Custom Meal Planner
You are what you eat. This fact alone proves the importance of building a meal plan.
The catch, however, is that there is no standard meal plan for all since every person has a unique physique, medical history, and personal goals. Such reason gave birth to custom meal planning.
But before you jump right into the trend, you must come prepared. Eliminate questions like What should I eat Today? Or how much should I eat Today?
Become a weekly meal planner with these easy tips and tricks. In this article, you’ll be learning the how-tos and secrets to being a successful custom meal planner for your family.
What is custom meal planning?
Meal planning refers to a routine practice of planning and prepping meals within the day. But, it’s not that simple. It seldom answers the questions: “what do I want for dinner” or “what do I want to eat?”
Instead, meal planning takes into careful consideration a person’s nutritional requirements, medical condition, allergies, and personal fitness goals. You use this information to create meals that best suit your needs. Thus, it is called custom meal planning, and such healthy practice requires in-depth research and guidance.
Don’t let this intimidate you. As you start meal planning for your family it becomes easy to plan and modify dinners to fit your families needs. If you have diet specific needs and need a meal plan created for that need check out the many dietary specific meal plans we offer here.
While it’s true that you can find free meal plans all over the internet. The truth is, there’s a high chance that it won’t work for you because there is no single diet that can fit everyone. This is the main problem that custom meal planners face. Plus, let’s be honest, most families have at least one picky eater on top of all the fun diet stuff.
Who is it for?
A custom meal planner is for EVERYONE. It’s high time that we normalize the practice of planning meals because it has a profound impact on health and quality of life.
Not to mention it can save you thousands a year in cash. (Vacation anyone….)
Individuals who embark on weight gain or weight loss programs must strongly commit to meal planning since diet is the breaking point of all weight management programs.
A meal planner is also best recommended for people with pre-existing medical conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. These types of ailments often entail dietary restrictions and special nutrient requirements. So, through meal planning, you can ensure that all their dietary needs are provided in healthy amounts.
Lastly, and my personal favorite. Meal planning is the perfect solution for busy moms. Especially with freezer meal planning. You can spend less then 45 minutes in the kitchen for a whole week of delicious healthy dinners ready for your family.
Benefits of Custom Meal Planning
Custom meal planning positively impacts three major aspects of your life – health, time, finance.
Health
Making and sticking to meal plans help you become more conscious about your nutrition and well-being. As you research recipes and food, you sharpen your understanding of nutritional value. You no longer ignore the contents of your food. You’ll continue to discover and even invent new recipes that are not just delicious but also healthy.
Moreover, custom meal planning helps you achieve a balanced diet. It’s even better because it’s tailored to suit your needs and fitness goals. This is true especially for people who want to lose or gain weight, or maintain a healthy diet without spending hours in the kitchen.
Meal planning helps you adjust calorie, sodium, protein, and fat intake, if necessary. The best part is that meal plans can prevent you from making impulsive fast-food orders and unhealthy cravings.
Time
Busy moms or the average family with kids and bustling lifestyles often neglect the importance of diet. Who hasn’t skipped a meal or resorted to unhealthy choices? 🤷♀️ Deciding on what to eat as well as preparing meals is not something we put on our to-do lists.
Fortunately, a custom meal plan or finding a custom meal planner helps busy moms and people save time. Since your meals are already planned and prepped, you’ll just have to take them out of the refrigerator to heat. You can fully skip the dreadful time of thinking about what’s for dinner.
If you decide to plan and prep your own meals for the week, you may spend an hour or two on a weekend, planning out all your food, and then will not need to do any during the week prep. Meal prep has been a huge time saver for my family, and it even allows my kids to be a part of the process, as they have learned to cook with me, and prep our own meals. Fun for the whole family.
Finance
We all want to save money, and spend the least amount possible. Meal planning can help you achieve these financial goals. It’s time to debunk the idea that meal planning is crazy expensive because, in reality, it’s not.
Meal planning gives you full control over your food choices, including their price. Doing so also provides you with complete liberty of making meals within a budget. You will find that meal planning also gives you control of your diet, and how much you eat.
Planning your meals, allows you to make smarter finance decisions, and saves you money every time. Think about it, creating a weekly meal plan gives you the opportunity to have your meals ready during your crazy chaotic week.
We’ve all heard these excuses, ‘I’m too tired to make dinner, let’s go out’, ‘We have to get Johnny to soccer practice, let’s grab Taco Bell’, having your meals planned and prepared ahead of time, will save you those unnecessary fast food runs, while providing you with a healthier dinner option.
You can either choose to prep meals on your own or avail them from trusted meal providers. Nonetheless, it isn’t something that can rip off your paychecks.
Customized Meal Plan Pricing
Several factors affect the customized meal pricing like the type of service, provider, duration, and inclusions.
You can choose to avail of a dietary meal planner’s expertise and knowledge while leaving the prepping and cooking responsibilities to you. You’ll be in charge of buying the supplies and prepping meals. People who are on tighter budgets prefer this option. The plan alone usually costs around $40-$80 per person.
However my freezer meal plans are around $15 for a whole family. AND you get to keep the meal plan forever using it as often as you like.
The second option is that you avail of services provided by a business specializing in customized meal planning. Not only will they plan your food, but they will also deliver it to you. You can save a lot of time and effort. However, it surely comes with a price. And usually an expensive one.
The last option is that you can also opt to do the planning and prepping on your own. With minimal supervision and good research, you can learn how to plan your meals. This is a budget-friendly option that anyone can do. There’s also a lot of custom meal planner apps you can download on your devices.
These options will differ based on your budget concerns, and as you progress in your meal planning knowledge, you can change up your style or process of planning. You will learn to create meal plans, how much to eat based on your body needs, and will have healthy, delicious food at your disposal, every week.
Sign up for Food for Thought to get weekly emails with tips, tricks, new recipes and more information on learning to meal plan at home.
Custom meal planning promises to improve your health and well-being. It will help you stay committed to your fitness goals as well as achieve them. Take the challenge today and start planning. Eliminate the “What to eat?” question that you may have on a daily basis, and meal plan your way to a healthier, more fulfilling life.
*See FAQ’s and specific tips following meal planner below. (so you don’t have to scroll for a million years to find the answers).
Are we friends yet? 👇
FREE Printable Meal Planner to help you get started today. 👇
If you like this Custom Meal Planner you may also like…
- Tips to make meal planning easy
- Meal Planning tips for beginners
- Tips for sticking to your food budget
- 20 Make Ahead Freezer Meals
- 10 Best Slow Cookers in 2021
