planning...

msblonde

a new way of living!
hi all

Do you plan? how long does it take you to plan, and do you stick to your plan most of the time. When ever I try to plan weekly food menus, I get stuck after 1-2 days, there is always healthy food in the fridge and freezer, but I cant seem to think ahead to what I may like, and as for planning treats, I start with the notion that 'i'll be good and have none' to ending up eating stuff as I fancy it and never really thinking ahead to what would have been useful to plan into my diet, i.e. a dessert at a friends house for a meal.

I know if I plan for things in my diet and have a little less syns some days so the meals out can be more relaxed, but I dont seem to know how to get it going.

What does everyone else do?

Thanks in advance, Helen
 
For me, the key is definitely in the planning and being organised with meals, especially when taking stuff into work for long shifts! I don't plan my entire meals for the week, I don't seem to be able to do that because a lot of my actions are dictated by my mood and I have to be flexible because my life is unpredictable!! What I find really helpful is to browze through the SW mag and cookbooks and pick a few things I really fancy cooking then buy the ingredients in! I make sure I'm always topped up with fruit & veg and that I have staples like salmon fillets and chicken breasts in the fridge/freezer and eggs in the hen (ceramic!!) as well as HEXa cheeses and HEXb cereal bars, crispbreads and cereals! I also always have basics like tinned tomatoes, passata, baked beans, pasta, rice (including Mugshots/savoury rice & couscous) in the cupboards and herbs and spices galore! That way I can always cook something up from scratch or have a snack if I'm peckish or too short of time to cook up a time-consuming meal!X
 
I don't plan my meals at all. I have all SW foods in the house and I decide meal to meal what I want to eat, like Funcurls says, according to my mood and my appetite.
I would hate to write myself out a weekly plan, it would put me off completely - how would I know what I wanted to eat on each day so far in advance?
I think everyone is different and strict planning works for some people and doesn't work for others, as long as you know that you have all the right foods available perhaps you could write a list of possible meals/snacks/treats that you can pick off when you need to.

I use my syns weekly, some days I have a lot and some days hardly any, so if I need an extra few some days if I'm out, I just deduct them from the weekly total. If I've used them all up I can't have anymore, that's a discipline that I'm strict on.
 
I do a weekly plan. I have a file with all my fave recipes in, I get it out and hunt in the freezer to see what I have. I then plan out my families meals fo rthe week, taking into account the days I work - I like to choose 'slow cooker' meals for those days when possible. I thin write my shopping list, and only buy whats on it lol.

For me it saves money - I only buy what I need and never end up throwing food out.

I would hate to come home from work and not have anything prepared, it would be very late then for the kids to be eating by the time I would sort it.

So for me planning keeps me on track, but more importantly saves me time and money.
 
I plan religiously!
Last night after class i sat and made my next weeks menu and it then makes it easy to make a shopping list for tomorrows shop too!
If i dont plan, even if i have food in, i get in a pickle and eat wrong
 
I agree, Planning my week ahead keeps me on track and saves us money. Because I work 9-5 5days out of 7, I tend to have the same thing for breakfast most days, and I usually have left overs from the night before, or a tin of ravioli/salad for lunch, so it's only really dinners I need to plan. Staples for me are paella, risotto, spag bol, chilli, home made pasta sauce, home made burgers, chicken stuffed with garlic philli & wrapped in bacon. If I'm feeling unadventurous, and can't think of anything different, I just make sure i've got what I need to make that stuff in the fridge. And i've usually got pasta n sauces for days i just cannot be bothered. As long as i've planned for yummy dinners, I usually can't wait to get home from work and eat it!
 
I dont plan but its what suits me. I get up in the morning and decide what I want for breakfast then about 11 I decide whats for lunch and Dinner
I always have sw friendly food in the house so I know there is always something I can have. If I knew what I was having for dinner next week and every week I would soon get fed up
spontaneity for me keeps it interesting
 
I plan in as much as I know what I will have for breakfast ie, HEXB is my all bran, plus a fat free youghurt and a piece of fruit. What the flavour of yoghurt is or the type of fruit, I leave it each day to choose. My HexA is always my 250ml semi skimmed milk.

For lunches I have bought the mugshots to try, but I am also intending to bring in a salad and cous cous each day to fill me up.

For dinners I don't really plan, except that I am now using a side plate instead of a dinnr plate for my meals, and I always have plenty of vegetables ready to fill it, so that I can have a little rice/pasta/potatoes on the side a a piece a meat/fish of whatever I fancy.

So my main planning items are my breakfasts and lunches - and when I shop I ensure they are catered for first.

I also try and plan my syns so I can have a glass of weight watchers wine or alcohol free beer if I choose.
 
I always plan for the following day, so that if Im taking breakfast to work and lunch etc then I know Im getting a decent meal. Also I work a lot of evenings at the weekend, so plan ahead that day in order to take food with me.
When Im buying my weekly shop, I have a rough idea of what I want to buy ie fruits and veg, chicken etc, but I dont do a weekly menu plan as there are obstacles that come up at the last minute.
 
