, not day specific but come up with 5 dinners that I can make throughout the week. This way I make sure I get all the items I need for these meals and am prepared to make them (no more last minute trips to the store!). I plan out my daily menu a day in advance. I take 5 minutes each day and write down my meals for the following day, using a dinner off my dinner plan. I write it on those oversized sticky notes and put it in my tracker. This way I know how many Points I am using that day and am not overwhelmed when I get home and have no idea what to make for dinner! I am not one of those people who can plan a week in advance, I have no idea what I want for dinner 3 days from now! That's probably why those kind of diets never worked for me!

Another suggestion a friend gave me: make a list of simple dinners that you always have the ingredients for and write the Points down as well. For example: my list includes a grilled chicken breast dinner with 1/2 cup instant mashed potatoes and 1 cup steamer green beans for 6 Points, Ready in 15 minutes. This way you have a quick reference for dinner in a pinch.

With a new baby and everything else going on in life, I know I would have to plan. If I was left with groceries but no idea what to make I know I would fall back on poor choices. These ideas don't work for everybody, but have definitely helped me stay on track! Hope this helps!

Good Luck!
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Old 05-10-2010, 04:55 PM   #3  
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I'm in the same boat!.. I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old and a hubby who works nights... I've just gone back to work a few months ago as my maternity leave was over... so the last few months have been crazy... everyone getting used to the new schedule. So my new goal has been to try to plan out meals - dinners especially as the nights my hubby is working - it's a gong show - trying to get myself home from work, pick up the kids and then start dinner - before they all need bathed and off to bed! agh - I'm tired just thinking about it...

anyways I have started to plan out dinners for the week and it seems to be helping - I just need to get into the habit of doing it all the time.

I also plan my breaky and lunch the night before so I pretty much know what I'll be eating!

Good luck with the new arrival!!
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Old 05-10-2010, 05:28 PM   #4  
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Thanks both of you!! I think I am going to end up having to plan at least dinners, as that seems to be the meal that gives me the most 'give up and get fast food feeling". Its where good days fall apart for me! I think I will try "planning" the weeks dinners, but not assigning them to a day, but then the night before picking one of the listed dinners for the week. Because right now, dinner is like a free for all, and too many times, we are running out of veggies, or main dishes, and that's without having to account for pts.
Thanks again for all the advice!
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Old 05-11-2010, 03:43 PM   #5  
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I'm one of those that seems to be a little neurotic with meal planning. I plan out all meals and snacks for the week and place the menu on my fridge. It makes grocery shopping very easy. The ads come out on Wednesday and that evening my hubby and I plan our menu based on the sales. I shop on Saturday for the entire next week.

I buy just enough for the meals, that way there are no leftovers (to over eat with or to put away after dinner)!

On the rare occasion we decide to do something different for dinner, say on a Friday night, I just move that nights meal to a day the following week.
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Old 05-12-2010, 12:56 PM   #6  
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I wish I was neurotic. We don't plan very well here. We scope out the fridge and eat via 'mood'.

We've been trying to plan. We have done so in the past. It was a lot of hard work to plan it all out. What I wish we could do was do like 20 or so recipes we love and can eat all the time, and slip in the occasional experiment. We're such moody eaters though. We usually want something different most nights so we'd need a big rotation of dinners.
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Old 05-17-2010, 11:50 PM   #7  
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I like to plan out my dinners for the week. I plan the rest of the day around them. At the beginning of the day I figure out what I am going to eat the entire day. This helps me to stay on track and not eat something I really shouldn't.
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Old 05-26-2010, 10:42 AM   #8  
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I have to plan my week or I too make poor choices. I also have 3 little ones under 6 so its crucial that I plan. We always eat as a family.Not only that but its budget friendly. Going to the store and winging it I'd spend a million bucks! I plan my menu around what I have in the house and whats on sale! Good luck with the arrival of your little one!
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Old 05-26-2010, 03:40 PM   #9  
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I find if I do not plan then I spend my day hungry!
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