Planning your meals is one of the things that people tend to find the hardest. When asked what they fancy for dinner, most individuals will say “I don’t know”. It’s super easy with our new local meal prep service in the Ribble Valley, take a look.
So, when you’re planning a weekly meal sheet – with 24 meals based around the food you like – it can be hard to think about what you might want to eat on a Friday night.
The other side is sticking to what you’ve planned, but that’s a whole different story!
Conversations About What To Eat
One of the things I’ve found when looking at various different meal plans is that people – fitness professionals and clients alike – tend to make things too complicated.
Let’s take a sample conversation (a trainer to their female client):
Trainer: “I want you to have a different protein source every single day.”
Trainer: “I want you to stick to gluten free, dairy free, taste free food.”
Trainer: “I want you to only eat what’s truly organic or biodynamic.”
Trainer: “I want you to eat 10 green veggies a day, but the next day you need to eat different veggies.”
Now, would this be ideal for health and vitality? Possibly.
However, would it be ideal for you if you’re a working mum who wants to lose a little weight so you can fit better in your jeans?
Having to worry about enough things besides whether or not your food is gluten or dairy free, especially when you’re not 100% convinced you have an issue with it (lots of people do have issues with those two food groups though).
Simple Tips
So, here are a few simple tips when it comes to meal planning:
- Keep it simple – people often over complicate things way too much
- Change one thing at a time – get used to it, develop that habit & then add another change.
- Give yourself time to adjust
- Take it one day at a time
- Stick to a meal plan for one day. Then repeating it a few days before giving yourself a break. That way you don’t put too much pressure on yourself
- Plan in a cheat meal – most people who say “I’m never drinking again!” fail at not drinking.
- Think of portion size rather than meal change. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with the meals, just the amounts
- Remember that calories do count!
- Get advice from someone who knows what they are talking about. Don’t just follow the cookie-cutter diet
- Get support from a friend or family member. You’re going to have slip ups and when you do, it’s nice to have someone there to help get you back on the straight and narrow.
Wondering how to actually structure a meal plan? That’s coming up in part two.