Thanks guys, this is such a great response, and really useful tips. I have started to plan 1 day ahead, and depending how I get on, (at the moment I stick 80% of the time) I will add in one more day.

one thing I add, is 'any superfree' and make sure I have fruit and veg in, and also stuff thats free on both days and EE. then if I get stuck, I know I have some healthy stuff in.

I understand some not wanting to plan, and it can seem like a drag, but with only 9lbs loss since November (had a lot of stress, mom had a stroke etc.) and my wedding in 15 weeks, I know I need to change something to help me lose that 2 stone I want, and planning seems to be the best option.

also trying success express in between days at the moment as we have had a lot of visitors, also traveling from devon to dudley to see my parents as mom in and out of hospital since stroke, and dieting is really hard to do like that, so I try to compensate with success express.

I had a mad week last week but still lost 1/2 pound as I SE the other days when I was home.

our group has started a facebook page for support - and I put this question up last week asking the same question, and I had ZERO responses, there are about 30 people on the group, and not one person responded... I was a little disappointed. I am very grateful for all your helpful replies, and knew good old mini's would help me out.

thanks again guys xxxx
 
Hiya!

I usually only plan the evening meals as I'm cooking for my husband and son (although they will eat whatever I make!). I have a look in the magazines but usually we have the same food we always have done, just cooked differently.

When supermarkets have offers on meat (3 packs for £10) I usually get a load of mince, and halve the packs. That makes 6 meals, and each bit is enough for the 3 of us, plus sometimes there's extra to have for lunch the next day.

I don't stick rigidly to the plan - if I've got the ingredients in I can swap days around depending on my mood.

Bolognaise is one of our staples! Onions, peppers, garlic, pasatta, mushrooms, worcestershire sauce and oregano! Sometimes a cheeky tablespoon or too of ketchup just to 'tomato' it up a bit! Nyom!

I find it easier to plan for the weekdays. For some reason weekends always catch me off guard and that seems to be when I slip.
 
I plan, I have to as I don't like to be caught off guard.

I plan a week's worth of evening meals and do my shopping on line to make sure I have all the ingredients I need.

Those evening meals get written up on the board and I tend to decide the night before which evening meal I will have the next day (then I get the meat out of the freezer if I need to).

Breaky is always fruit, yog and muesli or cooked breaky so that doesn't need any thinking about and lunch then ties in with the type of evening meal - so if it's a risotto for dinner I may take a jacket and beans for lunch or if it's a chicken curry then it'll be something like tuna and ryvita or a tuna salad.

I really don't like not knowing what I'm going to eat, I always need to know and I have to have things like eggs and potatoes in so I can fall back on good old egg and chips or (like tonight) Spanish omelette!
 
I tend to plan the night before, what the following days food will be, that way, if there are little temptations, I know if I can have them or not. I don't know if I could do a whole weeks, I chop and change my mind too often!

I tend to do it more like this - I have an idea of things to make but decide the night before, usually because I need to lift some meat from the freezer or something!

But for me its alot down to the weather - esp at the mo while its so nice agian, I like to be able to have BBQ's if I fancy them rather than hot foods - IYSWIM
 
I plan. Typically about a week in advance.

My shopping trip is then made up of two phases:

1) to buy whats on the plan
2) buy any meat/fish that is a good price/on special/etc for the following week.

The meat/fish then gets put into the freezer.

The actual sitting down and planning happens based on what i know is in the freezer and how i want to prepare it - the shopping then gets everything i need for that.

That said - although i plan i also remain flexible. But by having ingredients in for the week - if i feel like changing day x's meal to day y's, etc - the ingredients are in, and i don't have to go out and potentially be tempted by something that i shouldn't be buying.


.
 
I plan my whole weeks meals. I then go online and order my shopping to be delivered (this saves me
money and wastage).

If I didn't stick to plan, I wouldn't stick to sw plan lol
 
I only joined last night so not planned and have certain foods in that need eating like salad,potatoes,chicken,eggs so till Sundays shopping I'm just taking it day to day. But tomorrow I'll sit down with my book and menus from here and write it all down for everyday then only buy what I'll be needing on Sunday.Might even do it online tonight so not to be tempted when shopping lol.
I think planning will be my key to a good weight loss everyweek!
Good luck xxx
 
I only joined last night so not planned and have certain foods in that need eating like salad,potatoes,chicken,eggs so till Sundays shopping I'm just taking it day to day. But tomorrow I'll sit down with my book and menus from here and write it all down for everyday then only buy what I'll be needing on Sunday.Might even do it online tonight so not to be tempted when shopping lol.
I think planning will be my key to a good weight loss everyweek!
Good luck xxx

Good luck to you Vicky and enjoy! Sounds like what you have left to eat sounds perfect for SW anyway:D
 
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