Meal planning made easy – with guidance from a nutritionist

When life feels busy, nutritious food is often the first thing to fall by the wayside. But a little planning can turn daily meals into a source of energy, not stress…

We all know that what we eat matters. From giving us the energy to run for the bus to calming our nervous systems, and getting enough sleep, nutrition has an undeniable impact on our quality of life.

But, often, you can find yourself feeling so stressed that even simply deciding what to eat can feel like an impossible task. Throw in busy schedules, limited budgets, and the temptation to order in, and suddenly planning meals ahead of time is rarely at the top of your to-do list.

Meal planning can conjure up images of eating the same boring meals on repeat, or portioning out protein, carbs, and fat in order to meet a certain number of macros for the day. But effective meal planning doesn’t have to be about efficiency and self-optimisation; it’s about making your life easier, and more enjoyable.

So, how can you get started?

Look at your schedule first

It can be tempting to dive straight into crafting a tantalising menu for the week ahead, but that’s no good if you’ve got kids’ clubs every evening, and long commutes that make breakfast recipes impossible to follow through on.

For that reason, every successful meal planning exercise should start by looking at the shape of your schedule – considering working patterns, social plans, workouts, and any days that are busier than others.

For example, if you’ve got two really stressful work days on the horizon, can you cook double portions the night before to create leftovers, to ease the pressure a bit? Or can you plan more frequent snacks on the days when you want to prioritise seeing friends instead of cooking a large meal?

Choose your format

Based on the above, be honest about how much time you’ll have to prepare, cook, and even eat the food you’re planning – otherwise, you’ll end up wasting food, and time, with a plan that doesn’t match your needs. A meal plan format doesn’t have to involve three meals and multiple snacks for a full seven days. It could be as simple as planning breakfasts and evening meals, or planning five meals out of seven, giving you the flexibility to eat out or cook what you fancy on the remaining days.

Get planning

“If you’re struggling on where to start, I would recommend having a look through some recipes online to get some inspiration,” suggests nutritionist Hattie Rees. To get you started, turn to p18 for our latest recipe.

Remember to consider how much time you have to dedicate to each meal, and factor that into your decisions. “For example, do you feel too rushed in the morning to be able to fit a good breakfast in? Would prepping something like a jar of overnight oats the night before be of benefit? Or are you somebody who would rather not plan breakfast in advance, but wake up and have a couple of different options to hand, such as toast or porridge?” says Hattie.

She also advises approaching the planning stage by trying to answer the question: how can I make this easier for myself? Whether that’s batch cooking on a Sunday afternoon, or opting for pre-chopped vegetables. “Another top tip is to make use of traybakes – they are a really easy way of cooking healthy meals with minimal effort. Just throw your ingredients on to a baking tray (vegetables, protein source, etc.) and leave to roast in the oven,” says Hattie.

Next, simply draw up your plan on a piece of paper or on your notes app, keeping it as loose or as detailed as you prefer.

Check your stock levels

Before you hit the shops, take stock of what you already have at home. Pantry items will be your friend when it comes to cooking, as having a reliable stash of dried goods makes it easier to whip up meals without that last-minute frustration that you’ve run out of something essential, such as tomato paste or stock cubes.

“It’s a good idea to keep a base larder of things such as grains, pasta, herbs, spices, tins of beans, and lentils, etc., which you can easily add to meals when you fancy,” says Hattie.

Don’t forget to check your fridge and freezer for those everyday staples that make cooking easier, like butter, milk, eggs, and pre-chopped frozen veggies.

It might be too much to do all your shopping and food prep on the same day, so be kind to yourself, and split these into different sessions if required.

Prep your plate

Once you’re all stocked up for the week, you might want to think about what advanced preparation you can do to make life easier.

“A top tip would be to prep different meal components in advance, which could be mixed and matched into a meal,” suggests Hattie. “For example, dedicate a couple of hours on an evening or weekend to batch cook and freeze different carbohydrates, proteins, and veggies. Then, during the week, you have a go-to stock of meal bases ready to go in the freezer.”

However, Hattie warns against the perils of letting prepared food get forgotten about in the freezer. She suggests investing in good quality Tupperware that can be stacked neatly in the freezer, and keeping everything labelled with the contents and use-by date. “It could be useful to keep a list of everything you have in the freezer, so you can keep track of what’s in there. This will help you plan when to eat it, then you can tick it off, ensuring nothing goes to waste.”

Live and learn

Above all, let your plan work for you – not the other way around. If weekend prep felt overwhelming, that’s useful information. Perhaps quicker, same-day recipes suit your life better. If Friday night cooking didn’t happen because you were exhausted, maybe that’s a sign to plan eating leftovers that day.

Meal planning is about learning your personal rhythms, and, with time, your plan will become more personalised and supportive, allowing you to turn down the stress in the kitchen to create a more nourishing week for yourself.