Whether you're trying to lose weight on keto, or just want to improve your diet in general, meal planning is a great tool to help reach your goals. There are so many benefits to planning out your meals in advance that can improve not only your health, but save you time and money!
Sure, being spontaneous with our food choices can be fun sometimes - but most of the time constantly opening the fridge and cupboards to answer the never ending question “What’s for dinner?” can be a real drag. It wastes SO much time and energy, and can really derail your keto weight loss progress. As the old saying goes, “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail”, and it could not be more accurate when it comes to achieving your keto goals.
GRAB YOUR FREE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO KETO MEAL PLANNING ON A BUDGET BELOW!
What usually happens if you don’t have a plan:
You waste time wandering around the grocery store trying to come up with meals on the fly
You end up with more food waste because you’ve come home with ingredients you had no idea what to do with in the first place
You spend more money (and calories and carbs!) on takeout because you neglected to plan ahead for your long, busy days
You are exhausted from wasting mental energy on coming up with multiple meals, every….single….day
There are many benefits of planning out your meals ahead of time - it really is a form of self care. You are taking time to put in effort that your Future Self will thank you for! Not only that, you’re saving money AND reducing food waste all at the same time.
8 Benefits of Meal Planning on Keto:
SAVE TIME
Think about all the time you spend deciding what to eat, making a grocery list, shopping for items, cooking meals, cleaning up afterwards, looking up keto recipes, searching through Pinterest, scrolling for food inspo on Instagram - the list goes on and on!
By planning ahead and organizing your meals you can save so much time knowing what to make and when. You can decide if you want to batch cook some meals, protein prep, or cook meals daily. Instead of feeling absolutely starving, standing in front of your fridge and cupboards with no idea what to whip up, you can have a healthy meal all planned and ready to go. Not to mention, it means no more wasting time with any last minute trips to the store!
SAVE MONEY
I’m pretty sure we can all agree that saving money is an added bonus to just about anything and everything! With a solid keto meal plan, you will be more prepared so you don’t rely on last minute and expensive takeout or delivery from restaurants. Sticking to your meal plan will also allow you to buy some items in bulk which can be a huge money saver. It stops you from over-purchasing food items that may go bad before you have a chance to use them. PLUS it deters any random impulse buys at the grocery store that you have no idea what to do with, and will likely end up in the trash anyway.
WASTE LESS
Food waste is a serious problem in our modern day kitchens. We can all be a little guilty of wasting food from time to time (I’m lookin’ at you container of Spring Mix, and I’m sorry!). But when we plan our meals in advance, and double check our grocery list before shopping, the amount of food waste drops dramatically. There’s nothing more annoying than discovering mold growing in your tub of sour cream, or finding your good intention leafy greens shriveled beyond recognition. When you create a keto meal plan, you account for all of your grocery items. When every food has a purpose, you don’t have to worry about items going to waste in your fridge.
GRAB YOUR FREE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO KETO MEAL PLANNING ON A BUDGET BELOW!
STAY ON TRACK WITH KETO
When you’re hungry and your blood sugar drops, you are more inclined to eat whatever you can get the fastest. It can feel like you’re grabbing random items from your cupboard or fridge in a totally frantic feeding frenzy! This is why some of us opt for the closest fast food joint, keto convenience foods, or dare I say it - go over to the carb side. Instead of grabbing an unhealthy option out of desperation, knowing you’ve planned a healthy meal in advance will help you stay on track to reaching your goals. Cooking itself may not be easy in those circumstances, but it’s actually the meal planning part that helps keep you motivated and disciplined to cook anyway and stick to a healthy keto meal.
PORTION CONTROL
Planning your own meals allows you to actually see the amount of food you’re eating. To be successful and lose weight on keto you need to be aware of not only the amount of carbs you consume every day, but calories too! With a meal plan you learn the appropriate amounts of foods you should be eating in order to reach your goals, so that even when you are at a restaurant you can be more mindful of portion sizes.
LESS STRESS
One of the most stressful parts of the day can be when 5pm rolls around, and you realize you have nothing planned for dinner - especially if it’s during a busy work week. You have no idea what’s in the fridge. You haven’t thawed anything from the freezer. Whether you’re feeding yourself, or an entire family it causes a low-grade panic trying to get something healthy and nutritious on the table. You can totally alleviate the unnecessary stress by coming up with a plan in advance so the guesswork is gone, and you know exactly what’s on the menu that day.
ENJOY MORE VARIETY
When you have a keto meal plan, you are actually able to be MORE flexible with your food. I know it sounds a little backwards, but just think about it. If you don’t plan your meals, you’re actually more likely to eat the same things over and over again because you can’t be bothered to come up with anything else. You don’t want to waste time and energy thinking about it on the fly, so you just continue to eat the same things. This can be helpful at times, but it can also cause you to get you stuck in a food rut. If you’re totally bored of eating the same keto things all the time, it may cause you to go off your keto diet and straight into some carbs just to change things up.
There is a keto option for practically everything! It just takes a little recipe research and meal planning in advance to ensure you enjoy a variety of meals to keep you feeling inspired with your keto meals, and keep you on track towards your weight loss goals.
GRAB YOUR FREE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO KETO MEAL PLANNING ON A BUDGET BELOW!
TRACKING MACROS IS EASIER
If you include tracking macronutrients (carbs, fats, protein) on your keto weight loss journey, having a meal plan makes the whole process faster and easier! When you know exactly what you’re going to eat that day, or even days in advance, you can simply plug those foods into your tracking App and you’re good to go! It not only helps you save time, it ensures that you’re staying under your carb and calorie count for the day and takes out any guesswork. It’s the best way to stay organized and ensure that you remain in a carb and/or calorie deficit that will move you forward with your weight loss journey.
Taking a bit of time to plan ahead can allow you to continue reaping the benefits throughout the week. When you get organized and develop a keto meal plan that works for you it makes the entire weight loss process easier. It alleviates stress, saves you time and money, reduces food waste, and gets you motivated to try new keto foods! It truly helps you create a system around food, so you can reach your keto weight loss goals, and get more out of life! If you need any additional help in developing a customized keto plan to reach your weight loss goals, click here. You can also join the free Keto Weight Loss for Women Facebook group full of supportive women sharing their own keto journeys!
