3 Ways To Use Meal Planning To Streamline Your Hectic Life

It's 5 PM and panic sets in when you realize you've got no idea what's for dinner!

The kids asked the moment they woke up... and your partner too, where you defensivly ask "I duno, what do you want"? Hoping they;ll ask for the same takeaway you had the night before, which would inevitibly make it so much easier for you. 

Join me, Verona, as I peel back the layers of meal planning chaos that can leave us resorting to the same old dishes ortakeoout for the third night in a row

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Chapters

• 0:00 Meal Planning Overwhelm
• 7:58 The Importance of Meal Planning
• 11:58 Mastering Meal Planning for Busy Families

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

We've all been there. It's five o'clock, the kids are hungry, you hungry and you have absolutely no idea what to make for dinner. You open the fridge hoping for inspiration, but you only find some sad-looking wilted spinach leaves and a few condiments. Ordering takeout starts to seem like an appealing option, and the only option that you're going to do right now. Now, if this scenario sounds familiar, you are not alone. Studies actually show that over 60% of mums wish meal planning was easier and less stressful. Now, that's exactly why I created Simple Steps to Overcome Meal Planning Overwhelm. Free Training. You can head over to the website right now mealprepworkshopcom. Mealprepworkshopcom. Bring a friend, share it to a friend and learn how you can make meal planning much easier and less stressful.

Speaker 1: 0:45

Now I actually used to dread meal planning every weekend. I'd sit down with cookbooks, I'd sit down with Pinterest and I'd try to figure out ideas, to make a grocery list and then try to map out dinners. No matter how prepared I thought I was, something would inevitably come up to derail my plans. The leftovers I was counting on got eaten, or the family changed their minds about what they felt like eating or, shock horror an ingredient for a recipe was missing. Cue the panic. So today, friends, if you're sounding like me, then two things you can do Head over to the training right now, mealprepworkshopcom, and sign up to this free training. Or you can go ahead and download the toolkit vanutritioncoachingcouk forward slash toolkit to sign up and make meal planning so much easier. But in today's episode, we're going to find three ways that you can use meal planning to streamline your hectic schedule. Do you ever open up the fridge and then close it again and then go to DoorDash or your other favorite delivery app because you're like no, I just can't do that. Today, my friends, if you're somebody who wants to make meal planning so much more easier than this, then I'm the coach for you.

Speaker 1: 1:43

My name is Verona and this is Lose Weight With Meal Planning Podcast, and I'm your host. I, believe it or not, used to hate meal planning, eating the same boring foods every single day chicken, broccoli and rice no, thank you. I began to hate my fridge and I began to hate the things that were in it, and it was so much easier for me to just order takeout and eat out. But of course, that made me gain more pounds and I could actually care to count. But if you're somebody who wants to lose weight, or you want to learn how to feed your family meals that aren't the same things every single day, and you want your children to say, yes, mommy, can I have some more instead of no, thank you, I don't want that. Then you are in the right place. Turn up the volume, open up your Apple Notes and let's get into today's episode, because I'm going to give you super simple, simple strategies that you can walk away with today and no longer have to be afraid of eating the same dry foods every single day. Welcome back, friends, or welcome to the show. My name is Verona and you're listening to another episode of Lose Weight With Meal Planning.

Speaker 1: 2:41

Now, the constant challenge of figuring out what to cook and keeping everyone happy can leave us overwhelmed. Then we often giving up altogether, and then we just default to your regular a rotation of takeout frozen pizza or the same pasta that we've had for the last three days in a row, and that, of course, increases your stress levels and makes them go through the roof. And we know that there needs to be a better way, but we just can't seem to find the better way. Now, when it comes to being a mom or a woman or somebody who works, has a job, whether you stay at home, no matter what your life is, we have jam-packed schedules, and they're hectic at that. Now you know how difficult it is to juggle everything on your plate Work, caring for your kids, running your errands, making sure that your deadlines are met at work and in the house, and even trying to have some semblance of a personal life. Your schedule is jam-packed from morning till night. So when you say I don't have time, it's actually a real life thing that's living for you, but it's something that isn't a nice to have.

