We’ve all heard the old saying if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Though I don’t necessarily think that we should plan every last detail of our lives because that would be boring, I am a huge believer in meal planning. Meal planning takes the guess work out of what you are going to have for the next meal, allows you to stop constantly obsessing about food, and eliminates the holy crap I’m hangry and have nothing to eat; here I’ll just shove this donut in my mouth situation.

Planning meals in advance can be done on a daily, weekly or monthly basis and will save you a ton of time, energy and will power! I personally prefer to plan weekly, but you can do whatever works best for you. If you are trying to lose weight or just improve the overall nutrition of your daily meals, meal planning can be the difference between success and failure! Here are 5 tips for planning meals with ease:

1.) Write it Down

Whether you are the super organized type with a color coded, bright, bedazzled, stickers and gel pens life planner or you’re mapping your meals in crayon on the back of a half-scribbled scrap of paper, writing down your goals and intentions is an incredibly powerful tool for change. You can gather healthy recipes from cookbooks, magazines, websites such as this one, or anywhere your heart desires. Count out how many meals you need to prepare for the period of time you decide to plan and compile all of your needed ingredients onto a grocery list. Just make sure that you remember to bring that list with you to the store!

2.) Overlap Ingredients

Choosing recipes that have overlapping ingredients is an excellent way to save time, money and energy. For instance, if you are planning on preparing chicken and pomegranate salad for lunches and pesto chicken and vegetables as a dinner dish, you can buy the chicken in bulk to save money. This method can be used for all sorts of recipes, ingredients and cooking methods.

3.) Make Several Dishes at Once

Personally, I don’t have an issue with eating the same thing every day for a week but I know that many people need variety in their lives. If this is you, it’s a great idea to plan out several different meals for the week that you prepare at the same time. Maybe you make two different lunch options and three different dinner options that you can choose from each day. This plan can involve a lot of cooking at once, so be strategic, overlap ingredients and get cooking! The good news is, if you decide to freeze meals, which I highly suggest, over time you will have a lot of variety to choose from.

4.) Size-Up the Servings

When choosing recipes for the week, make sure you look at how many servings each recipe yields. Some recipes will need to be doubled or even tripled based on how many meals you need. I absolutely love the convenience of being able to cook once and eat many meals. This is key for freezing as well. When you make a ton all at once, you have the option to eat during the week as well as freeze some for a later date. Frozen meals also come in handy as a nice gesture to give to friends and family if perhaps they have a new baby, illness or surgery.

5.) Consider Your Schedule

Because we are all busier than ever, meal planning will most likely require you to set aside specific time to map out recipes, shop and prepare the meals. Yes, planning to plan is a real thing. I personally like to do my meal planning and prep on a weekly basis, on Sunday. However, if you know that Sunday is a chaotic day for you, you will need to set aside a better time. Also, some weeks will be busier than others, so having quick and easy recipes that can be thrown into a slow cooker or popped into the oven with little prep-time are a great addition to your arsenal.

Meal planning can be tricky at first, and it can require some discipline to get in to a routine, but in the long run the benefits far outweigh the challenges. You don’t have to be perfect, and it may take time but small, positive changes add up quickly toward rocking your wellness goals!

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