How I Sorted My Meal Planning To Save Time

• It allows you to have a balanced meal with all food groups in the right proportion if your meals are not just accidentally put together.
  
  

• There are better chances of you having your required amounts of micro-nutrients daily if you plan and eat and lesser chances of you suffering from deficiencies.
  
  

• It is more economical, as you buy only what is needed as per the meal plan when compared to going grocery shopping without a list.
  
  

• It prevents wastage as otherwise, you end up picking up a lot of unnecessary stuff which takes up more money and later either rots in your refrigerator or doesn’t get used till its expiry date.
  
  

• If you have a fitness regimen or are looking to lose weight or improve strength or energy levels, your meals are something that should be the first thing on your radar to assess and change. Your body will respond much better and transform much faster if it’s getting the right fuel in.
  
  

• It keeps your stress levels under control and gives you more time to spend with your family during weekdays and to look over other responsibilities of yours.

• I first developed a list of breakfast, lunch, and dinner ideas at least for the weekends, and then I kept adding some healthy recipes to this list every now and then. I would have a list with additional meal ideas for the weekends.
  
  

• If we were eating out it usually would be one or two meals on the weekends. Even when we eat out we don’t always choose the processed options. Being an Indian means outside food dense in carbs or extremely oily food but thankfully we as a family enjoy other cuisines which gives us the flexibility to try out different types of food while eating mindfully.So we mix and match and choose our indulgences wisely.
  
  

• While eating out although we don’t always have control over the oil quality and quantity used, we can definitely choose rice or whole wheat over refined flours, fried over grilled, etc. We do that whenever possible. But at other times we just eat what we want guilt-free because we feel like it mad because we have eaten well throughout the week.
  
  

• After having a list of recipes, it becomes easy to eat those in a routine, and becomes more convenient to bring ingredients for those meals as you become habituated to it.
  
  

• Since I always focus on my veggies in every meal, I shop for my fresh fruits and vegetables once at the beginning of the week and if needed sometimes during the week.
  
  

• Since I do a lot of salads at home; other than the salad leaves, vegetables, and occasional fruits that go in it; I have to keep a check on the ingredients for the dressings like herbs, spices, different vinegars along with fat sources like almonds, walnuts and pine nuts, etc. I shop for all these, once in two weeks or I replace them as and when they are used up. Spices and herbs need more frequent replacement when compared to nuts, oils, and kinds of vinegar.
  
  

• For all the Indian cooking I keep the tomato and onion paste precooked in my refrigerator along with garlic and ginger pastes. I stock up on tomato puree, coconut milk, tamarind, etc once in 2 weeks.
  
  

• I grow curry leaves, basil, coriander, parsley, etc in my terrace garden.

• The frozen section of my refrigerator is always stocked with 2-3 protein sources for multiple meals. I need to shop for this once a month. I do have other sources of protein like eggs, tofu, and cottage cheese which I buy weekly as per the weekly meal plan. I also stock shredded coconut, berries, spinach, peas, corn and marinated chicken in my freezer as well. All these come really handy when I don't get a chance to prepare for a certain day or if I want to cook something different.
  
  

• The flours, rice, kinds of pasta, vermicelli, quinoa, oats, tea leaves, coffee, etc are stocked once a month.
  
  

• Over time I have understood how much of what to pick up when I shop and how many meals it will cover.
  
  

• One valuable tip I would give you is to have a pantry which is well stocked with all those items which need to be refilled every two weeks. This pantry could be any size, but you should have one of all the quick-moving items stored in it for times when you are not so well prepared.

• Give it half an hour twice a week, to begin with.
  
  

• Mark it in your calendar. Make a diary or download a meal planning chart that will help you plan meals and snacks.
  
  

• Start by planning meals for 2-3 days only. Do not stress over the content of your meals. In the beginning, just concentrate on planning meals.
  
  

• Once you are done see what ingredients you already have and what u need to buy and then make a grocery list. Go the same day and shop or order online, depending on what suits you.
  
  

• Review your pantry once in two weeks or keep replacing items then and there.
  
  

• After you get the hang of the meal planning, you can concentrate more on the content of each meal for your fitness and health goals. Go about planning it the same way, biweekly.

• After that, all you are left with is to schedule some time to cook during the week which would take less than an hour for every meal. I now can cook a meal within 15 mins sometimes because I have all the ingredients ready when I need them without compromising my health every time I am short on time or want to eat something interesting.
  
  

• In cases where you don’t have enough time during the week, you can cook in bulk over the weekend. Things like beans, lentils, chicken, fish, etc can be cooked and frozen if you just can’t find time to cook daily. But in my opinion, taking out half an hour before every meal is not that difficult and it is definitely good to eat freshly cooked meals as they have a different impact on your body and health when compared to meals that are cooked and frozen.

This can really get you the best results for your health over the long term and will help to improve your productivity and time management. Not to mention how you will start loving the whole experience as you will now feel more in control of everything and home-cooked meals will not be boring any more.

This is the gist of what worked for me. Hopefully, this will give you a good starting point and from there on you can modify the whole process to suit yourself.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post and would try out some of these ideas in your kitchen as well.

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If you are looking for a planner to plan your meals and your day, click this link to go to the resources page to download it.