Meal Plans - Pros & Cons
Meal plans can be a great solution if you are struggling to find balance with your current diet (and by diet I simply mean all the food you eat). I am going to look at some pros and cons of meal plans below.
Pros
Meal plans can be a great way to teach people how to cook and prepare more healthy meals and snacks. Some people just aren't sure on how to eat a diet that is healthy, that ticks all the nutritional boxes - enough fruit and vege, enough energy for their weight goals (lose, gain or maintain), eating regularly enough to support activity and energy levels etc.
It can take the stress out of thinking about what to eat. We make so many food related decisions each day it's crazy. So having a meal plan allows you to free up that precious mind space to think about other stuff.
Meal planning can save you money - only buying what you need to prepare all the meals and snacks on a plan can be an effective grocery saving strategy. How many times do you go to the supermarket and buy 10 cans of tuna because they're on sale (guilty?!). All of these add up and fast! You can also be more savvy with wasting less food. We Aussies are pretty terrible when it comes to food waste. What about lunches at work and school tuck shop? Having a plan that incorporates all of these means you spend less money on food outside the home.
Meal planning can save you time! As I already said, we can spend a lot of time just thinking about what to eat let alone staring mindlessly into the fridge and pantry waiting for some miraculous meal idea to come to our consciousness. When meal planning, you can save time not only thinking about food, but being more efficient in prepping for meals, shopping can become a quicker experience because you'll be equipped with a list of only what you need.
Trying a variety of new recipes. We are creatures of habit and often stick to what we know - many of us will have a rotation of recipes that are our go-to's. So having a meal plan gives us the opportunity to try new meals...
You will always know what is for dinner (and so will everyone else in your household). How many times do your kids ask you - what for dinner? How many times do you stop at the shops on the way home from work wondering what you are going to make for dinner then coming out $100 lighter with still very little idea of what you are actually going to cook?
Cons
Meal plans can feel rigid. I think that allowing for some flexibility in a meal plan is a key to its success. You need to have enough structure but also a little bit of wiggle room when things don’t work out as planned.
The amount of structure may be difficult if you aren’t used to planning ahead. If you are a cereal for dinner kind of person after a long day in the office, then a meal plan will feel a little out of the ordinary.
Using the same meal plan over and over can lead to nutritional inadequacy. Variety is the spice of life and we need a lot of variety in our diets to ensure we are getting the correct balance of micronutrients. I wouldn’t ever recommend someone stick to a 7 day meal plan indefinitely…
It can initially take time and energy to work out and set up. Which is where utilising the services of a qualified nutritionist (like myself) can be helpful.
How can I help you?
I offer a personalised 7-day meal plan which includes a full 7 days of meals and snacks, recipes, shopping list and macronutrient breakdown to take all the stress and uncertainty around transitioning to meal planning. To ensure that your meal plan is going to suit your needs we need to have a consult first to discuss your current eating habits, what barriers you have to eating a better diet and what you want to achieve by utilising the meal plan. You will also need to fill out a meal plan questionnaire which gives me further info about your cooking skills, what kitchen equipment you have and what foods are non-negotiable to be included in your plan (did someone say dark chocolate?) and what foods you aren’t willing to try (tofu is the most common response here). If you want more details about this service, contact me here or pop me an email!
