Feel organised and focused without spending hours in the kitchen.

Have you ever tracked your food in myfitnesspal? Or kept a food diary when you were being 'good'? Did you realise that these pieces of information could hold the key to speedy meal planning and successful weeks? In that data, you have meals you like, that work for you - but maybe it wasn't sustainable. That's ok, you only need them as a guideline so you can kickstart your healthy eating without starting at a blank page waiting for inspiration to strike. Here are a few tips on how to put all of those recipes to good use.

Start where you are now

You do not need to reinvent the wheel. The meals you know how to cook, enjoy and make often are your base. Go back through MyFitnesspal or your old food diaries and list out 10 meals that you (and anyone you cook for/eat with) enjoys. This creates your evening meal plan. Each week, you're going to choose 5-7 of the meals (you can write them on cards or in a free app like Trello) to create your plan. Each week or every two weeks, add 1 new recipe. If it's a winner, it goes on a card. If not, make sure you have a plan B so you don't end up calling for a take-away.

Breakfast

Let it be easy. Pick one breakfast and repeat all week. Some ideas could be:

🍳 2 x eggs on toast with Spinach

🍞 Scrambled tofu on toast

🥣 Overnight Oats

🥣 Instant Oats & Greek/Soy Yoghurt

🫐 Greek/Soy Yoghurt & Berries

🥚 Egg muffins

Make sure breakfast contains protein to help keep you fuller for longer.

Lunch

Keep this simple too. Choose 1-2 lunch ideas and repeat all week.

🥘 You could use evening meal leftovers, which is great for eating on a budget. Saving time and electricity.

🥪 Or a sandwich with a loaded protein filling e.g:

1 x Tin of Tuna or Chicken Breast

🥗 Add salad veg to your sandwich or on the side.

🍜 Soup with Silken Tofu to add protein.

Stay organised

"We do not rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems."
- James Clear, Atomic Habits

In order to know what you're eating for the week ahead - which means you know it works for your goals, planning is essential. So choose a weekly time when you will create your plan, and choose a plan B time, because life! Schedule it in like a doctors appointment and protect that time. Making sure you do so will set you up for a week of goal focused success!

Habit stacking

A great way to ensure a habit happens is to create a 'stack'. A habit stack is a collection of habits you want to use.

Start with a neutral habit, something that happens already. e.g. Going to the supermarket or cleaning your teeth.

Tag your new habit to the neutral habit

Use identify level phrases: "I am the kind of person who always does meal planning before I go to the supermarket."

"I am the kind of person who always plans my week so I can set myself up to win!"

These might not feel natural at first but you will get used to them and they will 'stick'. The brain can only believe what we tell it!

If you need some help with unravelling your old habits and setting up great new habits that help you achieve your goals every day, no matter if it's lasting weight loss, a diet that actually 'works' or just feeling better and boosting energy, our 1:1 coaching is the right programme for you. Click here to read more.