Meal planning as self-care
18 March 2008 by livingrainbowcolor
scale junkie (see http://blog.scalejunkie.com/) plans her meals weekly. Pretty cool. When I read her post I realized it’s a pretty nice way to care for yourself, because it acknowledges that you are willing to work to provide yourself with the foods you love.
I’m going to try some more planning myself. I already plan my basics, because I buy food for a week ahead, but I think I can increase my enjoyment even more by planning consciously.
I don’t know if this post is about IE. If it is, how do you know what you will crave in a week’s time to plan for it?
Very good question, Merlinda. I find that IE is not just a question of “eating in the moment,” but also being prepared to eat in the moment.
If I want to eat lasagne “intuitively” that’s not easy to do in a split second. Either a restaurant has to be open, or I have to have it in the freezer, or I have to make it. The last two items require planning.
Now I don’t know if I will want to eat lasagne next week, but I do know if it has been popping into my mind more often lately. So I plan to be able to eat lasagne soon, buy the ingredients, and sometimes even cook it ahead and put in the freezer. Planning this much ahead gives me the possibility to have it if I want it.
When it comes to fresh foods, it means I may throw things out sometimes, but that’s life.
In summary, for me planning is more of a good guess than a commitment. It’s also good self-care, because I’m planning ahead to make sure I have what I want when I want it.
Hi,
I agree with you completely - planning our meals weekly saves us time and money plus we have a balanced meal plan that fit all the activities in our fast paced times! I am very much a proponent of meal planning as I promote on my website, http://www.MomsMealConnection.com. I also practice what I preach and will have several ham dinners this week using the leftover ham from our Easter dinner. The recipes include Ham and Potato Au Gratin, Eggs Bennedict, Potato and Ham Soup, and Mediterranean Vegetable Salad with Ham. All are deliciously different so the family won’t be saying “Oh, no! Not ham again!” Check out the recipes on my last post http://www.MomsMealConnection.blogspot.com/.