Meal Planning

[Lucyr]

Does anyone do a meal & exercise plan for the week, and if so what format do you do it in - paper, app, spreadsheet etc

My weight management homework for the next month is to write a meal and exercise plan for the week, then when I do the shopping use the plan to help me buy what’s needed. Then as I go through the week add in any changes I made and why. Eg if was too tired to cook the planned meal and had toast instead I’d write that down.

Then the following week do the same but look at where I made changes the previous week and why, and make some changes so that it’s more likely the meal plan will be successful.

I’m not sure what format to do this in though? I’d have to have tiny writing to fit all that in my paper diary. Can’t think of any apps that would work for this, it’s not really a spreadsheety task. Maybe I just need some plain paper.

Any thoughts?

 

[Drummer]

I recommend keeping the shopping lists as permanent reference, but maybe just fold over some sheets of A4 paper and write down any notes required as temporary reminders.
I'd recommend also disposing of the thought that toast is a meal replacement. It is actually faster to make something like scrambled egg with cheese and a tomato than to stand and wait for a toaster to 'pop'. It was also really effective for effortless weightloss after decades of uncontrollable gains with a printout from the GP to follow, alternating with leftovers from dinner.

 

[JITR]

Have a look at Cronometer. I use the free app, it's enough for me. The paid version does a whole lot more. I use it on a daily basis to enter foods and recipes but you can enter every day in advance if you like. You will need to check whether the paid reports cover shopping lists, exercise plans and so forth.

 

[Lucyr]

I'd recommend also disposing of the thought that toast is a meal replacement. It is actually faster to make something like scrambled egg with cheese and a tomato than to stand and wait for a toaster to 'pop'.

No thanks, I have no need to cut out toast.

 

[Lucyr]

Have a look at Cronometer. I use the free app, it's enough for me. The paid version does a whole lot more. I use it on a daily basis to enter foods and recipes but you can enter every day in advance if you like. You will need to check whether the paid reports cover shopping lists, exercise plans and so forth.

Thanks I will look up the basic version

 

[Drummer]

No thanks, I have no need to cut out toast.

Even though there is so little actual nourishment in bread?

 

[PerSpinasAdAstra]

I do plan for each week though in a general way. The shopping list is my food plan - if I buy it and it's in the fridge I'll likely eat it before it goes off, and if I don't buy it I can't eat it. I don't plan individual days - I eat what I feel like each day from whatever is in the house, knowing that I'll lose weight based on the stuff I bought, and I don't go to the shops during the week. I plan to exercise on a set minimum number of days in the week and plan do to as much as I feel able to, in terms of distances walked mostly, but weather determines which days I do what. I have a spreadsheet to track my weight at the end of the week and note any obvious reasons why I did or did not hit my target weight loss rate.

Maybe a general outline like that - shopping list and planned number of exercise days - along with a diary of what you actually eat and do each day to highlight where things did and didn't work out to plan, might be sufficient?

 

[JITR]

I do plan for each week though in a general way. The shopping list is my food plan - if I buy it and it's in the fridge I'll likely eat it before it goes off, and if I don't buy it I can't eat it. I don't plan individual days - I eat what I feel like each day from whatever is in the house, knowing that I'll lose weight based on the stuff I bought, and I don't go to the shops during the week. I plan to exercise on a set minimum number of days in the week and plan do to as much as I feel able to, in terms of distances walked mostly, but weather determines which days I do what. I have a spreadsheet to track my weight at the end of the week and note any obvious reasons why I did or did not hit my target weight loss rate.

Maybe a general outline like that - shopping list and planned number of exercise days - along with a diary of what you actually eat and do each day to highlight where things did and didn't work out to plan, might be sufficient?

That's what I do. Except Cronometer tells how much protein, carbs and fat as well as micronutrients I'm consuming. It also produces helpful graphs of energy balance and weight, just enough to keep me on track.

 

[Inka]

I use a cheap A5 Meal Planner book @Lucyr I find it works well. It also has a space for a shopping list. I like flicking back to find previous weeks that worked for me. I’ll find a link in a minute…

 

[Inka]

Here we are. There are various cover designs but do pick one where you can see the pages inside as some are better than others:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1700812165/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

.

