Finding time to plan meals might seem impossible in the hustle and bustle of our busy lives. But what if I told you that skipping meal planning could actually take even more of your precious time?
Once I started making my weekly meal plans, I noticed I was much calmer than before. Thinking about what to cook each day used to stress me out, even though I usually have plenty of ideas.
What bothered me most was the inefficiency of planning on the fly. Let’s say you decide what to cook today, only to realise you must go to the shop for a few things. Since you don’t know what you’ll cook tomorrow, you buy only what you need for today. This results in going to the shop almost every single day, wasting a lot of precious time. Sounds familiar? If yes, this story is for you!
Another great thing about writing down your plan is the visual overview of your diet. Once it’s on paper, you get a much better understanding of the quality of your diet. This makes it easier to work on and gradually make adjustments and improvements.
In this story, I’ll guide you through the steps I take when creating my weekly meal plan and give you an example of my own weekly meal plan.
Additionally, you’ll learn efficient ways to find inspiration without wasting unnecessary time. After you go through my weekly meal planning journal, I promise you’ll feel prepared to start planning yours, too. Are you ready?
What is weekly meal planning?
Weekly Meal planning is simply the art of mapping out what you or your family will eat for the week ahead. It’s like giving yourself a rough roadmap for your meals, taking one less thing off your plate.
While the ultimate goal is a weekly meal plan, it doesn’t have to be where you start. What do I mean by that? If planning the entire week feels overwhelming, begin by focusing only on breakfast ideas. Once that feels manageable, you can gradually expand to lunch and so on. Add more meals to your plan each week until you’ve covered the whole week.
The key is to keep it realistic. There’s no point in creating a plan that looks good on paper but isn’t practical for you. Focus on taking small steps until meal planning becomes a natural part of your weekly routine.
It’s important to note that your weekly meal plan can be totally different from mine! There are various factors to influence that. From your lifestyle and cooking skills to your energy requirements and health status. It is essential that it fits you!
Why should I start weekly meal planning?
To build healthier eating habits: Planning your meals encourages more intentional and nutritious food choices. As a new study on mice shows, our hunger levels strongly affect our decision-making. That’s why waiting until you’re hungry to decide what you will have for lunch will not result in a most rational choice.
Next, having your weekly meals written down provides a clearer understanding of your overall eating pattern, enhancing awareness of the quality of your diet.
To have consistent energy levels: By planning your meals, you can avoid energy slumps caused by irregular eating patterns.
To save time: Planning your meals is a game-changer for saving time. First off, it means fewer trips to the grocery store. Plus, you can prep some ingredients in batches, so you don’t have to prepare them twice. And trust me, brainstorming and planning all your meal ideas at once is much quicker than doing it bit by bit throughout the week.
To save money: A targeted shopping list helps you avoid unnecessary impulse purchases and reduce overall food expenses.
To reduce stress: Deciding what to eat daily can be extremely stressful and draining. Eliminating it from your daily routine minimises stress and makes eating more enjoyable.
Steps to a realistic weekly meal plan
In this story, I’ve decided to share my thought process for creating a weekly meal plan. For a long time, I believed that my extensive knowledge of food and nutrition meant I didn’t need a well-structured plan. However, I was mistaken.
Once I began putting my ideas on paper and organising them, the quality of my diet improved significantly. Combining a good plan with knowledge gives you the power to take control. So, let’s start with the plan and gradually build the knowledge to enhance it step by step.
What do you say? Are you ready to kickstart your weekly meal plans?
STEP 1: Give yourself time to plan
Consider setting aside a specific weekly time to create your meal plan and tackle grocery shopping.
For instance, create a weekly meal plan on Friday and grocery shop on Saturday. The key is to choose days that align with your schedule and commitments. Sticking to this routine gradually transforms it into a positive habit.
Consistency is the magic word here. When you consistently free up time for planning and shopping on your chosen days, it becomes an integral part of your weekly routine. Over time, you’ll find that the initial effort pays off in the form of more organised meals, reduced stress, and perhaps even a newfound enjoyment in the process.
STEP 2. Check your schedule for next week
Before you start writing down ideas for your weekly meal plan, check your schedule for the next week. This simple step is crucial for creating a realistic meal plan you will be able to follow.
To make the process easier, ask yourself these questions:
- How many days can I cook at home?
- How many days do I need options to go?
- When will I have the energy to cook?
Once you’ve clarified these aspects, your meal ideas can take shape. For days when home-cooked meals aren’t feasible, consider planning meal prep-friendly options like salads or veggie bowls that are not only convenient but also nutritionally sound.
On days when you have the luxury of time, you might opt for heartier dishes like stews or pasta, adding a touch of variety to your week. Also, make double recipes and incorporate leftover days into your schedule.
This thoughtful approach makes your weekly meal plan more adaptable, realistic, and enjoyable. So, before you put pen to paper, take a moment to check your schedule!
