4 Meal Planning Tips from a Non-Diet Dietitian
Written By Erin Nelson, RD
The transition from summer to fall can be one of mixed feelings as the weather starts to get cooler, the busy summer plans slow down and give way to a more structured (but equally busy) fall schedule again. Getting back into the routine of the fall can be stressful and, nourishing ourselves in the way that feels best is often the first thing that falls away as we try and get back to the routine. This is the reason that meal planning pops up in many people’s minds as a solution to keep on top of consistent meals and snacks.
Planning out our meals ahead of time can be a useful tool to organize the week, but getting into and searching Meal Planning can be a surprising topic in which diet culture can sneak under the diet free armor we have created for ourselves. It can be helpful to make a shift from the concept of Meal Planning, which can be linked so strongly in our minds to dieting, to Planning Meals.
This intentional shift to Planning Meals may be helpful to care for yourself during the chaos of getting back to routine.
To get us thinking about planning meals in a more neutral way, I thought it may be helpful to share a few questions to reflect on before beginning to plan meals so we can get really clear on what we need for the week ahead:
1.What is my goal for planning meals this week?
This seems like a broad question but is crucial to make a plan that will work for us. Do we need some ease for all meals this week or are there only a couple days where making a meal might be tricky? Maybe it is more helpful to plan and prep breakfasts and lunches while just having a loose plan for suppers because we have the time in the evenings to make a meal. This goal may change week to week, depending on what we have on the go, and this is how we can also allow flexibility into planning meals.
2. How much time do I actually have for planning meals and prepping for the week?
This is different from how much time we would like to spend planning meals and prepping for the week. We want to be as realistic as possible here so that our planning is sustainable and does not cause us extra stress because we don’t have the time.
3. How can I balance my goals for planning meals with the amount of time I have to plan and prep?
We only have so much time, energy, resources and capacity to plan meals for the week ahead and all of this must be juggled with the other things we have going on that also require these things from us. This is where we reflect on what parts of planning meals are the most important for us and what are the areas that feel less urgent, that we may be able to compromise on for the sake of time.
4. Do I know what meals I want to make during the week?
If you are someone that likes to switch it up often, it can be helpful to use a mix of meals that are already familiar, along with and a couple new recipes. When looking for new recipes it can be quite hard to find pages that are not promoting a diet or that do not show the nutrition information, which can feel quite stressful and activating for many. There are a few sites that provide recipes free of diet culture messaging out there and these is just a few I have come across:
● 5 Anti-Diet Recipes to Try at Home
● Street Smart Nutrition Recipes
These reflection questions can be a useful way to shift the focus from Meal Planning to Planning Meals, when we are continuing our move away from diet culture. Of course there are times when we have done everything we can to plan our meals and we still are unable to have consistent meals, whether that be because we had something come up that we didn’t plan for, we sleep through our alarm and don’t have time for the breakfast we planned, or maybe we just don’t have the capacity to make anything after a busy and stressful day.
Whatever the reason, this can and will just happen sometimes, and allowing ourselves the compassion, understanding and flexibility we need on a day that didn’t go as planned will allow for planning meals to continue to feel manageable and different from traditional meal planning.
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