Meal planning is a tool that has transformed my family’s life pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy and postpartum. Basically you plan meals ahead of time and grocery shop for the entire week. Sounds simple right?
One common struggle I hear from new moms is that it’s really hard to lose weight they gained during pregnancy. I see a lot of women turning to fitness or going crazy trying to meal prep for hours in the kitchen in between diaper changes and bottles. But what I’m about to tell you about might just change your mind about eating healthy…
Before I break down what a typical week looks like for my family, let me first explain the difference between meal prepping and meal planning.
Meal Prepping vs. Meal Planning
Meal Prepping
Meal prepping is popular in the health and fitness space. It involves spending time at the beginning of the week (most commonly a Sunday) prepping meals for the entire week or at least several days.
Pros: You don’t have to cook during the week.
Cons: Meals can get repetitive and they don’t taste as fresh when you’re eating them days later.
Meal Planning
Meal planning is when you plan out all of your meals, buy the ingredients at the store and cook them fresh every night.
Pros: Having a plan takes out the guesswork and meals are fresh.
Cons: Involves cooking every night.
Keep in mind that there’s no right or wrong “method”. What works for one family might not work for yours. Some people might even do a combination of meal prepping and meal planning. The most important thing is you figure out what works for your family.
A happy and healthy mom = a happy and healthy baby!
What a Typical Week Looks Like
Mid week, I start thinking about dinner ideas for the following week. Pinterest has a ton of ideas if you need help. I try to shop the sales too and structure meals with a protein, vegetable and carb.
Next, I write down the meals in a note on my phone and assign them to a specific night. You can share this note with your husband too so he can make updates.
Here’s an example of what our weeks look like:
- Saturday Salmon, white rice and broccoli
- Sunday: Pork tenderloin, green beans and white rice
- Monday: Grilled chicken, broccoli and rice
- Tuesday: Tacos with riced cauliflower
- Wednesday: Leftover grilled chicken over salad
- Thursday: Flank steak, mashed cauliflower and red potatoes
- Friday: Hamburgers with baked french fries
Then, start a shopping list below my meals with any ingredients I need to buy. I also keep track of any cleaning supplies, household products and miscellaneous items we will need.
Tip: Organize your list by the layout of the store and you will save so much time and not have to backtrack if you forget an item.
Finally, we grocery shop and stock our fridge!
The Dinner that Keeps on Giving…
Let’s face it: there’s little time to cook when you’re caring for a newborn. It’s so much easier to reach for the chips. So to make your dinner last even longer, make twice the amount of food and eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. I recommend pre-packaging it so all you have to do is pop it in the microwave. This is a serious game changer!
And that’s it! I don’t adhere to a specific “diet” but I like to structure our meals with a protein, vegetable and carb.
Whether you choose to meal prep or meal plan, having a plan AND all the ingredients in the house has been a game changer for my family. It has saved us time and money because we’re not buying a bunch of groceries and having to figure out what to do with them every night.
I highly recommend you try meal planning too if you’re not already!
What questions do you have? Leave any you have in the comments below.