Meal planning is beneficial in so many ways. I always plan a week ahead, but you can make 1, 2 or more weeks of meal planning. It is totally up to you. Here is the list of benefits that meal planning may provide. They may seem obvious but if you think about it, they worth trying it.
Time. It helps to save time when you are at the grocery store buying foods. When you already know what you are going to get at the grocery store, you eliminate unnecessary wandering around; only place the foods into the basket that are on your grocery list.
Money. It helps to save money when you are at the grocery store. Did you have those moments when you enter the store and buy foods that you have not intended to buy? I sure had. When you walk out of the store and be, like “Shoot! I forgot to buy the eggs”. Instead you bought all kinds of snacks. Meal planning can help to eliminate those problems. When you have your grocery list, just stick to it and buy the foods that you are going to eat. Also, many people buy so much food that it gets spoiled or expired.
Food waste. According to Natural Resources Defense Council 40% of our food is wasted. That means it goes from “farm to food to landfill”. This number is so huge. To estimate, it is about 400lbs of food per person each year. Think that Meal Planning can help to save the Planet and you can contribute. Buy what you will eat. When your household is small, there is no need to buy big amounts of foods that will be sitting in the fridge for a long time. Actually, the stability, such as nutritional content, taste and appearance diminish with length of storage even if it is in the fridge or freezer.
Improves health and nutritional status. Fruits and vegetables lose their nutritional value with prolonged storage. To maximize the nutrient content, do not keep fruits and vegetable for a long time. The benefits of meal planning is that you know exactly how much to buy to use it all.
No stress. Have you had those days when you don’t know what to eat or cook? The stress of not knowing what to eat can lead to overeating and eating unhealthy foods. When you planning your meal, you take time to think what and how much you will be eating on a certain day. After working all day, you don’t need to think about what you are going to have for dinner. It has been already done.
Published by