I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately about meal planning (maybe because it’s the #1 goal a lot of my clients have…).
And I’ve noticed that so many people (maybe you too?) put this huge weight or expectation on how it needs to look and be a certain way.
It’s almost like they’re thinking “well if I can’t go grocery shopping on Sunday and prep all the meals for the week that night in cute little containers in the fridge, then there’s no point in meal planning at all“. Does that sound familiar?
Here’s the thing.
This “all or nothing” mentality is toxic.
Because it keeps you stuck. Doing nothing instead of doing something.
And I know your health is important to you. I know you want to eat better (or else you wouldn’t be reading this).
So, today I want to share with you a few REALLY simple and quick things that you can do to get started with meal planning even if you “don’t have the time” or “hate cooking”.
Sounds pretty good right?!
TOP 3 WAYS TO SIMPLIFY MEAL PLANNING:
1. Kick the belief that you have to be creating elaborate meals. Some of the healthiest and tastiest meals are SIMPLE. What if you could roast a big pan of veggies, make a pot of brown rice, and cook up some chicken breasts and be done for a few days? Simple food is good food. So, stop overcomplicating things!
2. Batch cook & use your freezer. This is hands down my ALL TIME favourite meal planning/prep tip. Whenever you’re making a recipe, make double… or triple… and keep it on hand for a quick meal this week OR throw a portion in the freezer to have on hand for those “emergency” days. This habit will change your life AND save you time, money, and stress!
3. Plan one meal this week. So often we can get stuck in the “I need to plan 7 meals!?” overwhelm that keeps us from planning at all. What if this week you decided to plan just ONE meal? Would that be do-able? Then what if you doubled or tripled that recipe and had that meal a few times this week?
As you can see in all of these tips, it’s all about keeping it SIMPLE.
We sure do tend to overcomplicated everything in our lives and it really doesn’t have to be that way.
So, I hope this week you’re feeling excited and like a weight has been lifted so that you can actually get started on building a consistent meal planning habit in your life.
It’s not all or nothing.
Just get started and take it one step a time!
Love & Light,
Dani