so, i want to make a meal plan but i am having a hard time deciding how or what to add to it.
anyone able to share a sample of theirs to help me out?
thanks.

For it to work well for you, it should fit with the ways you eat and prepare (or are willing to eat and prepare). Do you need to eat something different every day, or is it OK if you repeat? Are you/your family OK with leftovers, like eating dinner leftovers for lunch? Does cooking something fresh every day sound more up your alley, or a few times a week, or just once a week?

I have a favorite lunch that I'm happy bringing pretty much every day, and I grill chicken in bulk twice during the week, to use in lunches and salads. And I do my main shopping once a week. I do whole foods mostly, not so much pre-packaged stuff. But I always keep a stash of frozen vegetables for variety, and canned beans, corn, tomatoes -- just plain canned veggies, not "meals" with sauce etc. I prefer things I've cooked myself to packaged dinners or takeout. But I tend to be pretty thrifty with my grocery shopping and cooking time, so I do a lot of "planned leftovers". So this is what my week might look like:

Sunday morning: Grocery shopping; buy two servings salmon fillet, package of chicken breasts, eggs, fruits and vegetables for week (cabbage, carrots, zucchini, eggplant, 2 avocados, lettuce, portobello mushroom, which are in season here at this time of year). Bake bread/muffins if I'm going to do it this week. (I usually bake for 2 weeks at a time and freeze.)

Breakfasts: Lowfat homemade McMuffins (whole wheat muffin with microwave poached egg, prosciutto, sprinkling of shredded cheddar) or steel cut oats+dried fruit/frozen berries, milk and nuts depending on the day (I like to eat a lot of calories at breakfast -- 400-500)

Packed lunches: sandwich of tuna or grilled chicken breast and avocado, cut-up carrots, snap peas, grapes; apple, mandarin orange, or banana snack and sometimes nuts or yogurt if it's a long day (I teach on a college campus with no access to microwave or fridge, so I have an insulated bag with ice pack).400-500 cal

Sunday afternoon/evening: divide chicken breasts, marinate in soy sauce, put half in freezer for second part of week. Wash and cut up vegetables so they are in a state which is ready to cook/eat later in the week, and put in plasticware in the fridge. Sunday night or Monday morning: grill 2-3 days' worth of chicken breast

Sunday and Monday evening: grilled salmon, once with with green beans, zucchini and new potatoes, once with arugula salad with grapes and feta, and balsamic vinegar

Tuesday evening: salad with grilled chicken, pear, walnuts and parmesan shavings; yogurt for dessert

Wednesday evening: burrito salad with low-fat tortilla, canned black beans, corn, tomato salsa, sprinkling of shredded cheddar, anything that's left of the grilled chicken; grilled sweet potato

Thursday morning: grill 2 days' worth of chicken for lunches, or make tuna salad, or a bean-based salad or soup with previous evening's leftovers

Thursday evening: grilled eggplant, zucchini, portobello, parmesan sandwiches; salad; yogurt

Friday and Saturday evening: go out, repeat something, or cook something new and creative (possibly with broccoli I forgot I had bought this week and rediscovered Thursday evening as the fridge emptied out). It's kinda cold here right now, so I've also been making soup with whatever vegetables and proteins are left at the end of the week. Dinners are 400-600 cal depending on how hungry I am, and the day.

On the weekend, if I'm going to be home for a morning or afternoon, I also often cook dried beans or lentils in bulk to eat later in the week and put in the freezer for emergency meals; but I can't get my favorite black beans dried here, only canned so I use those.

bronze - I am having the same dilemma as couponmom, so thanks for posting these ideas! I especially like the pear/walnut/Parmesan salad - sounds YUM!

I just decide what I want to cook for the week, go grocery shopping, then cook it! I don't assign certain days to certain meals, I just have 5-7 meals I want to cook and then decide each day what I feel like cooking. Pretty much everything fits into my plan. If I am having something with more calories, I just eat less of it. We still have pizza and stuff like that sometimes...I just eat less and it's no problem at all. Other days we have more healthy things like this week I bought a chicken and one night we had roasted chicken. I made broth from the chicken and then 2 days later we had home made chicken noodle soup, full of veggies and the rest of the chicken meat...

Some people are really list oriented and have to have a certain meal assigned to a certain day and everything...I like to play it by ear I guess

I use low cal/fat cookbooks and most dishes make 4 servings and have the nutritional info. I just add some fresh or frozen veggies, steamed brown rice/quinoa/coucous or barley and store in these little "lean cuisine" type trays, cover with plastic wrap and whammo...all meals are pre-cooked and stored for the week!

