Can anyone help me make a meal plan please?

[JawsCushion]

For over a year I've had a problem with eating which has developed into anxiety about turning the oven on. I've cooked a handful a meals in that time and have lost weight. That's the only good bit but I've been pretty poorly with it all.

There was a magazine which gave a meal plan with recipes and a shopping list with the expectation that weight could be lost. Now that I want to do it I can't find it.

With everything I have got going on I just don't know where to start. I used to love cooking, was good at it and would eat most things.

Ideally I would lose 1-1.5 stone but it is more about getting the nutrients in me that I need as I've been getting by on cup a soups and sandwiches for far too long.

Can anyone help or tell me where I can find an on line meal plan as I've looked and just can't find anything.

Thank you. 🍽️ hopefully.

This wont go down well with the SW haters, but slimming world publish one in their magazine . Now Ive never followed one, but I know loads have and have lost a lot of weight to kick start themselves. its only the one weeks plan, I think every magazine has a new plan - not sure cos I only look through them on the shelves

There are lots of these sort of meal plans out there but, before you look at those, have you addressed the issue with actually preparing food? Because, for example, if this is a struggle, a lot of these meal plans take a fair amount of work which, based on your OP, I'm not sure you're up for?

What level of effort do you feel you are up to making? Are you literally just eating instant soup and sandwiches currently? And how much of this? Because realistically, proper food is unlikely to be significantly fewer calories, but will be 10000 x healthier.

Overall, a good way to meal plan is to write down a list of meals you can/are willing to prepare and eat. ideally, you'll get a wide range of types of foods, lots of different fruits and vegetables (including nuts, pulses, legumes) and you'd keep fats generally quite low. Depending on your preference and diet, perhaps reduce reliance on carbs to fill you up, replacing with vegetables/pulses etc, or increasing protein.

A few ideas you would consider adding to your meal plan that involve little cooking/prep and are generally quite low fat/lower calorie could be

Salads - buy bags of mixed leaves for variety and health then add additional chopped raw veg as per your preference (carrots, spring onions, onions, tinned sweetcorn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers are all good basics. You can get fancier and more complicated if you want to). Add a protein source - lentils, chicken, fish. Drizzle of oil (to keep calories down) and a squeeze of lemon juice of vinegar.

Home made soup - ideally made in bulk and stored in fridge/freezer to reduce reliance on regular cooking.

Grilled/steamed chicken breats or fish fillets with steamed vegetables.

Egg based dishes such as omeletes (with veg or a side salad), quiche (go easy on the crust if you're looking to keep calories down), scrambled eggs on toast with smoked salmon/ or ham, poached eggs with wilted spinach and grilled mushrooms.

Thank you. I can go to the shop and buy a magazine. Is it literally called Slimming World?I just need ideas as I've packed all my recipe books and with other issues I don't know where to start.

Also, you could come join us on our meal planning thread for ideas if you like!

Thank you @SpaceOP physically I can food prep. I just went to the shop for some bits and made an omelette with onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, chilli flakes and pepper. I had planned to do a stir fry but found eggs.

Literally cup a soup and sandwiches with the odd ready meal. I'm definitely not eating enough as I'm all over the place weight wise. I tend to hold on to every ounce but when I eat properly I lose a bit.

I know why I'm struggling but that doesn't mean I can fix it. Then today I was hit with more bad news so I have to try and not let it affect me as it's related and I feel pros I've actually been to the shop, bought food, and made an omelette.

Thank you for the suggestions. It's a good starting point and I feel less stressed.

It is really hard to explain without giving chapter and verse and I don't want to do that.

Thank you. Where are you?

I love SW, done properly it's just basic healthy eating and I've lost stones on it. No hate from me. Good idea!

"7-day"
https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/seven-day-menus#:~:text=Optimising%20with%20our-,7%2Dday,-weight%20loss%20meal

ChatGPT is your friend here. It can give you a meal plan and then generate a shopping list. Both of which can be downloaded.

We are over in Food and Recipes - https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/4971725-2024-meal-planning?page=14&reply=140248930 2024 Meal Planning thread.

It sounds to me like you need to do small steps rather than trying to change everything at once. So perhaps plan for one nutritious meal a day, ideally something that is quick and easy to prepare. Your omelette sounded fab - well done.

Tip for stir fry - if you use those packets of pre-cooked rice or noodles, and a pre-chopped packet of stir fry veg with a pre-made sauce, you'remaking life a million times easier, food is quicker to prepare and you're only very very very slightly compromising on the nutritional quality. And you're more likely to get a nice variety with less waste. (or skip the sauce and just use lime juice and soy sauce which is what I do mostly).

