It can be tricky to keep diet culture out and still meal prep with food freedom. Here are some tips and tricks!
Now this concept took me a little while to wrap my brain around when I first started on my food freedom journey. This was because my mind had created a narrative for meal planning that was very much filled with diet culture. Ex. Making flavorless grilled chicken salads and rice for every lunch that week… let me tell ya it took me a long time to be able to eat grilled chicken again. I was so sick of it!
So let’s talk about potential problems that can arise:
- Meal planning can slip into diet culture quickly. If you find yourself only planning what you think you “should” be eating or portioning based on calories/points/etc. it’s time to reevaluate.
- Also, meal planning can become more stressful than it is worth if you are spending all day Sunday researching recipes and planning out every meal.
- Lastly, you need to be able to keep meal planning realistic to you and your life. If you are finding some amazing looking recipes, but they require doing everything from scratch, are you going to have the time and energy to make them when you get home from work?
So what are the benefits of meal prepping?
It can be a lot easier to budget when you know what supplies you need and save time at the grocery store (or on your online pickup!), you can have meals on hand that you know you will enjoy, you can be prepared with convenience meals or easy dinners/lunches for when life gets crazy, and it can make mealtimes a little less stressful with kiddos.
So really meal planning is best when individualized to your life! You can do a little here and there or dive in, whatever is going to serve you best.
So here are some examples of practical meal planning in action to make your life easier:
Frozen food and canned food is just as nutritious and lasts a lot longer!
If you are always afraid to buy produce because you don’t want it to go bad in your fridge try a more shelf stable option! These convenience items get a bad wrap, but really they are picked in season, when they are the freshest!
Buy a rotisserie chicken and shed it!
For my family this works great! It is already cooked so it is easy to throw into fajitas, quesadillas, enchiladas (can you tell I love Mexican food?) You can also use it in casseroles, salads or on its own! This also works with prepping fresh chicken, rice, beans or other protein options early in the week so your meals can be halfway cooked when you get started.
Have a few meals on hand that are shelf stable
This one is for when life gets crazy and you are exhausted in the evening or you really need to make it back to the grocery store! The important part of this is to make sure these meals will be filling and satisfying. I always like to have a frozen pizza on hand and spaghetti and meatballs on hand (freezer meatballs can make such an easy weeknight meal.) I need to make sure that I have some protein and some carb with my meals to make me feel satisfied.
Pick some recipes that you know you will still enjoy leftover
There are just some things (in my opinion) that are just not meant to be heated up again, especially if all you have access to is a microwave on your lunch break. For me a big one is brussels sprouts! I love grilled Brussels sprouts but you will not catch me heating those bad boys up the next day unless I have my air fryer!
Don’t forget to plan for some variety to keep it interesting!
When planning my grocery trip I try to plan for some variety in breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. If you are eating the same thing over and over again or even if it has the same flavors/textures you could get bored or sick of it really quickly! When planning your grocery run I usually like to try and think of a few family favorites and a few new recipes of things we haven’t had in a long time. This keeps my taste buds excited and makes it easier to cook through the week if it sounds really good!
Freeze leftovers and prepared ingredients
If I go overboard one week and have a fridge stocked with leftovers, I like to freeze some for later! It gets rid of the frustration I would have if I had to throw it away (because of the precious time it took to make) and I won’t feel like I have to eat it when I don’t actually want it. You can also freeze extra ingredients on your way. For example if you only use half of a bell pepper or onion in a recipe, cut up the rest and freeze it for next time!
Now some things to remember: unless you have an endless budget, time and energy, you are probably not going to love everything you eat throughout the week and just because it sounded good at the grocery store on Sunday, does not mean you are going to love it on Friday. We are unpredictable humans and that’s okay. Intuitive eating is not some perfect process. It is just trying our best to honor our hunger and allowing ourselves pleasure with food to the best of our abilities.
If you feel like meal planning is still very triggering for you, it is definitely worth being cautious around. It is totally understandable! If you ever used meal planning to restrict amounts of food or food groups, it can bring back some good vs. bad food ideas and interfere with your ability to make peace with food. Take a step back! Be aware of your intentions and if you need more help please reach out!
Do you meal plan? What strategies do you use to make nourishing your body and enjoying your food easier?