Speaker 1: 3:37

When it comes to eating, especially eating healthy, it's not a nice to have. It's actually a necessity that you need to eat, and so sometimes it can feel like you're stretched so thin that one more thing added to your endless to-do list might just push you over the years, and that's one of the reasons why I am focusing so heavily on meal planning. So if you're somebody who is saying that you struggle to meal plan, and if you're somebody that has zero clue on where to start and you're somebody who wants to save time, you want to save money, you want to save the energy that you spend trying to think of what to cook for dinner, then this is where you need to be. One of the things that my clients come to me with is they don't know what to meal plan, and when they struggle to know what to meal plan then it's boring. When they know what to meal plan, then they can enjoy it, especially knowing that you can have a few weeks of meal prep done and dusted so you don't have to worry about that and you can just relax.

Speaker 1: 4:28

But meal planning and cooking is one of those things that can feel overwhelming when you're already maxed out. And trying to figure out what to make for breakfast, lunch, trying to figure out what to make for dinner every day takes time and also the mental energy. Even if you find recipes that your family enjoy, you still have to go to shop for those ingredients and then you have to cook, and that's the bit that can be exhausting, especially those crazy days when you've barely had time to even grab lunch for yourself, and the thought of coming up with meals from scratch and then cooking up a whole entire homemade dinner. Listen, ain't, nobody got time. We don't have time for that, okay, and so the temptation is strong then, and then that's when you will see an advert. It's always the way right. You see an advert on tv and it's strong then, and then that's when you will see an advert. It's always the way right. You see an advert on TV and it's like go and grab your juicy burger, and then it just happens. It's happened to me.

Speaker 1: 5:09

But deep down, you want to feed your family foods that are healthy, foods, that they will last longer than half an hour, and then they're feeling like they're eating you out of house and home every night. So today's episode is actually three ways that you can use meal planning to streamline your hectic schedule. So, firstly, you want to block off time on your calendar, like you would if you're doing a date night, if it's your birthday, if it's your friend's birthday any significant event in our lives we use the calendar for, but we don't have that same mindset when it comes to our lives. When it comes to eating healthy, just kind of have the two things that are separate. But what if you actually started to look at the two things as one?

Speaker 1: 5:45

So setting aside time specifically for meal planning is, as I mentioned in the beginning, is a necessity. It isn't a nice to have. So when we're busy, our schedules are often overloaded with things, and some of those things can be moved, some of those things can be delegated. But if you're a type, a type of person and you want to get all things done and you struggle with time management and you struggle with getting things done, you're going to struggle to delegate because you feel like, oh my gosh, I have to do it. Nobody can do it better than me. That martyr complex is something that needs to be worked on. It's okay to delegate. It's okay to give it to someone else. Yes, no one else is going to do it as good as you. You can allow people to have their creativity and do it, as long as you give them a clear directive and instructions on what you're like, what you would like, unless you specifically want to do it yourself, and in that case, if you're given directions and people are not doing it, then you might as well do it. However, if you're always having that mentality, you're never going to get anything done. So you have to kind of draw a line between what you want to do, giving people the grace to do things, maybe not in the way that you want it, but maybe better than you. Some reality there are people who are more creative than you. There are people who are more creative than I am, and sometimes we have to let go and relinquish the control because we are going to get burnt out.

Speaker 1: 6:58

Now, trying to squeeze in meal planning between work, driving activities, coming home from the activities and everything else that you have to do only adds to the stress it does not take away. Now the thing is, when it comes to meal planning, many of us think that meal planning is stressful, but it's not supposed to be stressful. Now, if it is becoming stressful, this is where we work out what is the thing that's causing the stress, and then we work on that and then we create a better plan. And that first step to doing that is blocking time off in your calendar, instead of trying to squeeze in meal planning here and there. Take control of your calendar. If we're your headstrong woman and you're like your go-getter, you know how to take control. Take control of your calendar and your nutrition. Find a consistent time every week where you can fully focus on meal prep. If you can't do this yourself, this is where I come in. This is where the meal planning toolkit comes in, and all of this will be in the show notes where you can just go and click it and then just grab it for yourself. Now, I know if you're somebody who's busy and I know if you're somebody who is really, really on top of your game when it comes to your work and your organization, et cetera.

