Habit 1, Meal Planning

As each member “pays forward” their attention and commitment to the group, the group gives back exponential value to each member. Higher levels of growth and development only happen when we surrender to and commit within a dynamic group and stop trying to evolve alone.

-Cate Stillman

The most worked out worksheet in Body Thrive is the Weekly Meal Planner. If you’re not type A and you are allergic to meal planning, I want your attention for a moment.

The purpose of the Weekly Meal Planner isn’t to lock you in. It’s not to prevent spontaneity from entering your self-nourishment.

Weekly Meal Planner
When changing habits, we have times of high and low motivation. Perhaps right now you’re inspired. You’re stoked. You’re highly motivated. You want results, and you’re ready to act. Take that motivation and make a food plan.

The weekly meal planner is a blank chart to plan what you’re eating this week. Use your weekly meal planner to set your sankalpa – your intention – with food. Planning paves the way for aligned action.

With any habit change, get specific and put it on a timeline or schedule. Schedule an hour to get organized with your food plan. When that hour arrives, start here:

Habit 1: Meal Planning
Nine Steps to Weekly Meal Planning
Print four copies of your Weekly Meal Planner. Put blanks in a snazzy folder to store in your kitchen, perhaps with your recipe books. Store used meal planners in your folder to reuse later.
Check your cupboards, your fridge, your garden, and anywhere else you store food. Notice what you already have.
Take out a few recipe books that seem to jump off your shelf, or open your laptop to your favorite search engine. Google your diet preferences, such as Ayurveda, paleo, raw, vegan, locavore, or whatever describes the foods you want to make. Create a folder just for recipes in your search engine’s bookmarks.
Get out your calendar. Your daily food prep either needs to fit into your preexisting day or you need to adjust your calendar.
Fill in your Weekly Meal Planner for this week. Underwhelm yourself. Make it easy to prepare. If you eat out, write in what you intend to order to keep in alignment with the body you want. You can even verbally rehearse your order.
Update your calendar. Schedule in your daily food prep times with specific actions. Then, schedule when you’ll grocery shop or harvest.
Write your grocery shopping list.
Pin your Meal Planner to your fridge. If your fridge is cluttered, declutter it. Make space to keep pace.
Check it daily.
Like any new habit—it’s a much bigger deal in the beginning, and effortless once automated.