1.22.2009

The Mad Planner

As many of you know, I'm a planner. I like lists, charts, spreadsheets, time lines, graphs- you name it- if it has numbers and lines, I on it. I also try to get a game plan when tackling new projects. I'm a visual person and need to see concrete items to make it real to me.

Now that we are on Weight Watchers (WW) I'm trying to be much better about meal planning. It's such a pain right now, because I need to find my system. The Husband and I are doing WW together at home with an online weigh in/support group. I figured I would start blogging my meal plans because it really helps me keep organized to have one spot I can always access with links. I'm such an internet geek (read: addict) that I figured this would be my best bet. I will also be posting my food journal here GASP! Public humiliation can be a very helpful tool!! But basically anyone who visits me here is on Facebook with me anyway. The more open I am about this, the better I will be about being honest about my journey (note: I do NOT say DIET. We are changing habits and learning to live a healthier -and longer- life with better choices.)

I've checked out many sites to help with meal planning. Remember, we are still do home pre-school too, so I am overwhelmed with various forms, charts, systems. I actually found this meal planning site Menus4moms, via a homeschool site, for moms trying to organize it all. This was a good start, but not always healthy options. I found some online forms that I liked, but needed something I could edit. I have spots for breakfast, lunch, dinner, notes and grocery items needed. If you are interested in something like this, drop me a line or comment. I'm shooting for a 2 week general plan with a real basic template to start with, focusing just on dinner and some lunches/snacks. If two things are listed, the first entry is week one, the other week 2 . These aren't the best options as far as "all natural", but it's good WW points-wise, which is a good start for me. I'll work on "more natural" later. Let's get dinner on the table and not blow our points!! ;)

My template looks something like this, and as always, things can change as needed.
Sunday- Batch cooking (ie baked chicken, meatballs) and leftovers
Monday- crock pot recipe
Tuesday- Fish
Wednesday- Breakfast for dinner/Ethnic (ie Mexican, Italian)
Thursday- Baked Meat/Big Salad
Friday- Soup (or fun family night like Pizza)
Saturday- Open

I also have bookmarks in delicious.com for homeschool and some recipes, so I want to get used to using that as a tool. It's sooo easy and great for finding things. I like it much better than regular ol' bookmarks, but I just forget about it.

I'm tracking food using this fantastic tool done by a weight loss/healthy eating blogger Roni at Ronisweigh.com . I loooove her site. She really encompasses everything I'm trying to do- and has a kiddo! It's called Tweet, Eat, Post! and uses Twitter.com

What I had today:

FoodUnits
cheery breakfast w/ blueberries & coffee 5
lunch- 2 mini ham sammies (laughing cow cheese, lf mayo, light english muffins, costco ham w/spinach) 4
snack- 1/2 gala apple, string cheese, water 2.5
ww chocolate snack cake 1
dinner- smothered pork chops (w/mushroom sauce- 7ish), roasted cauliflower 1 pt. 8
dessert- cinnamon apples w/ 1/4 c ice cream 4
Total:24.5

Table provided by Roni's Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

(Flex Used today: 2.5 Weekly Allowance Left: 25.5)

2 comments:

Nikki said...

Way to get started on it Lisa! I cook super healthy most of the time too and it really makes a difference in my kids health..and Matt too.

Lisa Spector said...

Thanks! We are actually pretty healthy in general, it's just the last minute Oh-no-it's-already-5:00 type thing where we get lazy. I've noticed when I have my meal plan I don't worry about it since I know all day what I need to plan for that night. so much easier

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