We're entering holiday season and for everyone, whether they are healthy eaters or not, we all know that the week before holiday is filled with lots of additional stresses and jobs to do - from packing, sorting out what to do with the pets, getting on top of your work schedule before you go to just normal life and day-to-day tasks - eliminating any additional work or things requiring brain power is welcome by us all.
In this blog post, I’m going to share a top tip I use before any holiday to help you make that week before y ou go cheaper, more organised and also reducing down either food waste or removing the need to find time to offload any food you’ve got in the fridge or cupboards to a family member or friend.
I’m a huge advocate of meal planning every week of the year and I’ve shared lots of benefits about how this can help you in so many ways (I have a £5 workshop available for sale if you’d like to get my step-by-step process on how to meal plan quickly and easily – here’s the link with more information: https://mealplansmadeeasy.co.uk/product/mealplanworkshop/ ) but quite often, in that hectic week before you go on holiday, it may be something you let slip or struggle to find the time to do – but what I really want to say, is that finding that 20 minutes to do your meal plan for the week before you go away will help you out in lots of different ways:
- Stops you going into ‘holiday mode’ with your eating (we’ve all done it!) where you throw your healthy eating out of the window well before you set off for your break
- It takes the stress out of thinking ‘what’s for dinner and do I have to actually cook anything’ whilst trying to organise last minute travel insurance / what to do with the cat / who’s going to water the garden / I still need to pack for the whole family / I need to go to the shops and buy more factor 50 suncream etc etc
- You can use up all the perishables you’ve got in your fridge and cupboards in the week before you go – either stopping you from throwing away 3 pots of yoghurt, a bag of potatoes and a punnet of mushrooms as they’ll just go off in the two weeks you’re away or from having to include a trip to a friend / family member / neighbour the day before you go to offload any food stuffs that you’re not going to be able to use.
- You’ll save money by planning your meals using up what you’ve got in already – and to be honest, holidays aren’t the cheapest thing so any extra savings is a huge bonus
Simple steps
At least a week before you go on holiday (but definitely before you do a ‘big food shop’, get a piece of paper to do a quick stock take / shopping list so you can check what you’ve got in already that needs using up before you go and then what essentials you need to buy to get you through the upcoming week
I divide a piece of paper into two columns:
– Stuff that needs using up
– Shopping list
By ‘stuff that needs using up’ I’m going to include anything in the fridge or cupboards that can’t be frozen or will go off before we return from holiday.
First, I check the fridge and make note of what dairy products I’ve got in – how much milk have we got? What size will I need to buy to get us through till we depart? How many eggs have we got? How many yoghurts etc? We both eat yoghurt most days so I don’t want to run out 3 days before we go but knowing exactly how many we’ve got in, means that I can plan exactly what I need to buy this week.
I’ll also check all my veg and salad items to see what needs using up.
Next, I’ll do the same for the cupboards and any perishables I have there – I don’t want to be left with half a bag of potatoes and a pile onions before we go away.
I’ll also do a quick check on my store cupboard staples which I can use to make up meals with all the fresh stuff I have on my list.
Final check is a quick look in the freezer – have I got any batch cooked meals that we can eat the night before we go, do I have any frozen meat or fish that I can put with the fresh stuff to make quick and easy meal options?
As I go, I make notes on my ‘stuff to use up list’ – including anything I find in the freezer so that when I come to do the meal plan for the week ahead, I’m going to incorporate all of these things into the plan – we often end up eating slightly random meals but I much prefer that then either throwing food away or trying to find someone to give it to before we depart.
It also makes meal planning for the week a lot quicker too – and we all know, saving time is always a bonus.
So, the final step – prepare your plan for the week ahead – cross off items from your ‘stuff to use up’ list as you add them to meals and do your shopping list as you go for any essentials that you will need for your planned meals for the week ahead.
A final planning top tip
Plan and prepare your ‘first meal back’ – for us, it’s usually chilli – I always have this batch cooked in my freezer as it’s one of our staple meals but if we’ve run out, I’d plan to cook one in the week before we go so I know that first dinner is sorted and I can get right back on track immediately with my normal healthy eating plans.
As a weight loss coach, I love helping people discover the best ways to reach their individual goals – from working on their mindsets and habits to help with nutrition and healthy eating advice and recipes. If you would like to find out more about my 1-2-1 coaching programme or how I can help you, please do get in touch.
Email me or phone/message: 07834 442607
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