Today I wanted to talk about planning. However, I have food on my mind. Therefore, I’m going to talk to you about food. Really, it is still about planning because the way I eat really has a lot of planning incorporated in order for me to eat successfully. I’ve learned that when I make poor food choices, it’s because I failed to properly pre-plan my food options.
So yes, planning really does leak into every aspect of my life.
I really do well by sticking to a very close to Paleo eating plan. This means I don’t eat grain, most processed sugars or any artificial sugar substitutes, no starchy vegetables, no legumes (including peanuts), or dairy. Okay, I’ll admit, the one exception I make here is CHEESE!
Generally speaking, eating this way isn’t typical. The general American diet includes grains, beans, and lots of sugar. Even salad can be challenging. Don’t believe me? Take a look at salad dressing labels the next time you’re out and about. When you’re trying to avoid dairy and sugar (and you dislike vinegar and oil salad dressings like me), you must plan ahead! So, when dining out, I have to review menu options before choosing restaurants.
But, it also takes pre-planning for me to eat right at home. I prefer to eat lots of fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables. This requires a weekly trip to not only my farmer’s market, but also to the grocery stores in my area that carry local, organic produce. The free-range chicken, un-sugared, un-cured bacon, free-range turkey, wild-caught fish, pastured eggs, and grass-fed beef that I eat isn’t available just anywhere, unfortunately. In fact, the beef share we have requires ordering this month for delivery NEXT September. I choose my cuts then, but I have to commit to the quantity of grass-fed beef now. Yes, that takes pre-planning. Most of the fruits that I eat are organic as well. Apples are on the toxic 12 list of fruits that you really should never eat conventionally, and I eat at least one apple a day! Strawberries, too, so if I cannot get fresh I use frozen just to keep things organic. I also use coconut milk instead of regular milk and I try to buy raw, unprocessed cheeses whenever possible. This requires a robust grocery list and recipe planning throughout the week.
Yesterday, I sat down and planned out the meals for October 11-17. That is one of my Sunday tasks: to plan the following week’s meals. Generally speaking, I use the Meals Made Simple cookbook by Danielle Walker. Her meals seem to be the easiest for me to make on weeknights due to schedules. After making the meal plan I will create a grocery list then map out when I will get groceries throughout the week. Thursday is my trip to the farmer’s market so I try to get most things there, but then I finish shopping on Saturday at the other stores.
By Saturday afternoon I have everything in the fridge for the week’s meals and I will often prep on Saturday and Sunday for the week. Sometimes there are little trips for lettuces and things fresh on Tuesday or Wednesday, so if I need to add that to my calendar I will. This helps me guarantee that I’m always using the freshest ingredients available to me.
Today, food is on my mind because I just started a brand-new cleanse on October 1. This is a more restrictive plan to cleanse back off of sugar, grain, and dairy. In September I varied far, far off my plan due to many events and a fairly substantial upper-respiratory infection. Cough drops contain all kinds of stuff that gets me craving sugar, and before that there were parties with CAKES! I have cravings now that I did not have in August and I want to knock that right out.
This cleanse is going to take me a full 45 days from October 1 until November 15. Then I’ll gradually cycle off the cleanse and begin eating more normally, without cough drops (I hope) or CAKE! During the cleanse, I’m eliminating all grain, dairy, sugar and sugar-substitutes, as well as certain vegetables and proteins. Most of my protein eating will be limited to scallops and shrimp, some fresh-fish options, grass-fed beef, and free-range, organic chicken. I am even eliminating eggs!
Eating this really restrictive diet for the next 45 days also requires a lot of planning. For example, this is a doctor-led cleanse, so I go to see him every 15 days. I have to plan these doctor visits in advance and get them on my calendar. Generally speaking, I can only see him during work hours, so I have to adjust my work schedule in order to accommodate this appointment. I also generally eat a lot of vegetables so I go through them very quickly. In fact, I go through them more quickly than I can have room in my refrigerator! Therefore, I have to schedule and make multiple grocery stops a week.
And, finally, it helps me to preplan every single meal, too. So, like my weekly meal plan for dinners when I am not cleansing, I map out each and every individual meal for myself down to the quantity I will eat. It’s a lot of planning, but without it I fail, every single time.
This may have been too much information on my diet, however, I wanted you to get an idea about how important planning is to me and how much it extends into all areas of my life.
Interestingly enough, you probably do this too. At the very least, you probably take a peek into your pantry and your fridge before you go to the grocery store so that you have a better idea of what you need. That’s a little bit of planning right there. When I actually add my eating plan into my calendaring and schedule I am much more successful. Success in my dietary needs give me success in the rest of my life. My body works better. My brain works better. I’m far happier and healthier, too.
So, as you can see this is very important to me and has become a part of my weekly and monthly planning process. Tell me, do you plan your grocery trips? Do you plan your meals? I would love to hear about it please leave your comments below!