Meal planning can be extremely helpful for all sorts of people.  

• Those who exercise and need to ensure they have nutritionally appropriate meals either side of their exercise for performance and recovery  

• Those who have hectic lives due to work and/or family and need to have a clear plan for their week  

• Those who struggle with unpredictability and a plan provides them with reassurance 

• Those who struggle ensuring they are feeding themselves adequately and need to carve out time for mealtimes  

• Those who have dietary requirements which make on-the-go eating more challenging 

• Those who have little ones beginning weaning as exposing little ones to a variety of tastes and textures is encouraged during this stage 

Considering the economic environment and the fact that the near future doesn’t seem much brighter, meal planning can help ensure you reduce food waste and save on money.  

Your question is: 

“How do I meal plan while eating intuitively?”  

Newbie to Intuitive Eating 

Well, it depends on how far you are in your journey and what sort of meal planning suits you best. If you’re near the beginning of your journey, meal planning may have too many negative connotations with dieting, so a less intense form of meal planning may be best. You can work through these beliefs with a professional (like me). An example of meal planning that could be helpful is choosing a handful of meals you enjoy and want to have in the next few days, and ensuring you have the needed ingredients. Also, allow yourself to be fluid while you shop. If you see a food product that you want or has inspired you, have it. Allowing yourself to have foods you genuinely want, while learning to ignore the negative self-talk, is a part of the journey.  

Established Intuitive Eater  

If you are a bit more secure in your Intuitive Eating journey, you may find that planning weekly meals a bit easier as you become more aware of the foods that you enjoy and make your body feel good. You can find the balance with your intuitive eating by planning meals you know you’ll enjoy, have the time to make, and by allowing freedom to switch and swap planned meals throughout the week if that’s what feels best to you in the moment.  

Alternative option  

If planning entire meals is too complicated/too triggering, you can consider meal prepping certain foods individually. For example, you may choose to prepare key components of meals and then throw them together throughout your week in a way that seems best in the moment. For example, you can prepare a large salad, a pot of rice, a roasted chicken, roasted root vegetables and keep them in the fridge in air-tight containers. Then, you can throw them together in a way that feels best day to day. It reduces the amount of cooking time you need to do in the day.   

I hope you’ve found this helpful. If you are interested in working together, book your 15 minute Discovery Call here and we can discuss how I can help you.