Meal planning and prep during the week is an important step if you want to ensure having real food meals on hand. But many fail to follow through. Why?
“I’m willing to bet that you’ve never asked yourself what your mindset is when it comes to cooking,” says chef and cookbook author Laura Lea Bryant. “What do you tell yourself about what it means to feed yourself and your family? That it’s stressful? Too time-consuming? Too mentally exhausting? Not as delicious as takeout?”
The thoughts you think and your mindset around what it is you want to accomplish can either make or break your goals. Often we think change needs to occur on a more surface level – with the behavior itself – but true resistance stems deeper than that. You might find yourself frustrated if you fail to write down recipes, grocery shop, or make home cooked meals, berating yourself for a lack of willpower. But it could have nothing to do with willpower, and everything to do with your thoughts and beliefs around the behavior.
“Turns out, these are just stories…they’re myths. And the truths are: you CAN be a STRESSLESS cook. You can take control of your kitchen, and you can turn what feels like a burden into a pleasure. You can improve every aspect of your life, simply from a shift in how you approach meal planning and cooking,” explains Bryant.
I once did a self-experimentation. It was Sunday evening, and the work week ahead was looming. I did not want to go to the grocery store, even though I knew it would make Monday unfold more smoothly. Given that I have been doing mindset work for a while, I knew my resistance stemmed from a thought, so I got curious and explored that thought. I pinpointed it down to “grocery shopping takes too long.” So I challenged myself. I timed my trip to the grocery store. In the end it took a total of 25 minutes (I had already made a list), but previously in my mind I was factoring in an hour and a half. Door to door, it was less than a half hour of my time, and saved me from having to go when my schedule was full the following day.
I play this mindset game with myself across many different scenarios. From folding laundry to bigger, life things like building my brand. I try to prove myself wrong, and the majority of the time I succeed.
Laura Lea is very well versed in the matter. And if you want more accountability and community around the process, I encourage you to check out her Simply Balanced Meal Plan Community!
“On a practical level, I offer you monthly meal plans that are affordable, accessible, family and freezer-friendly, and you can knock out your cooking for the week in a day. More importantly, though, joining this community means access to private group zooms, where we work through the REAL stuff that’s getting in the way of having a relaxed relationship with food and your kitchen. It means access to like-minded people, who can be in this with you. And it means lots of exclusive content— bonus recipes, educational guest webinars, discounts and more.”
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