Weekly meal planning can help you avoid calorie-laden restaurant meals and it may save you money by preventing extra trips to the grocery store. You may also find yourself trying new recipes and expanding your family's palette. Whether you are designing healthy, balanced meals for your family or designing weekly meals to help you follow a weight loss plan, the process is the same. You can prepare and enjoy healthy, appetizing meals every day of the week when you use your new planner.
Step 1
Decide how you want to design your planner. Choose between a downloaded, printable worksheet, a spreadsheet on your computer, a spiral bound notebook or a weekly calendar sheet. Choose a format that you feel most comfortable using. It should include the days of the week on one side of the page and the names of meals on the other.
Step 2
Plan your breakfast menus for the week ahead using the guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Pyramid. Think about your morning schedule and how much time you have to make breakfast. If you have to leave the house early, plan easy, healthy meals like plain oatmeal with sliced bananas, a boiled egg and two pieces of toast or a whole-grain waffle with a piece of whole fruit and a glass of orange juice. Include a hot breakfast once or twice a week. This can include whole-wheat pancakes or egg-white omelets.
Step 3
Think creatively when planning your lunch menus to avoid boredom. Toss baby arugula and spinach with 1/2 oz. of cheddar cheese and grape tomatoes, 1/4 cup of brown rice, and 1 tbsp. of fat-free Italian dressing. Put them into a spinach wrap. Use healthy, whole-grain breads for sandwiches and plan on leftover soup as your main lunch meal. Slice grilled chicken into bite-sized chunks and mix with grapes and fat-free mayonnaise for a healthy chicken salad. Serve sides of whole fruits, cut-up celery, cauliflower, and yogurt for dairy.
Step 4
Write down your evening plans for each day of the week on your planner. Take into account how much time you have to prepare each meal when planning for the day. On busy, activity-filled days, make spaghetti using whole-wheat pasta and a vegetarian tomato sauce to reduce saturated fats. When you have more time, grill chicken and make kabobs by alternating chunks of chicken with peppers and onions on a skewer.
Plan a hamburger meal using lean cuts of ground beef. Weigh the patties to get the recommended 3 oz. Decide in advance where you will eat if dining out one evening. Keep your planned restaurant meal healthy by either calling ahead and asking for nutritional information or researching it online if the restaurant posts it on a website.
Step 5
Plan your daily snacks ahead of time so you can keep them healthy and avoid eating processed foods. Serve low-calorie, homemade granola bars, luncheon meat wrapped around a cheese stick, baked chips and hummus, rice cakes and boiled eggs. Vary the snacks, but plan on always having cut up vegetables and whole fruits in the refrigerator.
Tips and Warnings
- Incorporate your family's favorite meals into your weekly meal planner. Plan your meals using the grocery store sales ads to stay within your budget. Buy meats and precook them to make weekday meal preparation easier.
- Avoid meals that focus on just one food group. Aim for nutritious meals.
References
- National Institutes of Health: We Can! Weekly Meal Planner
- MyPyramid.gov: Sample Menus for a 2000 Calorie Food Pattern
- HelpGuide.org: Making Fast, Healthy, and Delicious Meals
- United States Department of Agriculture: Recipes and Tips for Healthy, Thrifty Meals
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Trans Fats 101: A Suggested Menu for Every Meal of Your Day
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