Speaker 1: 7:58

We don't like asking for help, but help doesn't mean that you're defeated. Help doesn't mean that you're weak. Help doesn't mean any of those things. Help means you just need help. You need an extra set of hands because right now you cannot do it for a period of time. And then that help comes alongside you for a period of time. You agree the time that they're going to help you for Then, basically, that person curates some, alleviates some of the stress, takes it off of your hands and then does the things for you and then all you need and they walk you through what it would look like for a realistic week in your life. So, instead of doing things that other people want you to do or you trying to do everything, getting that help can alleviate some of that stress.

Speaker 1: 8:32

Now, if you're somebody who's going to find time and a consistent time each week, you can choose whatever day works for you. It could be Sunday morning, before the family wakes up. It could be Wednesday evening, after the kids are asleep, it could be Tuesday, whatever day works best for you. Pick this day and be consistent with it. Block off at least 30 minutes to 60 minutes. Two review the recipes that you're going to make, make a grocery list and then prep any ingredients that you already have ahead of time. Now, if we were working in your family session, your one-to-one session, this is some of the things that we would do. We would definitely review some of the recipes that you want to make or that you're already making. Then we would make the grocery list and then we're not doing 10 trips to the grocery store. We don't have time. If you're somebody who needs a streamlined, hectic schedule, you don't have time to be spending $1,200 a month in the grocery store. And if you are no shade but we need to change that. If you give your meal planning the time that it needs, this will set you up for a less stressful week ahead.

Speaker 1: 9:26

I used to hate meal planning. I absolutely used to hate it. It took too long. It was the same thing, boring, over and over again. But I am here. I'm here in a top 2% global podcast in the whole world talking about meal planning, helping women from all over the world, literally. Texas, new York, new Jersey, australia, austria, singapore, the Philippines. I've got people from all over the world listening to me because they want to learn how to meal plan. I was a coach who literally despised meal planning. Now I'm here coaching women all over the world, helping you how to do this. I'm putting the tools into your hand so that you don't have to scramble last minute or go to take out every single night and that causes you to gain weight and spend ridiculous amount of money. There's a way that we can stop it and I'm here to help you.

Speaker 1: 10:08

Number two prep your ingredients in advance. Now, getting a head start on prepping the ingredients can save you so much time during the week. You can take an hour or half an hour. If you don't have that time, whatever time you do have, take it. If it's easier for you to buy vegetables that are pre-packed and chopped already, do that and just give them a rinse over, because you don't know what critters and little dust that's come on them once you get them home. Chopped onions I'm over chopping onions myself. I absolutely buy frozen chopped onions and I just grab them and put them in the pan once I need them.

Speaker 1: 10:38

If you're somebody who is busy in the instance, we have to work with what your schedule can allow. Yes, you are going to be busy, but there are going to have to be some things that are going to have to move and over in VIP meal plan when we do this, this session together. This is what we're going through. We're literally taking through the session what things can you move around, what things actually have to stay and what things can go, what things can move around, what things can be delegated? I will say, before you sign up to VIP meal plan, you have to be willing to shift and delegate some things. If you're not ready to delegate or shift some things, then this is not going to work for you. Just take this step now and don't apply until you're ready to put these things into practice. So if you're somebody who will be making tacos, for example, you can actually go ahead and cook and shred the chicken breast, or you can pick up a whole family chicken, a whole size chicken, from Costco. You can slice up the chicken breast that's already there and then use that for taco meat, or you can use the whole chicken, spatchcock the chicken, have the chicken whole as it is and then have it in different meals. We have to make things a lot easier than we're doing now. If it's too much stress now, then it just means that the way we're doing it is not conducive for the life that we're living and all we're doing is marrying it up so it fits into our life, rather than you feeling like you have to fit around meal planning, and that's when things get hectic and that's when things get overwhelming. Head over to the training. If you haven't Mealprepworkshopcom. Mealprepworkshopcom.

