My 5 Easy Steps to Weekly Meal Planning

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Mary

The goal of every busy professional is to feel energized and healthy.

But with long work hours and limited time, it can be hard to eat nutritious meals that keep you going throughout the day. So you end up relying on takeout, which often leaves you feeling sluggish and guilty.

Oftentimes, it just comes down to not knowing how to cook healthy meals quickly and easily.

Maybe you’ve tried complicated recipes that take forever to prepare, leaving you frustrated and defeated.

It can make you feel like healthy eating is just not for you.

Today, you’re in luck! I’m going to share a strategy called whole-food cooking that will help you:

  • Eat healthier meals
  • Save time in the kitchen
  • Feel more energized throughout the day

… all without breaking the bank!

I’ll cover what whole-food cooking is, how it works, and how you can get started.

What Is Whole-Food Cooking?

Whole-food cooking is a way of eating that focuses on minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods. This includes things like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats.

Why Is Whole-Food Cooking Important?

Studies show that people who eat a whole-food diet have lower risks of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Whole foods are also packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that your body needs to function at its best.

Most take out meals are loaded with processed ingredients, unhealthy fats, and added sugars. This can leave you feeling tired and sluggish, and craving more food.  

By implementing whole-food cooking, you’ll be able to take control of your health and fuel your body with the nutrients it needs.

This way, you will have more energy to tackle your busy days and feel your best overall. 

Whole-Food Cooking Examples

If Wole-food cooking sounds overwhelming, I get it.

Where do you even start? Open up the internet and find a bunch of recipes? You’re trying to streamline the process and make it quicker, not spend more time preparing your meals. 

So I put together the examples below to break it down for you so you can easily get started with whole-food cooking.

Example #1. Sheet Pan Dinners

This is where you throw together your favourite proteins and veggies and bake them together in the oven.

Although this may seem like a bland way to cook your meals, it’s not the case. It allows you to cut down on cooking time, and you can add your favourite spices and sauces to change it up. 

Plus, it saves you from having to wash multiple pots and pans. 

That means [the bigger benefit they want – e.g., you have a predictable, consistent way to reach your audience].  

Example #2. Breakfast Bowls

The faster you can whip something together, the easier it will be to make sure you don’t skip a meal or opt for the drive-through instead. 

That’s where breakfast bowls come in.

Combine Greek yogurt with fruit, granola, and nuts for a quick and nutritious breakfast. 

The best way to implement this is prepare your greek yogurt and fruit the night before. Then in the morning, add some granola and nuts and you’re ready to go. No need to hit up the Tim’s drive-through on your way to the office.

Example #3. Soups and Salads

Soups and salads are a great way to get your daily dose of vegetables. Plus, they’re easy to make in advance and can be enjoyed throughout the week.

Download now: Free Lunchtime Meal Planning Worksheet

Tips for Whole-Food Cooking Success

Here are a few tips to help you maximize your results with whole-food cooking:

First, plan your meals

To achieve the best process results, you have to continually plan out your meals for the week. 

When you take time once a week to look at your schedule and decide when you will have what, you effectively stay on track and avoid less healthy alternatives. 

For example:

Have a look at when you have evening commitments that will leave you will little time between getting home from work and having to leave again. On these days, opt for quick meals, or even leftovers. 

For better results, make sure you also prepare a weekly grocery list. This way, you have a plan at the store and aren’t just hoping you get everything you need to set yourself up for success. 

Related Post: My 5 Easy Steps to Meal Planning

Next, prep your ingredients

When you take some time to wash and chop all of your fruits and veggies, cook your grains, and portion out your proteins ahead of time, this will save you time when it comes to cooking your meals.

In other words, you are chopping up an entire onion once so it’s ready for 4 different meals instead of taking out your knife and cutting board 4 times, and chopping a quarter each day. When you apply this logic to all of your ingredients, you will continue shaving time off and you will see how easy and quick it is to actually throw a meal together. 

To get started:

  • Think about your favourite meals. These are a great place to start when incorporating whole-food cooking into your routine.
  • Find versions of your take-out favourites. These can satisfy your cravings without all the sodium and fat you’ll find in fast food restaurants.
  • Start small. Don’t try to overhaul your entire diet overnight. Start by making small changes, like adding a side salad to your dinner or swapping out refined grains for whole grains.

Finally, embrace leftovers  

Leftovers are your friend when it comes to whole-food cooking. They can be easily reheated for lunch or dinner the next day, saving you time and money.

And if the idea of [topic] makes you feel [feeling they don’t want – e.g., nervous / anxious], consider this: 

[share a statistic to help them overcome this feeling – e.g., XX% of YouTube viewers buy a product after watching a video]

That means if you don’t do [step], you’re [negative outcome– losing out on loads of potential customers].

One thing you can do is [how can they get started?]. 

