Log . 25th Aug, 2024, 1:44 PM
Most people benefit from some degree of meal planning. However, the goal should be ensuring you have enough satisfying food to eat, not to rigidly control what you eat. This blog post shares a simple, non-diet tool you can use for meal planning in intuitive eating.
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “meal planning.” Is it an image of meticulously packed and portioned meals in matching tupperware containers (am I the only one who doesn’t have a single matching set left in my house??)? Does each meal have some combination of food that involves at least two of the following: grilled chicken, salmon, brown rice, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or roasted sweet potatoes?
If so, you’re not alone. For many of my clients who are healing from chronic dieting and disordered eating, meal planning is a four letter word. When I say they’ve been traumatized by the rigid and obsessive meal planning that many diets call for, I’m being only slightly hyperbolic. They’ve spent countless Sundays calculating macros, chopping and roasting vegetables, boiling brown rice, and grilling proteins to make sure they “stick to the plan” during the week. For them, meal planning = dieting, deprivation, rigidity, and restriction.
Understandably, some develop a bit of an aversion to meal planning, and when they let go of dieting, meal planning goes along with it. But without any meal planning, they often find themselves flying by the seat of their pants trying to feed themselves throughout the week. They come home from a long day at work, exhausted and hungry, open the fridge to see plenty of ingredients with zero idea what to cook with them. Eating ends up feeling more chaotic, unorganized, and impulsive than intuitive.
As I like to remind my clients, most people benefit from some degree of structure and/or planning with food. However, the goal of that structure should be ensuring you have enough to eat, and that there are satisfying foods available - not to rigidly control food or to prevent you from eating too much or the “wrong” things. When meal planning is focused on creating a sense of security with food rather than deprivation, it can be a helpful tool in building a healthier relationship with food.
Because so many of my clients have a negative perception of meal planning, I like to reframe towards meal preparedness. To me, meal preparedness communicates a sense of being prepared to feed yourself rather than rigid control. There’s a few tools I like to teach clients to support meal preparedness, but one of my favorites is a master menu.
A master menu is a list of all the different meals that you confidently know how to make, organized into categories that make sense for you and (if applicable) your family. Essentially, it’s a way to remember all the meals you find pretty tasty and satisfying, and can put together without a major headache.
Having a master menu can save a lot of time in meal planning. Instead of spending ages scrolling pinterest or thumbing through a cookbook for inspiration, or conversely, making the same ‘ole thing again and again because you can’t think of anything else, a master menu helps you more easily create an enjoyable plan for feeding yourself. For those who struggle with decision making (hello fellow ADHDers!), having a list of options is much easier than coming up with an idea on your own - think about the difference between taking a multiple choice test versus short answer!
A master menu can be helpful in identifying what foods you’re in the mood for. Sometimes it’s hard to know what sounds good, especially if you’re new to intuitive eating. When you’re looking at a list of foods (literally a menu!) you may find it easier to tap into what sounds tasty and satisfying.
Another thing I love about having a master menu is that it makes it easier troubleshoot any barriers to feeding yourself in advance. I’ll dive into this more in a second, but because you can organize your master menu into different categories, so you can pick and choose meals that address any needs that are coming up.
