Last week I planned out my week of food.  And while it looked good on paper, it was difficult to stick to – If, for example, I had ‘planned’ for steel cut oats for breakfast but didn’t get up in time to make them, I felt bad for straying even if I chose a healthy option.
This week, I’m approaching Meal Planning a little different.  This week, I’m going to ‘plan’ breakfast, lunch & snack options but not assigning them to specific days. This way, I can still plan my healthy options, but won’t feel so regimented.
Breakfast options ~ Steel Cut Oats, Strawberry Banana Smoothie, Kashi Cereal w/ Almond Milk, or ½ Grapefruit with Whole Wheat Toast & Almond Butter
Snack Options ~ Pumpkin seeds, Almonds, Larabars, Apple Slices, Oranges, Greek Yogurt, Pecans, grapes, dried cranberries or other dried fruit
Lunch options ~ Salads with spinach as a base and the world is my oyster from there – Cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, pomegranate, eggs, mozerella, chickpeas, mushrooms, etc; sandwiches on Flat out Bread wraps with Boars head lunch meats, leftovers from the previous nights dinner – All good options
Dinner ~ This is where I REALLY plan because it is so much easier than trying to come up with an idea for dinner after a long day of work with a hungry family clamoring for food:
Monday – Catfish with red potatoes, onion, zucchini (mostly zucchini with a small amount of potatoes – cooked in a skillet)
Tuesday – Brinner – Veggie omelets (YUM!) and fresh fruit
Wednesday – Crock pot Chicken with salad
Thursday – Chicken “Pot Pies†with leftover chicken from Wednesday, found this healthier version I’m looking forward to trying
Friday – Chef’s Requested – Bacon wrapped Filet Mignon. (YUM), Salad, green beans
Sat – Date night??? I’m leaving this one open because there has been talk of a date night with my hubby
Sunday – Subway Sunday – This has become a tradition that I enjoy – it tends to go against the grain of a traditional “Sunday Dinner†but we get to focus on closing out our week with quality time instead of me slaving away in the kitchen. (And, by getting a ‘footlong’ I can have ½ for dinner and the other ½ for Monday’s Lunch) – Win/ Win!
What are your plans for this week?
Dinner is the hardest meal for me to plan. My husband and I both work jobs that sometime require late nights. Factor in church obligations, workouts, and other items and we do not know from day to day what our evenings are going to entail. Therefore, we tend to eat larger meals at breakfast and lunch, and then keep dinner simple. For example, we had french toast (made with egg whites) topped with grilled banannas, and pumpkin for supper last night.
This was a nutrition program that I bought through the fitness club I belonged to a year and a half ago. I paid for it, but never got past week 1 🙁 It’s a great flexible program, I just have to stick to it! It’s something called “intelligent prescriptive nutrition” It’s something that was designed by Dr. Weight Loss Centres (in Canada) and sold through that particular fitness club.
I think that your meal planning is great, and as long as you are keeping your proteins, carbs, etc., balanced and getting your correct veggies and fruit amounts, you’ll do great!
Shelley –
Thanks for being so detailed and specific… reading your meal plans has given me some great ideas for meals and challenged me to plan more myself…
Keep up your great work! You inspire me!
I have a meal plan set out for the week, as it is part of the nutrition program that was designed for me. The beauty of this program is that the meals are interchangeable, so like you, if I haven’t got the time to prepare what’s on the menu, I can pick a “quick” meal from another day.
I think what you’re doing by leaving yourself open to options, as opposed to a strict “this is what I’m having Monday a.m., etc.,” is going to work out great for you! Keep up the good work, and I hope that date night is a “go”!
I love that you have a nutrition program designed for you! Fantastic 🙂 Was this done through a dietitian or some other program? I’d love to know more!