Ultimate meal planing for beginners

Hi all,

This post is about how I meal plan.

If you have never done meal planning before then this is the perfect how-to for you.

You will need four things to start (you can build on this later)

1. Calendar  
2. Note pad
3. Pen
4. Meal Planner template (to stick to your fridge)

STEP 1 - Review your week in advance

It will ensure your plan aligns with any social activity you have planned for the week.

You may have dinner at your parents, lunch with clients at work or a date with your partner. On those occasions you will not need a planned meal. This will also help eliminate money spent on food that will go off if not eaten, but also no food waist at the end of the week.  

STEP 2 - Review your stock

Take stock of all freezer, fridge and pantry food items. You need to do this once and then update every time you meal plan.

This activity will save you money at the check out counter!

Once you do this you will notice how many ingredients you already have at home for great recipes. The stock list gives me the ability to use up what I already have and only stock up on what is missing. 

Another fun way to do this is to get some printable templates to fill in and reprint every week.

I found a really fun one on "The Organised Housewife" site  -> Freezer inventory printable

STEP 3 - Pick the meals for the week

Considering your schedule/calendar this week and your kitchen stock, you can now create your menu.

Things to consider when planning:

• Will you have time to prepare a meal every night
• Do you have special recipes your family like on specific nights
• Are you counting calories
• Do you have a new recipe you'd like to try
• Are you planning for you or for the whole family
• Are you planning dinners only or all the meals and snacks

Based on my criteria I have decided on the following menu for the week:

• Breakfast - Overnight oats with strawberries and blueberries 
• Lunches - Asian inspired coleslaw salad; Tuna and Quinoa salad
• Dinners - butter chicken with veggies; beef steak with veggies

STEP 4 - Write shopping list

Once you have your plan and stock, this weeks shopping list should now only include the things you need.

Hopefully you are able to re-use some of the food already in your pantry.

STEP 5 - Display meal plan on fridge

You should write out your meal plan onto a piece of paper or the template pictured above. Once completed you need to stick it up in your kitchen.

By displaying the meal plan in your kitchen it will ensure that if you are running late from work and anyone in the family can get a head start with the recopies, even if you are running late.

STEP 6 -  Go Shopping

STEP 7 - OPTIONAL Meal Prep

Depending on my schedule for the week I usually prep food in advance. So at any given time I have frozen healthy meals ready to warm up and eat. This helps me with self control when I'm short on time to eat healthy and not opt for the take away menu.

I hope this helps you get started on your healthy life style journey.

Happy planning!!

Vanya

Why meal planning lowers my anxiety

Hi All,

This week I want to talk about meal planning, how and why.

This is the post on why I have decided to go back to meal planning.

While there are many reasons people meal plan, such as:

• Saving time and money
• Encourages better nutrition
• Avoids unnecessary waste
• Encourages variety
• Plan ahead to give up the stress of “what will I cook for dinner” every night

The reason I have decided to go back to meal planning is because I despise food shopping. Yes it’s odd as I love to eat it.

Over the years of counting points, calories, fat, carbs and really anything that can be counted, when I walk into the supermarket I view food in a series of numbers. I start shopping in the “good” food isle first, which is also the low number isle (veggies).

I then stroll through the “bad” isles for the advertised meal suggestions. Clearly to be lead by the prettiest label/ packaging on the shelf. As I hold the 'Five taste - green curry' kit I imagine my self preparing the best curry of my life, in reality that never happened. 

I then surprise my self when I "accidentally" turn into the sweets isle. In the eyes of my co-shoppers I appear as cool and composed, unfazed by all the treats surrounding me. In my mind however, I'm sitting in the middle of the isle with all the sweets pulled off the shelfs around me, tearing the packaging of the Skittles bag with my teeth and eating the lollies there and then.

But I push on towards the light (the end of the isle), repeating "I’m serious about my *Insert name of current diet fad*!"

And then BANG

I spot the LIMITED EDITION Kinder Surprise collection. You know what I’m talking about!!

I have to get some it’ll NEVER be released again. And I can’t just get one. I have to collect all the cute toys.

“It’s OK” I say to my self “I’ll get ten, five for me and five for Andy. We’ll only eat one a day after dinner”….. as if they'll lasts that long.

