The Benefits of Using a Weekly Meal Planner
Have you taken the plunge to start planning? It's one of the best and easiest ways to assure that you'll eat the way you want and not be at the mercy of your whims. It is also good if you're trying to lose weight. With so many benefits, it's well worth the little extra time it takes to use a weekly meal planner. Some of those benefits are:
- It helps you stay on track with your dietary goals
- You are less apt to impulse-eating
- You save money by not resorting to fast/convenience food
- You can also save money by buying in bulk from stores like Costco and Sam’s Club
- You’ll waste less food by buying just what you need for the week
- By ensuring you get regular meals and snacks, you keep your blood sugar regulated throughout the day
Meal Planning Made Simple
To help with the planning, I designed a meal plan worksheet for you. But first, you might want to read my more in-depth article, "Beginner’s Guide to Easy Plant-Based Vegan Meal Planning."
Your meal planner can also be used as a diary. I usually fill it out over the weekend, looking at the recipes index, other places on the internet or from handy cookbooks - flagging those pages and printing recipes from the internet.
After I’ve decided on my meals, I make my grocery list. Keep food handy by filling your pantry with nutritious whole grains, beans, canned tomatoes and more and you can have meals ready in a snap. This tool should help you make the transition to meatless, plant-based meals easier. Now if you can just get someone to do the dishes 🙂
Subscribe to receive emails with recipes and articles about living a plant-based life and receive my Weekly Meal Planner as a bonus. (I send emails about once a week.)
I like that this planning tool is an entire week on one, 8 1/2 x 11" page. You can print on both sides and keep these in a notebook or on the fridge.
I'm sitting down today to figure out my meals and grocery list, and I encourage you to do the same!
As always, your feedback is appreciated. Is this planner missing something? Do you need more room? I'd love to hear from you.
Leave me a message in the comments below and any tips you'd like to share.
My husband and I are diabetic and we would like to see some recipes. We’ve stopped eating chicken and, of course, meat years ago. We seem to be gaining weight, which is very bad for a diabetic. Please Help, Vivian
Hi Vivian, gaining weight on a plant-based diet is not unheard of and I would suggest you keep a diary of what you and your husband are eating. My guess, without having seen that, is that maybe you are eating too many refined carbs that have added fat or you haven’t cut down on oils in your diet. Added sugar can be a problem, as well. To really get a handle on it, I would suggest working with a coach, if you can. It doesn’t have to last long, but will get you both on the right path for healing and loosing weight.
I would also recommend Dr. Fuhrman’s book, “The End of Diabetes.”
I can direct you to others who are helping people lose weight on a plant-based diet (see the links below) and one of them if the Happy Herbivore. She offers meal plans that stick within a certain calorie count. You may like this approach because your meals are planned for you and keep you on track. I’d also recommend Susan Pierce Thompson’s, Bright Line Eating approach which also helps people stay on target.
It can take a little extra work to make this happen, but I know you can do as you have the support of each other and I’m sure it’s a priority for you. Here are the links for you and best of luck.
Of course, there are a lot of recipes to help guide you on my website, as well, so check them out here: https://www.plantbasedcooking.com/recipes/
Happy Herbivore article:
Meal Plans
Bright Line Eating
All the best,
Diane