Plan ahead...

Plan your meals....if you don't think you can plan all of your meals at least plan your dinners. Dinner is the last meal of the day and is usually the one that is sloppily thrown together for varying reasons. Dinner is my families biggest meal of the day, I have friends that have their largest meal at lunch time and then a lighter meal for dinner, which is what most Europeans practice as well. Which ever eating habit you practice I recommend planning out whichever meal is your larger meal. So here is what I do...which is not to say that this will work for you but maybe it will spark an idea that will work for you. I found this steno notebook that was fun and spunky (like me) thinking I should use it for a whatever notebook, well it turned into my menu book. Over half this notebook is filled with weekly menus that I planned out for my family. Now granted not everything always works out and sometimes cooking laziness takes over and the eating out rules need to be applied. When that happens I just roll that days item into the next day or the beginning of the following week. Whatever the case the meal is planned and eaten. Usually no later than Sunday night I sit down with my iPad, my pen and pencil, and my notebook and plan meals. I use the pen for writing the days of the week and the pencil for putting in the recipe titles so if it needs to change I can erase rather than scribble out. For the most part my recipes start off coming from somewhere else and sometimes, not always I make them my own....cheating? Maybe, but I always give credit where credit is deserved. Of course when I'm planning this week I make sure I consider the weeks events, weather, and when I can, my husbands work schedule. I know that Monday's I'm starting the week off fresh and usually want something easy but very satisfying. Tuesday is karate night so I need something quick and kid friendly, Wednesday's and Thursday's are usually my most involved cooking days, these are days that I know I will be willing to be very involved in the cooking process if I desire. Friday is dinner and a movie night so I try to make it easy to eat on melamine or paper plates, on a TV tray while watching a movie. (weekends are different and i will touch on weekends on another post). When I put the recipe on my menu I write down where I can relocate the recipe and the calorie value so I am able to reference to it easily. So you say that sounds like a lot of work...not so much if you think about it. By planning your meals your not scrambling nightly to find something quick, delicious, and low cal and then possibly having to add running to the store into your already busy day. Eating on the fly also contributes to spending more money on things you may or may not use. Planning also helps to prevent weight loss sabotage. If you know what you're eating for dinner you can work the rest of your days food around that rather than having to frantically try to find something filling and satisfying for dinner, make sense? So all in all planning at least one weeks worth of dinners will keep you on track to health and weightless success and save you time and money. So go out and find a purse size notebook that you love and won't fall apart, grab you're favorite pen and pencil and find some wonderful new food to explore! Here are two of my favorite sites:

Eating Well

All Recipes