Meal Planning 101

It seems like every home workout plan, nutrition guru and dieting channel in social media stick to one basic concept and that's meal planning. The reason this seems to be a common denominator is because meal planning is the key to a diet routine working. If you are new to meal planning, below are a few things to know before implementing it into your routine for you or for both you and your family.

A master food list is the first place to start with meal planning. You can either print these online by season or you can make your own list. Ideally, what you're doing is narrowing down the foods that you like, the foods you don't like, the ones you are allergic to and the ones that you've never tried. Having a master list will help you you narrow down your recipes and to get foods for your meal planning that personally work for you. You can also mark down how many calories each have and how they can be used.

Make sure you consider your goals with meal planning. For example, you may be looking for a way to reduce your stress during the week. Meal planning have many benefits such as giving you more downtime and more time to enjoy with your family. Then again, you may want to lose a few pounds. If that's the case, you want to keep an eye on your caloric intake. Bodybuilding goals have even more considerations in reaching your goal. Overall, you should consider long-term, short-term, and overall goals before you start meal planning.

One important thing that many people fail to consider about meal planning are the containers they will be using. This an be a big difference in how you plan out your meals. Many people do use containers with different compartments for proteins, vegetables, fruits and sauces. If you you will be doing full meals, then these are ideal. You may also want to bent box (single portion box), soup containers or other options. Consider the types of meals you want to have and then make sure you have the containers for them.

Considering your timeframe is something that goes along with basic meal planning. You need to make sure that you are planning for a set amount of days. Most people do weekly planning while larger families may do planning for the whole month. The timeframe along with the food lists and goals can greatly affect your budget. So considering a timeframe is vital to meal planning.

These basic principles of meal planning can help you get started. Remember, there is no set defined way of meal planning. The idea is to work with the diet you want, plan the meals and make sure they work for your lifestyle. It may take a little time to get things on a solid track, but once they are, you will find meal planning to be an easier route on many levels.