annmarie1987's Journal, 26 Jan 16

I sure do. Just about all the time. It is following the "plan" that doesn't often work :)  

I try to do plan when I'm not hungry or I put all sorts rubbish on and finally in the habit of if I fancy something I add it to the next plan instead of having on a day when I have had enough cals. same though cant always stick to it but find I think about food a lot less now and its saved me money on shopping 

I am planning, I try and batch cook a couple of nights a week and then that does me. I make a big pot of soup on a sunday night which does me for 4 days lunches and I make egg muffins which can keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Having the food readyreally helps me to stay on track as I have no excuse if i'm starving!  

I have started batch cooking and have to say yeah makes a huge difference and I pack meals out with veg so meat goes further and keeps my calories lower. I haven't liked ready meals for a long time so on days when I couldn't be bothered I would get take away or quick food full of all sorts now have no excuse when have freezer full of home cooked meals. soup is a fave of mine I have a pan of soup on currently 

Meal planning is essential if you want to eat healthy and save money too. I have adult children and my husband and me and making sure I have food ready to eat is essential for my own sanity. I hate scrambling around for ideas at the last minute. I save lots of money by buying healthy food on sale and then making it into nutritious meals. Trying to stay ahead is difficult as it gets eaten up so quickly. I also like to double batch and freeze smaller portions for a break from cooking on holidays or weekend. It's a treat for me and everyone is happy with the meal as its healthy and homemade. 

No...Just eat natural and healthy as much as I can. 

While trying to lose weight. ..planning critical. .so you are doing right thing...prevent 's you from eating unnecessarily and disciplines you for later on....also over a period of time allows you to realise what your body does when you have a bag if fish n chips! ..moi moi. 

I do, in some ways - If I know we'll be really active, I might say "that's a good day to go out for a meal" because I know I can budget for it on my intake. On normal days, planning helps me stick to budgets for the weekly shops, and make the best of our tiny kitchen space! My bf often takes leftovers to work, so we have to plan some meals around that as well. I also like sometimes "planning" by using regular recipes that I've already calculated and put into FS so that I don't have to figure them out later on. 

I find meal plans quite helpful - and when I go to the supermarket and buy the list and have nothing else in the house to tempt me it works really well. Also i've found that buying from the meal plan ends up much cheaper than wandering aimless around the supermarket and buying whatever takes my fancy. 

I currently have my meals planned till thursday. has dramatically reduced food shopping bills and batch cooking made me address portion sizes  

OK I really need to do this. It's kind of hard for me because I work shifts and usually a lot of over time but then I end up choosing unhealthy options at work like chips and beans or toast smothered in peanut butter. I just need to stop making excuses and do it... planning and being organised in general is a skill I need to develop!