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Meal planning is not just about getting dinner on the table. It’s not just about saving money and time, though those benefits are nice! There is a really good reason as a busy mom you should be meal planning. It took me years of struggling with having food on hand and stressful evenings before I became a believer in the power of meal planning.

Do you dread cooking? Does 5 o’clock roll around and you have no idea what to feed yourself and your family? Are you stressing because you want (and maybe need) to get healthier? Do you eat on the run a lot, or rely on takeout?

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The Real Reason to Meal Plan

As a mom of 4, I love that meal planning saves me time. I love the feeling of being organized – knowing what I’m going to eat when. I also love coming home to a meal in the slow cooker.

I always feel like I have a personal chef who loves me when I walk through the door to an amazing smelling meal.  And then I realize, yea that personal chef is me.

But that’s not the real reason moms need meal planning in their life.

Meal planning is about so much more when you really look at it.

It’s really about LOVE.

WHAT?

Yes, LOVE… I know you probably didn’t think meal planning and love could have anything to do with each other.

BUT they do.

Eating healthy and taking care of yourself is part of loving yourself.

It’s part of loving your family.

When you prepare and eat healthy food it contributes to you feeling well. When you sit down and eat together as a family, it contributes to your family being well.

Meal planning is a tool for making that happen.

Want a healthy pregnancy? Meal plan!
Want a fast recovery and to avoid postpartum depression? Meal plan!
Want a healthy family? Meal plan!

It’s easy to be committed to something that helps you do all that, right?

 

The Meal planning mindset shift that changes everything

Just the thought of meal planning can be a total drag for many. But it doesn’t have to the be! All you need is a mindset shift!

Finding the Joie de vivre  in cooking and meal prep is a HUGE mindset shift that can really help take the stress out of making meals.

For starters, think about how what you eat is super important because it is nourishing your body. Whether you are pregnant and growing baby, breastfeeding, or living a busy mom life!

Honor that by choosing wisely and consciously taking care of yourself.

Celebrate and honor the whole process that makes each and every meal possible – the process of a seed sprouting and growing for years to make fruit, the farmer who grew the fruit, the person who picked it and the person who drove the truck. The person packaging it and selling it.

It takes A LOT if you think about it to make any one meal possible.

And then there is the LOVE that can be infused into your meals when cooked with care. My whole perspective on cooking changed from one of dread, to one of embracing and enjoying, once I started taking a more spiritual and sacred approach to meal preparation.

Here are a few tips on how to bring more love into your meal planning, cooking and meal time:

#1 As you cook, take a few moments to think about the whole cycle that makes your nourishment possible and be thankful. Think about how much you love and care for yourself and those you are cooking for and how this food will sustain them and help them to be well.

#2 As you eat, enjoy your food. Always eat slow enough to savor and with good spirit.

#3 Take time to sit down at the table with your loved ones and eat together! No kids eat first, or mom eating on the run. Make this a sacred ritual for your family.

#4 Always say thank you before you eat. A day with food to eat is a good one. Be grateful for the abundance that you are graced with, no matter how big or small.

#5 Banish technology from the table – put the devices away and turn off the tv.

When you approach your food and meal preparation with an attitude of joy and love it can be a beautiful gift for yourself and your family.

Joyfully approach the idea of planning meals for your week. In this way it can cease to be a chore and become more of a way of living. A way that helps you to loose stress, save time and money all while expressing LOVE to your family and yourself! Now that’s the real reason the meal plan.

Want to know how as a pregnant mom with 3 kids I was able to prep 15 meals to have for postpartum? Learn more by clicking here. 

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