Curvy Girl's Journey......to meal planning

In my effort to improve my eating habits and keep my calories under control, I'm planning my meals for the week ahead of time.  This may sound time consuming for some, but it really helps me spend less time in the kitchen during the week.  I also spend less money at the grocery store because I know exactly what I need and am not spending money on things I don't need (or shouldn't have!). 

To begin, I take a quick inventory of what food I have in my freezer and pantry.  I don't write every single thing down, but check to see if I have basics like chicken, black beans, eggs, etc.  After I have this list, I begin to plan my meals.  I use something similar to this chart to fill in every meal:

 The only difference in my chart is that I try to eat a snack after breakfast and after lunch.  I do not eat anything after dinner.  Next, I try to use as many items I have on hand to fill in the chart.  For example, if I have chicken in my freezer, I will plan on having chicken quesdillas on Monday for dinner.  I will make a list of what I need from the grocery store to complete this meal. 

To fill in the chart, I use recipes where I know the calorie count for.  This way I can assure myself that I eat the recommend amount of calories for me to lose weight.  I use several resources for these recipes such as the meal plans that come with the Insanity and Chalean Extreme workout programs, clean eating cookbooks, pins from pinterest, and skinnytaste.com. 

This entire process takes about 30-45 minutes, but at the end I have a full menu for the week and a grocery list for only the items I really need to prepare the meals.  I highly recommend meal planning for anyone who is struggling to stay on track with healthy eating like I am.  My next post will be about food prepping which I've learned is also an important step of meal planning.....until next time!