Meal planning is meant to save you time and money in the long run. But it’s easy to get caught up in the novelty of first learning how to meal plan that you skip over some of the basics. Keeping these things in mind will help you use your time as efficiently as possible.
1. Choosing Recipes
This is arguably everyone’s favorite part. Seeing so many pictures of yummy food and pondering all the possibilities can leave you with too many options and no clue of where to start.
If you spend too much time looking at what you could be making you’ll have less time planning out what you will be making. Option paralysis is frustrating.
If you have a handful you’re struggling to choose from, remember that you’ll have the chance to make them all eventually. You don’t have to plan the entire month in one sitting.
Start with the first week, then take a break and occupy your thoughts with something else. Return to do the second week with a fresh perspective. Continue on until you’ve planned out the month.
▶ Tips for Easy Meal Preparation
2. Finding Recipes
Maybe you’re having a hard time learning how to meal plan because you don’t have recipes to choose between. This is especially true for people who have to maintain a specific diet.
Fear not, because a random recipe generator will sort this problem out for you quickly. Unlike an internet search, a good random food generator brings the recipes to you.
There’s no more checking and double-checking to see if recipes contain something you’re allergic to, or otherwise need to remove from your diet.
These recipe generators can be personalized to create the perfect custom meal plan for you.
3. Themes
Taco Tuesday isn’t an option for everyone, but having something similar in your own schedule means you’ll spend less time debating what to make, what to buy, and budgeting time.
If you have a go-to you make every week you’ll know ahead of time how much work will go into making it happen and can plan ahead much more easily.
And let’s be honest, having something like that to look forward to every week is fun. Keto Macaroni and Cheese Monday, anyone?
▶ Meal Planning for Weight Loss? Here are the most trustworthy ways to lose weight
4. Keep It All Together
You might be tempted to stock up on fancy planners and critically acclaimed cookbooks that are tailored to dietary needs such as your own.
But making sure you’ve properly synced all of your apps, copied your lists, and so on, takes up time that you could be using for something actually productive.
This defeats the purpose of learning how to meal plan. By using a system that keeps everything in one place you’ll have less things taking up space in your home, and your headspace too.
▶ Take advantage of our Nutiro Ultimate Guide on How to Meal Plan that gives you the flexibility to enjoy other meal planning options such as keto, paleo, vegan, gluten-free, etc.