When I searching for answers as to where my chronic pain was stemming from, life didn’t just stop. I still had to do all the mom stuff. The house didn’t clean itself. Work didn’t wait. And meal planning, shopping, prepping, and preparing still had to get done. Asking for opinions from the other people who live here and eat here was like pulling teeth, so it definitely all fell on my already heavy shoulders.

Although I’ve taught literal workshops on how to meal plan, I still find myself getting burned out from it. Sometimes I just want a break from having to think about food!

There’s a lot of pressure in thinking that every meal has to be perfectly balanced, looking good so the kids don’t poo-poo it right away, and healthy enough that I would be proud to talk about it with you. Spoiler alert: we don’t always eat 100% perfectly here! It’s not realistic, and for many reasons. We do the best we can with what we have and try to forget the rest.

Looking back at what my two oldest kids ate before I started my own health and wellness journey, we’re making better choices now, without a doubt. But even back then I was doing the best I could with what I knew, and I’ve learned to let go of the shame of feeling like a bad parent because it wasn’t perfect. If you can relate to any of this, I want you to know that I know you’re doing the best you can with what you have available AND that on the nights that you just don’t have the energy or desire to do anything, you’re still doing the best with what you have available.

Energy is fluid. Some days we have more, we can give more, and that’s great. Some days we have less to give, but that doesn’t mean we’re doing a bad job or that we’re failing. It just is different.

Taking the stress out of planning is the very first step to having a successful meal. In order to do that we have to give ourselves permission to do so. Something you can do, starting right now, to feel the stress coming out of planning, shopping for, prepping, and preparing meals is this - take a deep breath in through your nose, close your eyes softly, and exhale while saying “done is good, and good is good enough”.

Allow yourself to explore the possibility of breaking those childhood rules you had and damaging messages you’ve heard…you must clean your plate…a meal needs meat & potatoes…carbs are bad…you’ll never lose weight if you eat like that…you’re bad.

Instead, allow yourself to look at the facts. Kale is full of nutrients but could lead to thyroid issues if you eat too much of it. Fish contains healthy fats but can also contain high levels of mercury and other harmful toxins. Peanut butter cups are full of sugar and saturated fat but also contain some protein. Food is not inherently “good” or “bad” - food will simply get us to where we want to go faster or slower.

That being said, I realize that this is a process. I still struggle with this sometimes myself! If I find myself eating ice cream more often that I’m proud to admit, I know that I am not a bad person for having the ice cream, nor is it the ice cream that is going to keep me from reaching my goals. It’s the quantity of ice cream and frequency of my eating it that will slow down my progress, and since I’m a human being, I’m allowed to be less than perfect. Therefore, I can then absolve myself of any self-determined food sins and decide to change my behaviors to reflect what my goals actually are.

Then I can dig a little deeper to explore why I’ve been dipping into the mint chocolate chip harder than usual. Am I overtired and looking for a quick energy boost? Am I bored? Am I looking for a hit of serotonin or dopamine? Am I avoiding something else? Am I lacking in my protein intake, thus leaving more room for sugar cravings? Have I been neglecting my gut health, leading to more sugar cravings? See how that works? Practice this the next time you find that you are self-shaming about food choices, not being prepared, or simply not even having the energy to care. Most times it is a deeper need that we’re trying to fulfill, and food is a very easy way to mask what is actually happening.

When we’re talking about just simply not having the energy to come up with something to eat, convenience foods are quite appealing, aren’t they? Once in a while, let it happen and don’t lose sleep over it. If you find that it is happening more often than not and you’re not happy with that, then you can do the deep breath and mantra followed by the rest of the questioning process. Those questions might look something like Am I overtired and needing to nurture that? Do I need to delegate this to someone else today? Are there 2-3 things that my family could eat to fill their bellies that we have on hand and don’t need any prep? Could I plan for future days like this and think of a few things to keep on hand?

If the answers to those are all “no”, or you don’t have someone to help with any of this, let’s talk - no cost to you. I’d love to help brainstorm through this and get you set up for success in a realistic way!

I don’t want to leave you empty handed here. These days I have a collection of go-to meals that I know I can fall back on relatively easily. Most of the ingredients I would have on hand already or they’d be easily found at any grocery store. The prep time is minimal, the effort is the same, but the meals are tasty and nutritious enough to still make my health practitioner heart happy. Below you’ll find one of my family’s favorite go-to dinners. The best part is that it is so customizable. Don’t have canned salmon? Use tuna - the single serve packets are great for this. Don’t like fish at all? Use chicken! Swap out the veggies for what you have or like. We often add radishes for the extra bite-y crunch. I’ve added pickled jalapeños for a bit of sour. We’ll top it with yum yum sauce or mix up a little sriracha and mayo and drizzle that on top.

If you’d like more go-to, simple recipes to have on hand for those low energy days, let me know!

(Just a heads up that if you use the links to purchase these ingredients it the cost will be the same for you but I will make a teeny tiny amount of commission).

If I Have to Plan Dinner One More Time…

Gratitude, Appreciation & Guilt