Speaker 1: 11:58

Doing some prep ahead of time actually allows you to skip the steps during the actual cooking process. So if you've already got a pre-cooked chicken, you have absolutely saved time. Or you can go to Chipotle and buy a family size once a week or even twice a week. There are things that you can do, but if you're trying to save money, that's going to defeat the object. You just buy the ingredients that will cost the same amount as Chipotle but last a lot longer, where you can now freeze the excess. So you pick what works for you and your family. There are some families that work with me that absolutely like Verona. You need to order my Chipotle for dinner right now. Here's my card details and then you can send it to my home. That's the level of trust that we do over in the VIP coaching. To give you an idea and to give you a picture, that's how I work. Doing this allows you to skip the steps during the actual cooking process, so you avoid that feeling of being overwhelmed in the kitchen where you're trying to do several different things all at one time and it's like, oh my goodness, somebody come and just cook for me.

Speaker 1: 12:45

Lastly, you want to rely on simple, repeatable meals. If it's somebody who does not like to eat the same thing, then you might want to skip this step, but most mums, and many mums that are clients of mine, find it easier to build meal plans around simple, repeatable ideas that work for your family. This then reduces the need to constantly, constantly brainstorm new recipes and ingredients each week, because that's what people don't generally have time for to come up with new creative ideas every week. But if you're somebody who doesn't like eating the same thing, then you have to come up with new ideas every single week. You might repeat it twice at most in the same week, but having a fresh variety of something new that you haven't had the week before.

Speaker 1: 13:25

If you're somebody who doesn't like to have the same five meals every day is a skill of yours. That's something that I struggled with a lot when it came to meal planning. Having the same foods, I couldn't, and people just eating the same thing for five days in a row I really can't. I'm sorry, ma'am, that's not for me, and one of the things that I love doing as a coach is working towards you and working towards what fits in your lifestyle. Having a roster of simple meals makes grocery shopping a lot easier as well. You consistently need common ingredients like ground beef, chicken breast, pasta, rice, tortilla, yada, yada yada. Having that on your hands if you're somebody who likes the reusable meals is going to make your meal planning a dream. You can still have those if you're somebody like me who doesn't like eating the same thing two days in a row.

Speaker 1: 14:07

But the point here is, if you rely on simple, repeatable meals, it takes the stress out of meal planning and makes it sustainable as a part of your routine, not something additional that you have to try to fit in with your routine that you're already living. Now, when you learn to meal plan with confidence, this done changed the game, but having a solid plan in place actually reduces stress and the decision fatigue of trying to decide what you're going to feed your kids, the dog, cats, the bird, the budgie and everything else and everyone else every single night. Because when you've already decided on recipes for the week ahead, you don't have that daily question of what's for dinner. And then you're trying to come up with ideas on the fly and you end up making the same things that the kids had yesterday, the day before, the day before, and they're sick of it. They're sick of it. You're sick of making it, even though it's go-to and quick and easy for you. If you do three of these things that I've talked about today, it will absolutely make your meal planning easier.

Speaker 1: 14:56

There are additional ways that you can work with me if you're somebody who wants a coach to work through it with you and go through the nitty gritty and actually help you meal plan. Organize your pantry, organize your kitchen. Take out things that are not supposed to be in your pantry. Put them in a way where you feel confident in your kitchen again. That's one of the things that I pride myself on as a coach. Sometimes you've got to toot your own trumpet as a coach and I love absolutely coming in to strategize and organize your house so you feel confident in the kitchen.

Speaker 1: 15:25

So you come to me being frazzled with meal planning, but you leave me meal planning with confidence and you leave me having done your whole kitchen haul and your makeover in a way that you feel confident because with meal planning, you know exactly what you're going to eat every night. You've already made the decisions about recipes and ingredients beforehand and you've got a good couple of weeks now where you've got food ready. You can absolutely choose to have that food if you want, or you can choose to have takeout. But you're no longer going to frazzle moment constantly feeling like, oh my goodness, I feel helpless because you have a plan and having recipes picked out ahead of time also leads to less stress whilst you're grocery shopping. So you're no longer having to do the scenic route around the supermarket spending hours when you could be spending hours with yourself Because you've already got it there.

