Meal Planning 101, Habits, and a free meal planner download

I'm just about finished reading The Power of Habit, a incredibly interesting book about the nature of habits. It's not a new-agey self-help book (not that those are always bad); it's a practical scientific look at how we create habits, how we sustain them and thoughts on how we can change them. I highly recommend this book to all you out there, especially if you're interested in understanding and shaking up the habits that make up your everyday life. 

Which brings me to meal planning. There's no arguing: planning ahead to eat good-for-you foods gives you a much better chance of actually doing that. And if you were to say, pick a day where you always do your planning & shopping (like a Sunday) - well, you might just make a habit of it. I've gone in and out of meal planning over the past year and find its especially useful when I'm super busy. When we're stressed or really busy, Vata dosha comes up and really easy decisions (like "What do I want for dinner?") can feel like so much work. And what do we do then? Often we reach for the easiest thing around. So...let's make those things around really tasty looking and readily available. 

To help in your meal planning, I've created this Meal Planner that includes Ayurvedic reminders and gives an extra large box to lunch so you can remember it's the biggest meal of the day!

Click here for your Free Meal Planner Download! 

Benefits of Meal Planning: 

SAVES TIME

not having to go to the grocery store 5x in one week. 

not deliberating over "what should we have for dinner"

better organization in the kitchen = less time cooking

less eating out = less time waiting for a meal

SAVES MONEY

eating out less = money saved

eating healthier = less sick days = less $ spent on Rx

less groceries wasted (& no refrigerator corner experiments)

IMPROVES NUTRITION

less reaching for quick-fixes

less eating out = less eating canned, old, un-organic, refined, or mystery food*

more stable blood sugar with regular meals

planning healthy dinners = happier morning wake-ups

less stress on busy days around "what's for ___ (B, L or D)"

5 Steps to Effective Meal Planning

Ready to try meal planning? 

Here are 5 steps I've found to be the easiest way to get started...

1.) Print your Meal Planner & Pick a day where you have half an hour to sit down and focus and time either that day or the next to go shopping (ideally, this would be at your farmer's market). For our purposes, we'll assume you're doing this on a Sunday morning before going to your local farmer's market. Use pencil for your planning. 

2.) What's in the fridge that needs to be used?  
Look in your fridge and see what of the fresh stuff (fruits, vegetables, jams etc) is still waiting to be used. If it's no longer life-like (like the super bendy carrots), toss them in the compost. For what's still in good shape, write it in the bottom left column of your planner under "Already In the Fridge".

3.) When are you eating out?
Now, ask yourself how often in the last week you've eaten out? With this number in mind, realistically think about how often you'd like to eat out in the next week. Consider when are your busiest days or when you have social engagements that require eating out (which can be at a restaurant or a friend's). Write into your meal planner the meals you'll be eating out. So if you're having lunch with your friend Sarah on Saturday, write in "OUT with Sarah" in the Saturday column and "L" (lunch) row. Unless you already cook every meal at home during the week, do not plan to cook every meal at home next week unless you want your meal planning 'habit' to last about 4 days.

4.) Plan your busiest days first. 
Look at your week and see when are you're busiest days. For these days or particular meals, either write in a) your favorite easy go-to meal (like oatmeal with raisins) or b) plan a meal the day before that will have leftovers that will be delectable within 24 hours. Ayurveda recommends avoiding leftovers altogether because they become heavier to digest, but I think within 24-28 hours is permissible. Add any ingredients needed to your "...To Buy" Lists.

5.) Plan meals for the not-so-busy days.
If you stop having only done through step 4, awesome! You've already created a plan to support healthy choices for when stress hits. If you continue now, you get to (what I consider) the more fun part: Start at the beginning of the week and write in meal ideas that make use of the items already in the fridge, so you can prevent those from going bad. Then get creative for the rest of the week. Add the needed ingredients to your "...To Buy" Lists and you're ready to go shopping! (Don't forget to bring your reusable bags to the market!)

2 Tips for Easier, Healthier Meal Plans

1. ) Lunch = biggest meal of the day. Dinner = lightest meal of the day. 
While there are different food recommendations for the different dosha types as we all know, having a big lunch and a light dinner allows for great energy throughout your day, sound detoxifying sleep, and happy morning wake-ups. I can't stress this enough. If you are worried about feeling sleepy after lunch, eat a filling lunch then relax for 5 minutes then go for a 5-10 minute walk while doing some deep breathing. If you're still feeling heaviness after your meal, sip some ginger tea. 

2.) Use "Flexible Recipes".
Flexible Recipes are what I call recipes that are staples and that have ingredients that can be easily changed to accomodate what's in season, at the farmer's market, on sale or in your fridge. 

Here are some examples of my favorite Flexible Recipes:
Veggie Frittata
Hot Grain Cereal with dried fruit & nuts
Stewed Fruit
Confetti Rice
Lentil+ Grain+ Veggie Salad
Kitchari - mix up the veggies for what's in season
Simple Pureed Vegetable Soups
Root Vegetable Broth Soups
Spiced Greens

Do you already plan your meals ahead of time? 

What are your favorite tips that make healthy meals easier or more enjoyable? 

Share in the comments below! 

p.s. Have you noticed the makeover? 

If you haven't visited this page yet to learn more about my offerings, please do! 

*unless you're eating at very very high quality restaurants that pride themselves on organic, local, fresh ingredients