STEP 3. Check your kitchen stock
Before getting creative or searching for ideas online, go through your fridge, pantry and freezer.
This practice helps narrow your choices, making the first few days of your weekly meal plan much easier to create.
Additionally, it can save you time and money by making the most out of the things you already have, preventing them from going to waste.
It’s also an ideal moment to discard any foods that might have expired. Regularly updating your kitchen stock is the best and easiest way to go!
STEP 4. Write down ideas
Once you’ve figured out the kind of meals that suit your schedule and checked what ingredients you have in stock, it’s time to jot down your meal ideas.
To make the process the fastest possible, I find it easiest to start with one meal for the whole week and then move on to the next. For example, I begin by creating breakfast ideas for the entire week and then move on to lunch ideas.
This step-by-step method makes brainstorming quicker and allows for the creation of diverse variations.
In case you’re missing ideas on what to cook the whole week, you should start building your recipe database!
How do I create a recipe database?
Generally, we spend a lot of time searching the internet for ideas; among those, we often find many recipes. What if you used that time to save the recipes we like into organised folders, boards or something else to find them again easily?
Most often I’m searching for recipes on Pinterest and Instagram. Let me show you how I organise my recipes to never waste time searching for them.
Create Pinterest boards
On Pinterest, you can organise Pins you like into boards you create. Let’s say you create a board called Weekly Meal Plan Ideas (WMP Ideas). Once you find a recipe you’d like to try, save it on that board. In no time, you’ll have a collection of ideas to try or use as inspiration.
Since I save many recipes, I like to make my boards even more specific, creating boards named ‘WMP Breakfast,’ ‘WMP Mains,’ ‘WMP Snacks,’ etc. You might want to go even more detailed and call your boards ‘WMP Porridge,’ ‘WMP Eggs,’ and ‘WMP Pasta.’ You get the idea, right?
Create Instagram collections
On Instagram, analogue to Pinterest boards, there are so-called collections. In case you’ve never made a collection on Instagram, I’ll explain how to do it.
- Click on the menu in the top right corner of your feed.
- Go to ‘Saved.’
- You will see your existing collections. Find the ‘+’ button in the top right corner, click on it, and create a new collection with your desired name. It’s as simple as that.
- Once you find a recipe you’d like to try, save it by clicking on the bottom in the right corner and choose to which collection you want to add it.
Let me know in the comments below how you find this method of collecting ideas and inspiration. I would be thrilled to get your feedback.
My weekly meal plan
To better understand what a weekly meal plan could look like, I’ve added an example of mine.
I prefer a digital weekly meal plan over a hand-written one as it allows me to link the elements to actual recipes. But if hand-written weekly meal plans are what you prefer, go ahead and don’t let me stop you!
Step 5. Create a shopping list
Get ready for your weekly meals by reviewing your meal plan. Write down all the ingredients you need for those tasty dishes. Make shopping easier by organising your list into groups like fruits, vegetables, pantry items, and proteins.
Before heading to the store, check off the things you already have at home to avoid buying unnecessary items.
Depending on your storage space and the menu you’ve created, consider splitting your weekly grocery shopping into two sessions.
Doing so provides more flexibility and adaptability. I find it’s the easiest way to keep things convenient, keep ingredients fresh, and maintain flexibility in my weekly meal planning and grocery shopping routine.
Having a well-stocked kitchen is incredibly helpful for your weekly grocery shopping. When you keep your fridge and pantry filled with basics, creating your shopping list becomes much simpler. With essential ingredients already on hand, your list is shorter, and you spend less time in the store aisles during your shopping trips. Get my pantry essentials list to get more ideas of what you should always have at hand.
Step 6. Follow your plan with a flexible mindset
As you head into the week, you might need to make changes or adjustments to your weekly meal plan. Remember, this should never cause stress or disruption, as it goes against the primary purpose of creating the plan in the first place.
What can you do if you can’t follow through with your plan?
- Switch whole days.
- Switch certain meals; swap lunch for dinner or breakfast from one day for breakfast on another day.
- Allow yourself simpler alternatives to your primary ideas.
- If missing an ingredient, search for a good enough substitute from the same food group before rushing to the store.
After all, it’s all about finding the balance between structure and adaptability, making your meal planning enjoyable rather than a boring obligation. You never know; sometimes, out of a mistake comes something even better than what you initially imagined.
I hope that sharing my weekly meal plan journal sparked your interest in creating your own weekly meal plans. Once you start, I also hope you’ll find out how much it can improve your lifestyle and diet quality. Enjoy the creative side of planning, have fun exploring new recipes, and relish the positive changes that come with mindful and intentional eating. Here’s to a delightful and nourishing adventure ahead!
If you need help along the way, feel free to reach out and ask me anything you like about creating your weekly meal plans. I’m here to help!
Get the recipes from my weekly meal plan:
Polenta with Fried Eggs and Watercress