 

[PerSpinasAdAstra]

That's what I do. Except Cronometer tells how much protein, carbs and fat as well as micronutrients I'm consuming. It also produces helpful graphs of energy balance and weight, just enough to keep me on track.

I used an app that came with a smart food weighing scale to track everything I was eating in the beginning to record carbs and calories etc. I used it for around 6 weeks until I hit my weekly weight loss target a couple of times, then stopped tracking everything as I found it to be a lot of hassle. It's definitely a useful exercise, as pretty much everything I need is now in the food diary in the app. I've only gone back to using the app and weighing scale when I'm trying something new - currently low carb breakfast experiments. At this point I know off the top of my head roughly how many calories are in all the meals I typically eat, and how many particularly low-calorie meal days I need to lose weight at the rate I want. Example - buy two packets of pre-prepared mixed vegetables and some chicken stock for making soup and that's four 'soup lunch days'. I add those to my shopping list and as I hate letting food go off I'm very likely to eat veg soup four times in the coming week. So long as I don't buy foods that might tempt me to overeat, and so long as I resist snacking between meals, then the contents of my fridge and cupboards pretty much dictate how fast I lose weight.

 

[Lucyr]

I use a cheap A5 Meal Planner book @Lucyr I find it works well. It also has a space for a shopping list. I like flicking back to find previous weeks that worked for me. I’ll find a link in a minute…

Oh thanks, I didn’t realise that was a thing!

 

[Lucyr]

I used an app that came with a smart food weighing scale to track everything I was eating in the beginning to record carbs and calories etc.

I do have a calorie counting app but the weight management specialist has specifically advised against counting calories and advised using this meal planning method instead.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

No thanks, I have no need to cut out toast.

I often use toast when I don’t have time/energy to cook a full meal too 🙂

 

[Lucyr]

I often use toast when I don’t have time/energy to cook a full meal too 🙂

My nutritionist says no problem having toast instead of a meal but stick some protein on top if you can, and a fruit or veg on the side so that it’s more filling and you feel like you’ve got some good balanced nutrition.

But that could look like a bit of ham and a few cherry tomatoes straight from the fridge to your mouth whilst the toast is cooking, it doesn’t have to be “a meal”

The meal planning is about reducing the need to make decisions about food when hungry mainly, because those are the times the decisions don’t go so well…

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

The meal planning is about reducing the need to make decisions about food when hungry mainly, because those are the times the decisions don’t go so well…

That sounds like a very sensible approach!

Shopping while hungry is so well known to be a disaster that it’s the punchline to very clichéed jokes!

 

[Lucyr]

I’ve gone with a new plain notebook in the end as that seemed easiest to get hold off, picked it up at the weekend. I’ve written out the weeks main hot meals, and 1 thing to batch cook and done an online food shop to cover those things and my usual breakfasts and lunches.

Haven’t written the whole week meal plan out at once though. Ive just started writing the learnings from the current day and the meal plan for the next day in the evening, when I also get out anything that needs defrosting and prepare any packed lunch needed for the next day etc.

 

[AndBreathe]

@Lucyr - we meal plan every week of every year, just because we sort of always have done.

Started doing this when I was at work and MrB already a gentleman of leisure, but we'd go through my work and our social diaries weekly and plan accordingly, and it stuck. It informs our shopping lists and puts some discipline into ensuring we eat proper meals and a variety of them.

These days we utilise a running shopping list, but the general meal planner is on a magnetic whiteboard in the kitchen. Any changes are made to that. We like to keep it really simple.

Once you get into meal planning you'll be amazed how easy it is, and actually it saves cash because there are few on the fly purchases and store cupboards are cycled through nicely.

 

[DaisyW]

Even though there is so little actual nourishment in bread?

Is there a specific low carb diet you are following? I am really bad at planning and knowing what to eat so any help or suggestion would be great. T.I.A 🙂

 

[Leadinglights]

Is there a specific low carb diet you are following? I am really bad at planning and knowing what to eat so any help or suggestion would be great. T.I.A 🙂

If you are wanting to follow a low carb approach then the are meal plans to suit various tastes in this link. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Also good explanation and some do'd and don'ts.