Improve Your Mindset
Meal planning and self-care may seem like opposites, but having meals planned and purchased for the week can help with a more balanced life. This post provides ideas and tips on integrating your responsibilities at work and home to make time for self-care.
Why Meal Planning Provides Self-Care
- Meal planning makes you feel better because you’ve taken the time to think through the healthy menu. Also, being organized can improve your disposition. Have you ever noticed how great you feel on a day when you get a lot accomplished?
- In a previous post, Decision Fatigue – What’s for Dinner, we discussed the advantages of creating a cheat sheet to simplify dinner planning. The Supper Sanity Meal Cheat Sheet provides a variety of proteins and cuisine styles. It saves you time and mental energy by putting dinner decisions on autopilot. Visit the shop page to learn about getting the Meal Cheat Sheet for FREE.
Overwhelmed with Work & Home Boundaries?
During the height of the pandemic, people worked from home, and complex school schedules were added to the mix. These schedules may involve school distance learning or a hybrid of both. We were endlessly preparing, cooking, and cleaning! But we still have busy schedules, and feeding the family is still a big responsibility.
This podcast from the Mayo Clinic provides excellent advice on creating boundaries between work and home. Dr. Adam Perlman, director of Integrative Health and Well-Being at Mayo Clinic, recommends these tips to manage the two worlds: 1) Delegate, 2) Delete, and 3 ) Do.
Keys to Improving Your Mindset
Using the advice of Dr. Perlman, here are some ways to consider getting some meal-planning sanity.
1) Delegate to family members or services:
- Send a family member to the grocery store with an organized grocery list.
- Use store pickup or delivery at your favorite grocery store.
- Ask family members to provide meal planning input. What would you like to eat this week?
- Request a family member to start the meal if you have work commitments
2) Delete meals by:
- Double up on a recipe to freeze one or another dinner or lunch.
- Purchase a meal from the deli department since they are ready to serve. For instance, a cooked rotisserie chicken and a prepared salad make an easy meal.
3) Do what must be done:
- Look closely at your list of obligations and do the first things first.
- Don’t get distracted by other people’s requests until you complete your priorities.
Establish a Meal Planning System
Plan your meals and shop for the ingredients every week. Consider purchasing a system that provides a framework and supports you in making meal planning a consistent habit. The Supper Sanity Worksheets are available on the SHOP page. They are available as digital sheets that you fill out each week or printed pads with magnets to store on the refrigerator.
1. Meal Cheat Sheet
Decide meals fast with the no-brainer menu chart. All the recipes are on the website. Click for More Information.
2. Weekly Meal Planner
Set up your week for success by reviewing inventory and planning a menu that meets your family schedule. Click to learn more.
3. Grocery List
Shop efficiently and stay on budget with the Grocery List that does the thinking. Click for pricing.
More Tips
- Remember to ask your family for help with grocery shopping, cooking, and meal suggestions. Participation can help build family connections and make dinnertime more meaningful. Check out How to Make Family Meals Magical.
- Meal planning can be challenging, but knowing that you and your family will benefit from the experience makes the extra effort worthwhile. Consider buying yourself new kitchen tools or a cookbook to inspire meal planning. Read more about this in Finding the Perfect Cooking Gift for Home Cooks.
Please let me know your successes and challenges with family meals and share them in the comments below! Supper Sanity is a simple system that offers shortcuts in the kitchen for meal planning, grocery shopping, and recipe organization. I hope to help simplify your daily decisions so you can tackle other interests.
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2 responses to “Healthy Mindset – Meal Planning for Self-Care”
Hi Karen,
I just wanted to say, keep it up! The site looks great and I think you are a great person. Happy Holidays!
From your biggest fan.
Evelyn
Thanks, Evelyn. I appreciate your encouragement. It’s a labor of love, and it is wonderful to know you are reading and enjoying the site.