I don't have any meal plans at the moment but that's what I need. I know I don't do well having a weekly meal plan but atleast knowing what I'm going to eat and when is important to me. Do you say I'm going to eat "two veggies, a carb, and a protein for dinner"? Tell me what yall are eating.
Hi, Temple Body - I usually sit down and plan a menu for the whole week before I even go grocery shopping. I don't divide up my day according to protien, carbs, etc. I just stick with the wholefoods/Superfoods RX method and then fix whatever we are in the mood for (within reason and within calorie range for the day) when the day arrives. I do like knowing what to fix throughout the week and I do like going to the store with my list. Keeps me on track better.
Are you wanting to concentrate on carbs, wholefoods, or which? It just might be that making a menu for the week would help you? Let us know if you need further clarification.
I plan my meals on Sunday and go to the grocery store to buy everything I need for healthy meals/snacks for Mon - Fri (I go to the grocery store on Friday for the weekend, just because it's hard to keep so much produce fresh). I get home from the store and pack lunches/bag up snacks, have everything ready to go and at my fingertips for the week. It definitely works for me.
Monday and Tuesday night I had leftover roasted vegetables (I made them Sunday night) over brown rice. Tonight, I planned to stop by the local organic market deli - I had spicy spelt and tofu and a dark green salad with olive oil/lemon dressing. It was fabulous!
I don't usually plan stuff like protein + carb + veggie, I am more of a recipe person (I shop for specific recipes). I like stir fries over brown rice, spinach quesadillas with whole wheat tortillas, omelettes with baby shrimp, sun dried tomatoes and spinach, home made pasta sauce with veggie crumbles over whole wheat pasta, home made chickpea, spinach, leek, tomato soup. I have 10 or so favorite recipes and I pretty much rotate among my "tried and true" and occasionally try new stuff. If it's a winner, I add it to the rotation!
I generally eat the same things over and over for breakfasts and lunches so I make sure I have what ever ingredients I need on hand all the time. Then I visit the Cooking Light website and find a couple new recipes to try during the week and add those ingredients to my shopping list for Saturday morning. I keep a list of what recipes I plan on making (I have 6 or 7 for the week but don't assign them to any particular day). When I get home from work, I check the list, look over the recipe and decide which one to make (some are easier than others, so time involved usually dictates which one I'll make).
Because I eat the same things over and over, I know my breakfast calories are generally 200-300 calories and lunches come in around 300-400. Most of the recipes I get off of Cooking Light are around 400 per serving and then I make up for any lack of calories with snacks throughout the day (again, snacks are usually the same things over and over).
I never plan very far ahead. It's a great concept, but my mind just doesn't run that way I do, like Alison eat the same several things for breakfast and lunch, and like Glory, have about a dozen dinners that I rotate through. So basically I just shop for produce - which I do vary according to what's available - and my "staples" which includes yogurt, cottage cheese, ww pasta and bread, eggs, etc. If I want to try a new recipe, I have to put those things on a list so I'll remember them. The other good thing is that I live in a very small down and the grocery store is less than 5 min from work so I can run there at lunch or on the way to or from the gym.
We do have a daily planning thread here in the Whole Foods section. It says "week of 4/2," but we just kept it going--forgot to make a new one for this week. I'll try to remember to start a new one next week to avoid any confusion (or maybe just make it an ongoing thing and take of the date? What's easier for you, mods?).
I don't really plan but I have staples and make meals around those staples. I'm going to start getting in a little more planning soon after I graduate in a couple months. I enjoy cooking complicated meals but don't have the time
I find it essential to plan. I watch the sale ads on Wednesdays and then try to work up meals for the following week on Wednesday and Thursday. My breakfast are pretty much a set of 4-5 things that I rotate so it isn't too taxing.
If you want a weekly thread, go ahead and start one. When I see a new thread for the following week, I can close the old one to avoid any confusion.
If you want a weekly thread, go ahead and start one. When I see a new thread for the following week, I can close the old one to avoid any confusion.
Let me know
Well, it's already Thursday of this week, and we've just kept using the one from last week, so I suggest we jutst keep it for the weekend and start a new one on Monday (I tend to be an early-morning poster, so I'll start the new one)
Planning is SO important to me. I can't say I always stick to my plan 100%, but it gives me a good idea of where I need to be throughout the day.
I also really shouldn't say I don't plan but it is loose planning. I plan for the day and also I generally plan snacks out but my snacks are consistent. I eat carrots every day, so I keep carrots on hand. I've starting eating 2 pieces of fruit a day so I make sure I have fruit on hand. I eat beans nearly every day so I make sure the pantry has beans, I eat some kind of grain every day so I make sure that some form of grain is cooked or can be cooked.
Right now, I'm cooking soup so that I can eat it for dinner tonight and lunch and dinner tomorrow.
I most definitely plan. It's what has allowed me to lose the weight. I really NEED to know what's on my menu for the day/week. I usually shop a big produce order on Thursday which gets me through the weekend and maybe til part of Monday. I fill in on Monday's. I keep frozen chicken cutlet breasts individually wrapped in the freezer. Very convienient and quick to defrost. I keep individually wrapped 3 oz pieces of salmon fillet in the freezer as well. I always have 3 oz. cans of tuna in water on hand. As well as a few boxes of my favorite lunch protein source - Morning Star Farms Chick Pattie. My breakfast is always the same. Lunch is one of a few different things and is always a protein and either a big salad or 3 cups of cauliflower. I switch up my dinner from quite a few different things that I love. It is always a protein source (fish or white meat chicken) and lots and lots of veggies.
IMO opinion if you leave things up til the last minute, it's just too darn easy to make a bad choice. Planing ahead and keeping a well stocked house makes life easier and I am more apt to stay on track.
Let me clarify - I do plan each day, I just don't make a weekly plan, though I usually have an idea of what we'll eat, and I have staples to make a quick, healthy dinner, since we have a lot of things that take us out in the evening. Times when I've not been shopping, or left my lunch at home, are waaay too tempting to grab a less healthy lunch out. Fortunately my little town doesn't have a lot of choices and the closest is the grocery store salad bar.
Meal Planning
I do, like Alison eat the same several things for breakfast and lunch, and like Glory, have about a dozen dinners that I rotate through. So basically I just shop for produce - which I do vary according to what's available - and my "staples" which includes yogurt, cottage cheese, ww pasta and bread, eggs, etc. If I want to try a new recipe, I have to put those things on a list so I'll remember them. 
The other good thing is that I live in a very small down and the grocery store is less than 5 min from work so I can run there at lunch or on the way to or from the gym.