I also make a batch of my healthy low cal/fat fiber & protein rich pumpkin-raisin muffins and freeze them in a large ziplock bag. For breakfast (on the go), I'll pop one in the microwave for 30 secs and eat with 2 Jimmy Dean turkey sausage link...delish...and filling...AND only 219 cals! I also make oatmeal with raisins, sweet potato pancakes (batter pre-prepared) w/turkey sausage. Unfortunately, I can't eat eggs, so if you can, your breakfast options will be extremely broad!

oh thosemeals all sound really good.
it defiantly helps, I'm going to make my food list and go shopping soon.

oh how longdo you reheat the chicken you prep for freezing?
i wanna put some up for my lunches, i love chicken lol

i agree soup is awesome this time of year, i need to figure out how many calories are in my fav soup before i make it again

The pre-cooked ones in the fridge go straight into the sandwiches and on top of the ice pack; for at home on a salad I sometimes microwave it till it's warmed up a bit.

For the frozen ones, I usually separate the raw chicken breasts and freeze them, then take them out the day or night before and defrost them in a container in the fridge, although you can microwave-defrost them in a hurry. I use my combination microwave-convection-grill oven to cook them. Usually I grill them (technically it's broiling really) about 15 minutes, till they reach an internal temp of 160. But the broil function conked out last week, so I've been baking them at 400 for 20 minutes. If you marinate them they stay juicy at that temperature, but if you don't marinate them you might want to cook them at a lower temperature for longer.

I got a cheap instant-read meat thermometer from Target a few years ago and it's worth its weight in gold for knowing when meat is done, and not over-cooking them.

I usually make up a big pot of chilli or soup to take have for lunches while I'm at school or work. Makes 4-5 servings and easy to store. I'm at school twice a week from 11am-8pm, so I pack a lot of snacks and have smaller meals throughout the day. I usually only plan out a couple of days in advanced for what I'll have specifically, but I shop with the lunches in mind and always have the foods I eat most on hand. Here's my menu from this week so far:

Monday- Breakfast: 1/2 c non-fat plain Greek yoghurt, 2 slices Morningstar veggie bacon, 1 boiled egg, coffee with 1/2 c almond milk and stevia.
Lunch: Corn, rice, and red bean chilli (homemade), 6 small strawberries.
Snacks (three throughout the day): 1 medium banana, 1 slice whole wheat bread with 2 tbsp Better N' Peanut Butter and cinnamon, 1 cinnamon raisin Gnubar
Dinner: 2 c baby spinach with 2 tbsp spicy hummus and 12 pieces Morningstar chik'n strips, 1 medium red potato

Tuesday- Breakfast: Tofu scramble (3 oz tofu, 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 c baby spinach, 1 oz jalapeņos, turmeric, cumin), 1/2 c Greek yoghurt with 1 medium banana, coffee with 1/2 c almond milk and stevia
Lunch: Corn, rice, and red bean chilli
Snack: Blueberry SoyJoy
Dinner: 1 c (cooked) whole wheat spaghetti, six Trader Joe's meatless meatballs, 1/2 c spaghetti sauce, 1 slice part-skim mozzarella

Wednesday- Breakfast: 1 boiled egg, 2 slices Morningstar veggie bacon, 1/2 c non-fat Greek yoghurt with 1/2 c canned pears, coffee with 1/2 c almond milk and stevia
Lunch: Corn, rice, and red bean chilli, 1 c raspberries with stevia
Snacks (two throughout the day): 1 slice whole wheat bread with 2 tbsp almond butter and cinnamon, 1 banana walnut Gnubar
Dinner: Six Trader Joe's meatless meatballs, 1 slice mozzarella, 1 c broccoli

Thursday- Breakfast: 1/2 c non-fat Greek yoghurt with 1/2 c canned pears, 1/2 c (dry) oatmeal with 1 tbsp BNPB, coffee with 1/2 c almond milk
Lunch: Corn, rice, and red bean chilli, 1/2 c raspberries with stevia
Snacks (two): Blueberry SoyJoy, 1 medium banana and 1 baby carrot (I just wanted the vitamin A thing on Calorie Count to get up to the right amount, this was a little pointless XD)
Dinner: 1 c (cooked) whole wheat spaghetti, six Trader Joe's meatless meatballs, 1 slice mozzarella, 1/2 c spaghetti sauce

Got one more serving of the chilli left that I'll consume tomorrow, probably, then on Sunday I'll make some more for school next week.