Plan ahead to save money and stick to targets

How many meal plans have you set out to start but then after a while you start to plateau with your motivation? Here are some great tips to make your meal plan/food schedule more fun and easy to follow

Plan out your meals ahead of time.

Spending time figuring out what you'll do with your day can take away from actually doing those things. If you haven't planned your day in the morning, you will be tempted to change your schedule without question. It's important to let your schedule change if you need it to, but it's equally as important to commit to a schedule that outlines every objective for the day before you begin. Try setting your schedule the day before, making it feel more official when you wake up the next day to get started on it. 

Planning out your meals ahead of time will allow you to focus more on your tasks for the day, and free up some space for some much needed 'you time'. It will also help you save money and reduce your food waste.  

Pairing

Getting into the routine of preparing your meals ahead of time can be tedious for most of us. There’s the rinsing, chopping, dicing; none of which are very engaging unless you love to cook. Pair your meal planning with something that you love, like a podcast or a Netflix Series. If you have a favourite podcast, only listen to new episodes when you’re preparing food for the week. This will give you another reason to look forward to planning your meals ahead of time.

However, if you do want to make your recipe prep quicker and easier, check out our Knife Skills 101 blog.

Make adjustments when needed

Eating the same meals over and over can become very boring and repetitive, so if you find yourself not wanting to cook what you planned, cook it for that week and then don’t plan that meal again for a few weeks.

You need to take notes on the meals you see online or even have at restaurants.  Come home and plan to replicate what you’ve seen or eaten. We have almost 400 recipes in our recipe section, many replicating your family favourites or fakeaway treats. And don’t forget to keep it simple. Maybe only choose two or three of the meals listed in a week and stick to something simpler the other nights.

Remind Yourself Why 

Maybe it is to save money?  To feel healthier? To hit a specific bodyweight goal?

When you feel yourself losing that motivation or wanting to move away from the plan, remind yourself why you have a plan in the first place.  
What is your goal? Remember why you started?
It takes time to meal plan and hard work to keep your motivation levels up. Straying from your meal plan too much will cause you to undo all the time you put into it in the first place.

Try This

Want some healthy recipe inspiration? Check out 12 of our tastiest Batch Cooking Dinner Recipes which are perfect for feeding friends or family, or to get ahead of the week's lunches.

12 Best Batch Cooking Recipes