This is my nightmare: it is 5:00 pm on a week day evening. I am done working, I am hungry and I have no idea what I am going to eat. I stand with the freezer door open and peer in, trying to make sense of the contents and deliberating what to cook. With a sigh, I end up pouring a bowl of cereal, grabbing a bag of Tostitos or eating odd handfuls of things like almonds, grapes and deli meat. Not exactly the most nutritious of dinners.

Meal planning has been one of the staple habits of living a healthier lifestyle. When I don’t plan, I end up acting out my nightmare or going out, unintentionally spending more calories, money or both. To me, it is as important as exercising and as routine as doing the laundry.

When I start to talk about meal planning in my classes I teach, I can immediately see the eyes glaze over. “That sounds like work…” I hear. Or, “I couldn’t do it. I’m too spontaneous to eat on Thursday what I planned on Sunday.”

Contrary to what you might expect, meal planning doesn’t have to be tedious or restrictive. In fact, planning can actually be one of the most freeing activities you do. Anyone who’s trying to eat healthy knows you start spending an inordinate amount of time THINKING about food. What to eat, when to eat, how to cook it, how many calories, where to go, round and round and round. Planning on Sunday what you’re going to eat throughout the week frees up tons of brain power… go ahead, play Minesweeper that last hour of work rather than ponder if you’ve got something to defrost in the freezer or if you’re going to have to stop at the store (or drive thru) again on your way home.

(And no, I don’t always stick to my plan and you don’t have to either. If someone invites you out to dinner, you don’t have to say no just because your chicken is already thawing in the fridge.)

Meal planning also helps you balance out your day. If you know, for instance, you’re going to have a work party or other day time social event that involves food, you can accommodate by planning for a lighter supper, like a grilled chicken salad or soup and sandwich. Or, conversely, if you have dinner plans and you know it’s going to be a heavier meal, you can compensate by eating a little bit lighter throughout the day. Balancing your meals is a great habit to use whether or not you count calories.

The basics of meal planning look like this:
1. At some point over the weekend, take stock of what you have on hand. I usually look through the freezer and pantry to see if there’s any staples I can build a meal around.

2. Write down on a piece of paper the nights you’re going to be home for dinner. In our house, we eat out about once a week. So if we’re home 5 nights, I plan for 4 meals.

3. Choose your meals. You can make this as complicated or as basic as you’d like. I love to cook, so I usually spend a little extra time here reading through cookbooks and recipes and seeing what catches my attention. You use a website like www.allrecipes.com that will let you search by ingredients to make menu items based on what you already have on hand in the freezer or pantry.

*If you use a certain grocery store, look up their specials and make your menu based on what’s on sale.
*Think basics: you don’t have to use recipes for every meal, a meal can simply be protein + veggie(s) + starch.
*Think in doubles. If there’s an item you’re going to buy in larger quantity (such as meat) think of how you can use twice throughout the week, spacing it apart. For instance, if we have roast chicken on Sunday, I’ll use the leftovers for chicken tacos on Wednesday.

4. Write your menu out and post it somewhere that you (and all the other eaters in your house) can see it. This eliminates the “what’s for dinner” question. If you have picky eaters, ask them to choose at least one meal each week. (And if you get “I don’t care” as an answer, just remind them of that as it ends up on table.)
(By the way, Mom, sorry for every time I said that. And then told you I didn’t like spaghetti/pork chops/tuna casserole/etc.)

5. Make a grocery list of the ingredients you need, as well as any other items you might need for other meals and snacks. Going to the grocery store with a list is KEY.

6. If you have the option, try grocery shopping online. This has totally changed my life. There are two stores that offer online shopping in my city, Harris Teeter and Lowe’s Food. It takes me about 20-25 minutes to enter in the foods on my list, and then 5-10 minutes when I go pick it up. I use Harris Teeter and the cost is $5 an order. This has cut my grocery time in half (most trips took me an hour or more) and has cut my grocery bill by about 20%, because I don’t buy things on impulse anymore and I can comparison shop the prices by unit price, specials, etc. I still do one trip to Wal-mart each month to buy things like paper goods, toiletries, dog food, etc which are much less expensive there than at my grocery store.

7. Come home from work, look at your menu and start cooking! No more tortilla chips for dinner. Unless, of course, that’s what you’ve put on your meal plan.

Need some ideas? Check out my recipes on MegEats. I’ve also posted this week’s meal plan, although it will be based on what’s in MY freezer, not yours… so shopper beware.

Happy Planning! (And eating!)