Speaker 1: 16:14

You're not wondrously aiming round and round trying to figure out what shall I make today? You've already got the list. But you don't need intricate recipes or complicated meal plans when you're just starting out. Start with quick, easy to prepare meals and simple ingredients. If you're a type A person, we need to structure your meal plan a little bit more cohesive for you. But if you're not, these ways can help. You just continue to bang out the same foods every day and eat the same thing.

Speaker 1: 16:42

I'm not that person where I like to eat the same thing every day. At most it will be two days. If you're trying to push me to eat for three days, I'm done. I can't. I just can't, and I've always been like that, even before I was a nutrition coach. I'm still like it as a nutrition coach and I tried to, you know, fit the mold and fit the norm of trying to do this. But I realized it's not working for me and why am I doing something that isn't working for me and it's not giving me joy, even as a meal planning coach? And I feel like I have to fit into the mold because everybody else is doing this? Actually, no, you don't need to do what everybody else is doing. You just need to do what works for you and your family. What do you enjoy? Because you're cooking it, you're making it, you're spending the time investing into your body. Do what works for you.

Speaker 1: 17:26

Some of you may actually like making the meals fresh every single day. Like I do, I prefer to have a fresh meal every single day. There's loads of food in the fridge a variety of the same food I had last week, but changed something based on the ingredients I already have in the fridge but I'm still making it fresh and that way I'm enjoying the nutrients of it. Having meal prep meals, I'm not saying that you still don't have the freshness After a while it will go, but if that's what your life can handle at this moment, that's what you do, because ultimately, the goal is to spend less time worrying about what to cook and more time enjoying easy, nutritious meals together. One of the things that I included in the meal planning training to give you an idea is a super simple, quick and easy cooking guide. So you get that when you show up to the training is a super simple, quick and easy cooking guide. So you get that when you show up to the training. Mealprepworkshopcom.

Speaker 1: 18:07

I wanted to show you how easy it was to make meals within 30 minutes or less, because I know people's schedules and time is busy. We don't all have the same time, like I do. I don't have children, so I can actually make meals fresh and I can spend a little bit of time to make them fresh. Not everybody can, and so this is where meal planning is unique to you and your family and your goals. So the goal here is to spend less time worrying about what to cook and more time enjoying easy, nutritious meals together. Now, I know meal planning seems hard and for some of us it can be hard, but it does not have to be. With a few tips that I've given you today, you can actually take the chaos out of dinner time. But if you're somebody who needs more customized guidance to help you streamline meal planning, then head over to the website VIPmealplancom, and that is the way that you can work with me on a one-to-one program where we will be going through every single thing to help you make meal planning less overwhelming. You get a step-by-step support to reduce the stress and enjoy your mealtime and be confident in your kitchen. Again, that's VIPmealplancom, if you want more information.

Speaker 1: 19:09

That's a quick episode for us today. Number one was block off time on your calendar, two prep ingredients in advance, and number three was rely on simple, repeatable meals. Now, number three is a caveat compared to the type of person you are. If you're somebody who does not like the same meals, you may struggle with keeping repeatable meals on play, but there are ways that you can swap and change this to help you. All of the links for you to go and get the training and the resources that I have will be attached to every single episode. If you're stuck, just head over to the main page and then navigate there, but everything should be in the show notes below.

Speaker 1: 19:43

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. You've been listening to today three ways you can use meal planning to streamline your hectic schedule. Oh, my goodness, we're at the end of today's episode. I know that flew by right. I hope you're enjoying this episode and if you did, could you do me a favor and leave a review over on itunes, spotify or? The snazzy thing you can do now is go to the website via nutritioncoachingcouk forward slash podcast and leave a 60 second or less review there. Or you can leave a question you can do this anonymously or you can leave your name and I will play it out on the show. And that's it for today, friends. I can't wait to catch you over on the email list If you're not signed up, girl, you better join us If you're not in the Facebook community. If you have Facebook or you're on Instagram or social media, tag us in your stories at lose weight with macros podcast, and I cannot wait to see you in the next episode.