Do you have an air fryer or are you in a position to buy a small one? they can be great for things like roasting veg in 20 minutes vs the endless time it takes in the oven. Or for doing things like fish cakes or crumbed chicken/fish. Again, nutritionally not necessarily as great as a home made meal, but a huge step in the right direction and might help with your feeling of stress around the oven which, frankly, even as someone who likes to cook I find tedious myself so I get it.

Or can you swap out the cup-a-soup for tinned soup - they are often better nutritionally with fewer additives. Or even better, fresh soup from a supermarket (but might be higher calorie. I'd say that's okay at this point for you though).

@SpaceOP I don't mind chopping veg and I'm not fussy. Just overwhelmed with life and this has been the consequence. Lime juice and soy sauce sounds right up my street as well.

I do have an air fryer as I'd mentioned to my son I was thinking of getting one and the next thing I knew he'd ordered one to be delivered. Still learning about it as the instructions are not easy to follow.

Food prep is not the issue for me. I just can't work out what I need as I don't feel hungry ever but once I eat something it's not enough and then I'm wanting to eat chocolate.

The cup a soup was because I could cope with drinking but not eating. I used to make my own soups from scratch all the time. All this is my head causing me problems. So difficult. Why the phobia about the oven, goodness knows.

Thank you for your kindness.

Aaah, the overcomplicated air fryer situation. Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Top tip - ignore all the guff. Just use the roast/bake function at 180 as your default and you're golden! It's basically just a smaller, hotter, quicker oven that requires litle or no pre-heating!

I thiknk you're on the right track though. You've started thinking about this and trying to make changes. So maybe sit down and commit to a few changes - "proper" soup made from scratch, from a spermarket or from a tin - and one nutritious meal a day that you pre-plan. And then see how you feel from there?

Thank you @SpaceOP .

Right now I'm trying to get past today's bad news and focus on not letting it set me back. I am planning cheese on toast for dinner with raspberries.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to do something with chicken thighs and stir fry veg.

Both of those are great options and a brilliant start.

I am sorry things are tough for you right now. I hope things get better for you.

Thank you. I've poured myself a drink which is really bad and I'm trying not to cry but it is just now. It won't be forever. The win is I am determined to eat the planned meal. As you said, I can't win everything all at once.

Cheese. Toast. Raspberries. It's a step. Chicken tomorrow. A few veggies and perhaps a packet of brown rice and you've increased your food and nutrition right there! Un MN hugs.

Just spent an hour on the phone talking about it all but while it has helped it's also upset me as well. But I've put the glass in the dishwasher so won't have more wine, had cheese on toast and will see about the raspberries in a bit. TBH I'd rather have the crisps I didn't know were in the cupboard.

Tomorrow it will be courgette, red onion, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, spinach, noodles and chicken. That's more veg than what I've had for the past two months probably. I used to eat a lot of veg before. Not sure what the other meal will be. I could do a cheese sandwich. Might go into town so could get a bit more food. I'm intolerant to rice so try and avoid but a tiny amount might be okay. That with the salmon, ready cooked, I bought today would be okay though I do have a random pack of noodles, endame. The others are plain for with the chicken.

Thank you again @SpaceOP

I've lost 4 stone and 5 lbs. I have one 1/2 fat sausage, 1 bacon, 1 hash browns, and a spoonful of baked beans for brunch at about 11am. I drink lots of water all day. I have either an apple or an orange about 2.30pm or a bowl of homemade vegetable soup. Then at 6 I either have a piece of salmon baked in lemon juice, 2 pork medallions, a 5oz steak, a chicken breast and either garden peas, carrots, mushy peas or baked beans with 2 or 3 of the tiny boiled potatoes. Other days I have spaghetti Bolognese with low fat minced steak, tinned chopped tomatoes, squirt of garlic puree, dried herbs and tomato purée. I have it with the protein soya bean spaghetti strands. I have that two days when I make it. If I'm peckish I have a handful of raspberries or grapes. It works for me and I don't do much exercise.

Well done @caringcarer that is amazing. I walk every day, sometimes twice. I used to run four times a week but I'm struggling with that at the moment and aren't going as often. I work better when I know what I'm doing so I need make sure I always have a plan.

