What Should I Eat: Tools For Simplifying Meal Prep and Planning
You’ve set new goals, you’ve found your “why” and reasons for change and you know what you should do. You have all the parameters but now you have to DO it. There is no super-easy fix for meal planning. One way or another it’s going to require some thought and some work but there are ways we can make it more manageable.
Start Simple
Try not to get too complicated. If you know you don’t like kale and brussel sprouts, don’t buy them just because you find them in a recommended food list. Try picking 10 foods you know you like, that are on-plan and in line with your goals. Remember, fat is your friend so don’t be afraid to include bacon, avocado and butter in the list. Also, remember fasting is good. So to simplify things you can skip breakfast (or breakfast and lunch) and only plan two meals or even work up to longer fasts (36 or 42 hours) to not only speed up your weight release and overall health, but to further simplify your meal planning.
Plan ahead (at least a little)
Ideally, you want to plan out about a week at a time, or the very least, have the foods on hand that you know you can eat. Then, plan your day at least the night before. Think ahead to what you’re going to have and make sure it’s accessible before you are hungry. In other words, don’t wait until you are starving and desperately looking for food to make your decision. That’s when we reach for convenience foods or foods that are not in line with our goals.
Technology is our friend
The upside to keto fads is that we can find full meal plans and breakdowns of food online very easily. There are free options, paid options, blogs, articles and endless supply of social media groups. That can also be overwhelming, so here are a few options if you’re looking for resources and ideas.
Paid meal plans: These can be incredibly convenient. You can choose your meals for the week and then have them delivered simply needing to be heated, or receive the ingredients for you to cook yourself. If this is in your budget it can be an extremely effective way to gain momentum and experience success without an overwhelming amount of thought. Here a few options:
Green Chef (DIY meals)
Home Chef (DIY meals)
Factor (No prep meals)
Eat Clean (No prep meals)
Meal plans and grocery list generator: These services are more affordable than the ones above but can also be a wonderful resource for planning your trips to the store and your meals.
Emeals: can choose a plan (keto, paleo etc) and the number of people you are cooking for. A wonderful convenience is that this system will automatically generate a shopping list AND works with grocery pick up and delivery services such as WalMart and Instacart.
Relish: this one has a free option and a paid option with more features. The free option will generate a grocery list for you. One upside is this service will allow you to scale meals for up to 8 people.
Diet Doctor: specifically low-carb and keto friendly. This service will generate a weekly meal plan for you and a shopping list and provides some additional services to aid in weight loss.
The most important thing to remember is that you CAN do this! It takes time and practice but eventually the work of planning and prepping will become less overwhelming. Remember to go back to your “why,” and remind yourself why it’s worth it.
“You can do hard things, and you are worth the work.”