Meal Planning

Planning your meals ahead of time can help you avoid some of the pitfalls of losing weight, including buying unhealthy meals like fast food when you don't have much time. Meal planning can be done on a daily basis but is even more beneficial when it is done for longer, such as a week ahead.

Getting Your Meal Planning Started 

Laid out meal planning is essential for following a healthy diet plan. Meal Planning is the same as a well thought out exercise plan - you have a goal or objective and you then have a plan to succeed with that goal. Meal planning will make preparing meals less stressful and more enjoyable, and you will always have healthy foods to get you through the day. By doing this you avoid diet-busting habits such as grabbing less healthy meals, such as fast food, when you are in a rush. 

Benefits of Meal Planning

• You know how many calories you are consuming.
• You control the portion size.
• You are less likely to stray with your eating. 

How to plan your meals

1. Your plan should be laid out so that you will know how many meals you will eat every day. Approximately when you will be eating these meals is also important so you can write that down as well.
2. Next layout how many servings from each food group you will be eating and at which meal you will be eating them. This is the key to avoiding wasted grazing and snacking on unhealthy choices. It also helps you define how many calories you will eat that day and in what ratio.
3. Then prepare your grocery shopping list so you know exactly what you are purchasing for the week and how much.
4. Finally prep as much food as possible by cutting up vegetables you need for the week ahead of time. If you are eating chicken and other meats cook them all at once so all you have to do is heat them up or pack them in your lunch and they are ready to be eaten.

Equipping Yourself

Purchase many different reusable food storage containers to store your food in so that again it is easy to assemble your meals and you aren’t wasting time figuring out what you are going to eat and how you are going to store it.  Choose options that are easy to clean, that aren’t complicated, that can go in the freezer and that will be easy to store (will nest with others of its type so you won’t need an addition on your kitchen to put them somewhere when they’re not in use).

Have notepads or an app ready to make sure you can keep a record of what you’ve planned so that you will not only be ready for grocery shopping but also for remembering what you’ll be eating on any given day when the time comes.  The less you have to rely on your memory, the easier it will be.

Final Thoughts

By following this valuable weight loss tip for meal planning you will have a much higher success rate when it comes to weight loss and dieting. Don’t forget that this is a habit that will take a bit of practice and fine tuning.  Don’t expect to do it perfectly right from the start. 

This habit is something that will get easier with time as you find what works for you.  Meal planning may feel time consuming and challenging at first, but you’ll be surprised at how quickly it works its way into your regular routine so that you’ll start to do it without needing to spend a lot of time working things out.