EMB #542: How to Create Your Own Meal Plans

Today we're talking about meal planning. When you create meal plans, you reduce a whole lot of stress in your life and it's like anything that you find in your life. So usually we have schedules. I put up a post on the True Form page and I asked if you're a paper planner or an electronic planner. And most people said that paper is way easier. So I'm always trying to get ahead of the times and trying to go electronic. It's so challenging. I do like the reminders, but I think there's a lot to actually writing. And I think just for me personally, just organizes better in my brain when it's on paper and you can physically write something. We plan our work schedules, we plan the projects that we need to get done at home, and then we plan our weekends for sports, we plan our own type of getaways.

And so I think when it comes to planning in general, if we can understand how much stress reduction there will be in our lives around actually sitting down to plan, it'll make your whole life that much easier. It's such a crucial step to your success in living a healthy lifestyle. And it will just give you so much more benefits because like I said, the stress that is lifted off of you is amazing. So I think where the difficulty comes from, is actually setting that time aside to do it. So it's like we always tell our members, it's like setting an appointment with yourself, to sit down and meal plan. But having a meal plan just on itself, whether you created it or somebody else has created it for you, it just reduces that stress. Once you have the plan, you just put the plan into action.

It’s just making that time for yourself and understanding that that is your time. It's your time to prepare and set up your whole week for success. So when we talk to clients and we say, why didn't you? Why didn’t this week go so well? And then they say, Well, I didn't plan. And 98% of the time when it comes to nutrition, that's exactly what it comes down to, is that you didn't plan ahead and you really need to sit down and set that schedule up for yourself. And then you have your whole week set up for success and you don’t have to worry about things like ‘I think the kids are stressful’ when kids are like ‘mom or dad, what's for dinner?’ And like, ‘I don't know.’

And you know, you have like this window of time before hunger turns into meltdown. And then you can't go back. There's no turning back. It's happening right now. Right? So we want to avoid that stress for you because it's so stressful. You've had a full day of work. Usually you come home and people are counting on you for a meal to feed them and that’s stressful. And then you're like, I don't know what's for dinner. I didn't go to the grocery store. I don't know what the grocery list is and everyone is just rushing around like you're always behind. So we want to release that stress. It's nice to not ask or be asked what's for dinner because you have a plan. So if you're making a meal plan yourself, there's a few steps that will make it a lot easier for you because there's a lot of tasks that can be a little daunting. So here are some of the tips that will help you create your own meal plans!