Start Whole-Food Cooking Today

I hope this guide on whole-food has been helpful.  If you take anything away from this guide, remember that making small changes is what will help you stick to your habits. 

The best way to get started is to simply begin, that way you can adjust as you go in order to meet your specific needs set yourself up for long-term success. So, what do you say? Are you ready to give it a go?

Fundamentals of Low-Waste, Whole-Food Cooking Program

Now that you know the ins and outs of whole-food cooking, it’s time to grab your done for your program and see how simple it truly is. The following is a done-for-you program with simple recipes, a 7-day meal plan, and resources to teach you how to make home cooking simple.

Download your Fundamentals of Low-Waste, Whole-food Cooking Program here. 

Meal planning doesn’t have to be hard. With just 5 easy steps, see how I plan and execute my meals for the week. 
I’m going to share with you the exact process I use every week to plan and execute my meals.

Step 1: Look at your Week

The first thing we need to do is take a look at our weekly calendar. Are there any days where you will be eating out? Are there days where you need something super quick because of an evening activity? Are there days where packing leftovers into your lunch would be beneficial? Remember, when you are first starting out, you don’t have to try and conquer 7 days’ worth of meals. Start small. Maybe one or two days, and then build up from there.

BONUS TIP: I always leave one or two days where I will use up any leftovers that I have. This helps me make sure that I am not wasting any food. Also, when looking at your week, pick one day as your planning and grocery shopping day, and another day as your prep day. Some people find it successful to do this all in one day, but for me, I find it easier to break it up into 2 chunks. Do what works best for you! 

Step 2: Choose your Meals

Decide on a place you will store recipes. Whether these be physical recipes cut out of magazines, or written out by hand. Or digital copies saved from a website or typed out on your computer. Either way, have one place that is your go-to. Start with 3-5 that you are comfortable with. In order to get comfortable and effective in the kitchen, you need practice. Repeating some of the same recipes will help with this. When you are comfortable, start with introducing one or two new ones each week. Now that you have decided which meals you are going to have for the week, start plugging them into the days you will have them. Keep in mind, that leftovers are your friends. Are there certain meals that you can make a double batch and have the leftovers on another day? Look at meals with similar ingredients. Do you have salmon and broccoli down for dinner one night? Is there another recipe that includes broccoli and you can make it another night? Minimizing the number of ingredients is going to help with not getting overwhelmed and will cut down the time it takes you to go shopping. 

Step 3: Grocery Shopping

Go through your meal plan and make a list of all of the ingredients you will need. Have a look at what you already have on hand. Take inventory of your pantry, freezer, and fridge. Are there ingredients that you already have that you can use? Once you exclude the items you have already, make a list of the items you will need to purchase.

BONUS TIP: Organize your list according to where you find the items in the store. For example, group all of your fruits and veggies together. Then group all of your meats together. This will save you time having to scroll through your list as you walk down each aisle. It will also prevent you from forgetting anything. Really strapped for time? Use an online/pick-up option. Since the pandemic, most grocery stores allow you to place an order online, select a pick up time, and be able to pick up your groceries without even having to walk into the store. If you are choosing to go in and shop the traditional way, make
sure NOT to do this on an empty stomach. This is the best way to make sure you aren’t buying additional foods you don’t need or quick snack options to eat on the car ride home. 
 

Step 4: Prep Time! 

Time to get out the pen and paper. Go through each recipe and write out what you can do ahead of time to eliminate the length of time it will take the night you are making your meal. Some people, they like cooking all of their meals and then just reheating them each day. If this is easiest for you then do your thing! For me, I like to prepare as much as possible without actually completing my meal. For proteins, this could include cutting them into my desired sizes and putting them in containers with marinades. For vegetables, this is all of my chopping. I also like to blanche my vegetables. This is where you cook them for a couple of minutes in boiling water and then immediately transfer them to an ice water bath. What this does is allow the vegetables to cook through to the center. This way when you are ready to make your meal, your vegetables simply need to be roasted or sauteed, allowing for caramelization on the outside to occur, without having to wait until the centers are cooked. Blanching ahead of time not only cuts down on your cooking time during the week but also ensures even cooking. Nobody wants charred vegetables that are raw on the inside. Lastly, for any of your green vegetables, blanching preserves their bright green color. For starches, making your rice or quinoa during your prep means you simply have to reheat it at mealtime. 

Step 5: Mealtime Execution

Now we get to the easiest step of all – making your meal. Since all of the “work” has already been done, all you have to do is basically put your meal together. Cook-off your protein. Finish off your vegetables. Reheat your starch. VOILA! Let’s Eat! 
 

Plan your work, and work your plan! 

The best way to be successful in the kitchen is to have a plan and then execute what is on your plan. The more practice you get, the quicker you will be able to do this. At first, it might seem daunting, but practice makes perfect. Take the extra time on your prep days to make sure everything is ready to go, which means that during the week, you aren’t spending hours making a meal, especially after a long day at the office!

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