Meal Planning Tip #1

One of the best things I've ever learned from meal planning is to buy in bulk and individually package single servings. 

I can't even tell you how often Id go into the pantry and grab a few nuts here or there and before long the entire bag would be GONE! I thought a little snacking wouldn't be a big deal but it is. It adds up- all those little one or two pieces can snowball into huge oversized portions and uncontrollable cravings.

I found a way to eliminate that. 

I buy in bulk. It's so much cheaper than buying packages. You can control how much you want and you don't pay the high prices for the company to package it. 

As soon as you get home package individual servings for each day. I know that I can have 10 almonds or 15 pecan halves so that is what I put into the baggies. (To save money I use little containers OR I reuse the plastic baggies if the contents are dry!)

By doing this I can just quickly grab out a bag and eat it. No thinking or counting out how many. When you are hungry the last thing you want to do is wait any longer than you have to. Right?!? Portion out ahead of time and that will be gone! 

This also helps another issue many people, myself included, struggle with. Cravings and the will to stop eating once you have started. For me I would pick at something every time I opened the pantry door. If a package was open it was fair game. By having individual packages it helped my mind to not have a big bag of open nuts or whatever. It created a mindset where I knew once the bag was empty my eating that food was over for the day. The individual bags totally relieved me of overeating. 

Having the correct portion sizes also helps to speed up the cooking and preparing process. Just grab what you need, throw it in a bowl and you are good to go. No fussing with measuring cups or counting. Just put it together and EAT!!

I hope this little meal planning tip has helped you! If you have a different system feel free to share it below!!