Planning meals in advance

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:44 pm

Lately I started writing down what I plan to have for breakfast lunch and dinner every day ... not the whole week in advance, just one day.

This helps me to stay on track so I thought it could benefit others as well. Basically I have listed a typical breakfast, lunch, dinner so I know what'll be having.

For exemple today,

Typical Breakfast.

- 2 glasses of water

- 1 plain hard boiled egg (Once every 2 weeks, I boil 8-10 of those in advance, leaving them in the shell until I am ready to eat one ... so I usually have some in the fridge) I can eat those plain or with a very small quantity of light mayo as well.

- 2 slices of bread, whole grain (I've switched from white to whole grain bread in the past couple of months)

- Whole wheat Bran cereal, small bowl, with a few unsalted peanuts, sunflower seeds, dried raisins mixed in. Only Wal-Mart has the best cereal around here, Fibre one by General Mills, so I pick up many boxes when I am there, 10 boxes of cereals !! (I usually only go to Wal-Mart 2-3 times a year since it's not close by and I don't like going there anyway.)

- Milk, 2% ... I know I should have 1% instead but it looks/tastes like watered down milk to me, plus I put it in my coffee and it's not as good, so I'll stick with the 2%

- 1/2 a banana. (I keep the 2nd half in the fridge 4-later in the day)

- 2 glasses of water (I always have water 20 minutes before and right after meals. Before - It helps not to eat too much, After, it helps to feel more 'full' ...

...

Same deal with lunch, dinner ... of course on my paper it's not as detailed, I just write egg, cereal, milk, nuts, etc. Some things I don't write down, like celery and carrots, I can have those once or twice a day if I need it, I don't think a couple of carrots once a day make a big difference in the Master plan'

... drinking plenty of water helps too.

I'm in the non stop mode too since I don't have off days from this, at least not planned in advance ... cos' I want quicker results so I combine this with the exercises I do nearly every day and it gets me going in the right direction quite well.

Planning my meals like that helps me to control my portions and also avoid cheating since I can only have what is written down on the piece of paper (of course nobody's perfect, I have slipped a few times but I find this helps me to stick with it ... I know what'll have and when ... so it's all good.

Hopefully this tip can help out other members as well.

Marc

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:36 pm

I plan my suppers a week ahead on a chalk board. I have it in a calendar too so I can have ideas from months past. It helps me to thaw stuff ahead, have everything on hand and generally helps me to not think about food. I am a food addict and I think about food way too much. Doing this helps a ton!

Keeping my lunch open lets me have what I'm craving at the time. I think our bodies crave what we need to some extent, and I ONLY crave vegies when I'm hungry. My Dad has always been the type of guy to eat the same thing for breakfast every day... He went years having a breakfast burrito made with eggbeaters and now he's been eating oatmeal every morning. I remember him always being on some kind of new kick that would last years. I myself need variety! Good luck with your calendar. I think organization helps alot! Renee

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 4:31 pm

Good to know you have a similar system, only on a larger scale !

I usually don't plan longer than 1 day in advance.
Quite often when I cook something fo dinner, I make more so I have a meal the next day ... quick lunch or even dinner if I made enough, so it's not rare I have the same main meals 2 days in a row.

There are many things I eat daily, but they are all good for my health. The idea is not to have huge portions of any of them and I am fine.

- banana or apple
- dried raisins
- whole wheat bread and/or bagel
- cereal with plenty of fiber
- milk
- celery, cucumber or carrot (raw)
- cheese
- yogurt, plain one.
- unsalted peanuts, unsalted sunflower seeds, unsalted almonds
- chick peas or white kidney beans
- ground flaxseed, 1 tbsp

Marc

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 1:28 am

I think a lot of us have plan ahead. I usually do by the week, at least roughly. It tends to fall into patterns - a fish dish, a pasta dish, chicken, a bean dish, maybe "red meat" (or not). Usually 2+ veg/fruit on the side... that kind of thing. Sometimes just a general plan, so I have stuff on hand, and then decide day by day...

The "intelligent dietary defaults" thread (stickied above) has lists of what people have for "Plan B."

~reneew · Post by **~reneew** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:19 pm

Wow Marc, you eat way better than I do, maybe that's why you're loosing way faster...duh.

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:38 pm

Yes, I eat really well now ... it's a daily thing. I haven't touched the salt shaker in weeks.

Even when I have a treat like chocolate, I get the good kind with less sugar and more cocoa and I only have a couple of squares so it's good for me.

I have an occasional slip up of course, esp. related to pizza. I think 80% of the time when I have a 'Red' day it's related to home delivered pizza so I try to avoid those as much as I can.

I've been doing really well for at least a month though (Not as many red days, especially since mid march) ... Plus I think with all the efforts I made to lose around 56 pounds so far in 5 and a half months it would be silly to gain weight back now that I am closer to the end than the beginning, 25 more pounds to go during the next 6 and a half months. Those pounds are harder though, cos' it's not pure BLUBBER as in the first month.

I lost 14 pounds the first month and I wasn't training as hard then as I do now obviously since I was out of shape, I started training 15 minutes at first and now on a typical day I would do 60-75 minutes.

Even last night, I was having problems, I was struggling and really tempted to pig out on something, I was thinking about unsalted almonds, obsessing about them for a minute, I have a big bag in the pantry... but then I thought I would feel bad later on, I could have had a few and called it a micro bite but I grabbed a few branches of celery and had some water instead.

My hunger was gone after that. When it's hard you know you are making progress though, if it was 100% easy all the time you wouldn't see quick results obviously.

Plus I cycle 4-5 times a week now, interval training on the bicycle path behind the house. A really nice path with trees... on top of the shovelglovin' I do ... so that's why I've been doing so well, training a lot and being very careful with what I eat too. Winning combination.

I still note down future meals, what I am suppose to have and when,(Just one day in advance) It takes a minute and it helps me a lot to control what I eat and how much. I am not starving, just eating much better and exercising. It's non stop as well, I don't have off days planned in advance, red ones ... a few yellow days peppered throughout where I am allowed to cheat a lil' bit (in moderation) once or twice a week is enough for me at the moment.

Marc

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:05 pm

You rock! Your posts are truly inspirational. Makes me wanna work harder.

bluebunny27 · Post by **bluebunny27** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:42 pm

Wow, thanks ! 2nd time someone tells me they think I am inspiring them to get better ... so I am *PROUD* !

Whether you do it slow and steady or hard and fast, it's all good ad long as you are getting closer and closer to your goal. There are many benefits, your health of course and also ... the clothes !

I never had so much clothes in my life cos' there were a lot of things I wasn't wearing anymore because I was too heavy and now they fit me again, so it's as if I had just spent 500$ on clothes all of a sudden.

Also there are many good looking young women working out in the bicycle path ... woo hoo !

It's actually weird working out outside now cos' I was doing it inside the house for 5 months straight while it was too cold here near Montreal.

Marc