Meal Planning: The Key to Better Health, More Energy, and Less Stress

I have more energy today, in my mid-forties, than I did in my early thirties. I’m healthier, happier, and far more productive.

Do you want to know my secret (the ultimate adulting cheat code)?

Meal planning.

Life Before Meal Planning

Life before meal planning followed the same weekly pattern.

Towards the end of a typical working week, I’d lose the ability to make sensible, healthy decisions about what to eat. Furthermore, I’d be too tired to cook.

To make things more manageable, I’d reach for a takeaway menu.

Unsurprisingly, eating takeaway two or three times a week led to weight gain, increased spending, and even less energy.

In an effort to reduce stress and be kind to myself, I ended up feeling worse. I was stressed about gaining weight and exhausted (because of the weight gain and unhealthy eating). I was also spending far too much money on takeaways.

Something had to change — I needed a system.

Life After Meal Planning

Life after learning how to plan meals is quite different.