Plan your meals

It's week two of 2013 which means it's time for my second Weight Watchers challenge. This week I had to think about planning my meals and and I've also been thinking about how to overcome challenges such as takeaways and buffets.

I've been on the plan for over two years now and lost just under six stone. This journey has taught me some important lessons about my behaviour with food and how by following simple steps I can change my bad habits when it comes to over eating.

The main lesson the plan has taught me is the importance of planning my meals. Planning means I only buy what I need and there is less waste, I don't get bored of the plan and eat a variety of foods and I'm always prepared for any occasion. I try to take half an hour on a Sunday afternoon to plan the week ahead. I like to get all my Weight Watchers magazines out, recipe books and a notepad a jot down meal ideas and a shopping list.

My brother and I are both Weight Watchers members so I'm not just cooking for one. We both have the same problem where we want to eat as soon as we get in from work. Neither of us get home until about 7pm and will eat snacks and pick at things in the fridge before we have our meal. We both understand the importance of eating more filling and healthy food instead of snacks so I have come up with a plan to tackle this.

I have started to dedicate one evening to cooking most of my meals for the week and I make things like stew and casserole that taste great even after a few days of being in a tub in the fridge. Being able to pop these in the microwave when I get home means I'm snacking a lot less and have much more free time. WW members should check out the routines page on the site for some more ideas on this.

I always have a bit of a back up plan when it comes to takeaways and eating out. It always pays off to be prepared! I know the ProPoints values for my favourite coffee from Costa. I cook my own rice and weigh it if I have a Chinese takeaway and order low ProPoint foods like chow mein and mushroom dishes. This week I had a training day with a buffet lunch, this would normally fill me with dread but I held back while other people filled their plates, thought about what the best options for me were and went for lots of vegetables, chicken and prawns and avoided the bread and pastry.

My weekly meal plan doesn't change much. Breakfast on weekdays is weetabix with skimmed milk and with different fruit on top each day and I have a bit of a fry up on the weekend with lean bacon, poached egg and mushrooms. Lunch is usually a salad or soup dish with some fruit and a yogurt. Evening meals are where I try to mix it up and I try at least one new recipe a week. If you want to see some examples of what I eat you can look at me 'Day in the life of' posts.

Do you plan your meals? If you're following the Weight Watchers plan and blog about it please leave me your links, I would love to read them.