If you are struggling mentally and not consuming enough, stuff the exercise for now. When you feel like you are able, take a walk ( its always good for the health both mental and physical ) but dont push too much

I get the food/cooking phobia, I suffer as well when my mental health is shot. I can go into the supermarket, starved, walk around , put this that and the other in my basket, then end up abandoning it and leaving empty handed and live on bread and crisps. Went on for years, worse when DH was working away. Hes away right now and Im struggling again. Just went to the kitchen with ideas of an omelette and salad, got as far as reaching for the eggs. Even when hes here I can cook a beautiful dinner, plate it up and think to myself I will be sick if I put that in my mouth, so push it around the plate, feed it to the dog, and eat crisps

However this time around Im making a pan full of dhal or soup or a vegetable/bean stew and leaving it i. the fridge, and a dollop of that heated in the micro is keeping me from the bread and crisps

I always had issues around textures but its getting worse with age. Food I used to be able to eat happily, Ive convinced myself I will puke if it touches my lips . Even my crisp choice has been narrowed to two flavours of two particular types which are really hard to find

I started running in 2020 after having covid/long covid. I'd been poisoning myself but didn't know so lost two stone quickly then another 1.5 once I started running. I'd like to lose about 1.5 stone more but the running is for my mental health as much as weight loss. I've not really lost anything lately as I assume I'm not eating enough.

My issue is due to my now ex h behaviour and subsequent divorce. I'm 100% happy to not be with him but he's hurt me so much I don't know who I am anymore or what will happen. I've been left with emotional and physical consequences.

Last week I made a big pan of pasta and just had that for four dinners. But the other ten meals were a mess.

Hmmm this would work for me but if not for you ignore as you've received some great advice already. My issue is time and the fact that I hate cooking. So I prep something healthy in the slow cooker on a Sunday, then switch it on the way to work on Monday and I'll have that for 3 evenings in a row. Slow cooker recipes are easy to double up to fill the slow cooker so you're not doing the work once for a few days meals. If I've got more than that left I freeze in single portions and then feel like I have a 'free' day when I find something in the freezer. . I like meals that are one pot and don't need different sides unless it's just some rice or frozen peas etc. I like the Taming Twins website and there are lots on the Gouato website. I like lentil and veg chilli, lentil and veg bolognese, veg curries, Mexican one pot chicken and rice, one pot pasta with veg and tomato sauce. I would start small and work up, so what about some easy prep meals for other nights? Jacket potato with baked beans or tuna, wholewheat sourdough toasted with a poached egg and mushrooms or tinned tomatoes, omelette with mushrooms and peppers in, mackerel or sardines. I tend to focus on low UPF, just simple home cooked food, lots of veg, and I don't portion control. If it's healthy(ish) I fill myself up otherwise like you I would be eating a family size bar of chocolate at 9pm. You can also make salads pretty filling if you add things like lentils, beans, chicken, tuna, eggs, make sure they contain a lot of protein. Are you also getting help with your Mental health? I find that if something is too much effort I just won't bother and would just come home and eat 5 slices of toast instead, so I think keeping it simple will help you too.

Like you I find the planning element is overwhelming sometimes, and I wish someone would just tell me what to make. So that's why I don't mind having the same meal a few nights in a row. Well done on the running, no other exercise beats it for mental health benefits for me too. once youre eating better you may find you feel more level and your mental health improves even more. Well done for taking that first step and recognising you need to change. Personally in your shoes I wouldn't focus on weight loss just yet, I would try and exercise regularly, and eat healthily most of the time. Once your mental health and confidence with cooking and eating increase then look at your weight loss if you need to.

I like the Saving Dinner website by Leanne Ely. It has various different diet plans on it - low carb, paleo, keto, vegetarian and classic I think from memory.

Each recipe takes less than half an hour (though there is one slow cooker recipe every week). You can set the menu for either 2 people or 4 and it generates the shopping list for the week including optional serving suggestions. It only does 6 meals per week but if you are on your own and cooking meals for two you could have the left over portion for lunch later in the week and then just have to think about breakfasts which are an easier meal to plan anyway?

it is an American site so you do need to translate a few ingredients into their English equivalent, measure in cups and convert from Fahrenheit to Centigrade but almost all the ingredients are just as easy to come by here as in the US.

Thank you so much. I'm exhausted now so will reread tomorrow. Another issue is most of my house is packed as I was meant to be moving house last month and I can't face more unpacking. My air fryer is out but my slow cooker is packed. I'd forgotten all about jacket spuds. When the kids were little every days lunch was generally jacket spud and cheese. Once I move and away from ex h, I'm sure everything will get better. I'm just exhausted now and can't concentrate enough. But I'm proud I went out today, bought food and have eaten two okay meals. Didn't have quite enough as just comfort ate three squares of aero but will get there.