So I have decided to go back to meal planning. My reasons however are:

1. to make the food shopping experience more enjoyable and guilt free
2. to ensure I eat healthy every day and don’t succumb to uncontrollable eating during the week

Later this week I’ll post how I meal plan, but in the mean time I’d love to hear what you bought at the supermarket as an impulse buy which turned out different to what you imagined it would.

Vanya

How to start living a healthy life?

Thank you for reading my first blog post and for your words of encouragement.

To say I was nervous to post my very first blog and put my self 'out there' is an understatement.

I think of my self as a very confident person however, telling my inner most thoughts, feelings and anxieties was not a very easy thing to do.

I have never openly discussed my feelings about my body issues. If the topic ever arose I was VERY defensive about it. Mainly, I don't think I allowed my self to acknowledge the truth about how I felt about my weight.

While pressing that 'PUBLISH' button I was worried about:

• Will anyone read this
• Will people judge me
• Will people's perception of me change
• Will I succeed in my quest and uphold the courage of my convictions

Well there is no turning back, my thoughts, feelings and intentions are now out for the world to see!

So I'm starting this new project the only way I know how, by putting together a project plan. 

My first question was "What does a healthy lifestyle mean to me?"

To me it means:

• Having a healthier relationship with food
• Eating in moderation and not going without
• Being active
• Learning better ways to combat my emotional tie with food
• Being happy and content with my self
• Living in the now

To achieve this I plan to start with the following:

1. Document my current states
2. Set Goals
3. Schedule my life
4. Work on my food
5. Schedule exercise
6. Set Rewards
7. Change my habits through small weekly or monthly goals

Over the next few days and weeks I will really think and plan on how to tackle each of the points in my plan. I don't want to rush this! 

I want to set a new foundation to my own thought process and create new habits. They say that we are more likely to achieve worthwhile goals if we have good habits.

In my next post I will share with you how I meal plan. 

Until then, what do you imagine when you think of living a "healthy lifestyle"?

Vanya

Live a healthy life because Vanya Says So

I was never a 'skinny' girl but I did weigh less then I do now. Over time I have slowly gone from 68kg to 94kg. From a size 8 to a size 14-16 (depending on the brand).

How did I put the weight on and Why?

Well, I eat when I'm bored, stressed, upset, happy and simply because it's in front of me. At social gatherings I'll eat if food is in front of me even if I'm not hungry, just because it's there or free.

I know better! I know how I should eat, I know what exercise I should do, but I always have an excuse:

• "I'll eat this cookie cos it's the last one"
• "I'll eat take away today cos it's too hot to cook"
• "I'll eat chips cos my husband is offering"
• "I won't go for a walk today it's raining"
• "I can't go to the gym now it's too late (3pm) I should have gone int he morning" and so on ....

With everything else being a priority in my life, over the years, I have spent thousands of dollars on diet products such as plans, books, DVDs, equipment, gym & personal trainers. I think giving money on "healthy ventures" made me feel like I was doing something in that direction. But it was only money spent to NOT go (gym) or file the books straight onto the shelf "to read over the weekend when I'm not busy". Well what weekend do we have to do nothing at all, to relax and read weight loss books? I most certainly always had something on.

And so I possess or have tried most advertised weight loss 'things' under the sun

• Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Lite n' easy
• Biggest Looser Online, Michelle Bridges 12WBT
• Treadmill, Rower, bicycle, other weights equipment
• Books & DVDs

It would be fair to say that if spending money on weight loss products would equal weight loss I would be Twiggy three times over by now. 

And to add to it all, I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. 

That meant that if I didn't follow a plan 110% every day and I didn't get the results I expected I would give up. 

Too much pressure you say?

Well all of this "failure" on my part would stress me out and guess what? Yup I'm comfort eating AGAIN.

So today I have decided to wipe the slate clean. Firstly I no longer wish to "loose weight" I want to learn how to live a healthy life. I want to know how to manage my feelings in relation to food, I no longer wish to exclude food because it's 'bad'. I want to eat guilt free and want to be more active and I want to enjoy my life. 

I want to be healthy for my baby. I want Charlie to grow up and look at me as an inspiration and example. I want my son to also live a healthy lifestyle and learn that stress is not handled by eating your feelings away rather by going for a run.

So today is the first day of the rest of my life. 

Today I commit to live a healthy life, not just loose weight but feel better and change some of my 'bad' habits.

May be some of the plans or products would have worked for me too, they worked for a lot of other people but my mind just wasn't in it.

Vanya