Why Your Meal Plan Isn't Working (and how to fix it)

When you hear the words “meal planning”, do you instantly yawn because meal planning is boring and cumbersome? Or, perhaps those two little words stress you out, because it’s a lot of work to figure out what to eat for an entire week, cater to everyone else in the family’s preferences, and you get stuck on the little details before you even start (in case you’re curious, that one is me a lot of the time!)

We know that meal planning is helpful for our wallets, but why can’t we seem to actually do it?? If your meal plan looks perfect on paper and still falls apart in real life, you’re definitely not alone. Too much variety, unrealistic expectations, and inexperience are often to blame!

In this post, we’ll review 6 common meal planning mistakes, and problem solve with some real-world solutions to help you build a meal plan that you can stick to.

Problem 1: you’re planning too much variety

The Problem: You know it’s important to eat a variety of foods, so that’s what you plan for – no two things repeat through the week, because we need variety on our plates!

Why It Fails: When you are planning for brand new meals every day of the week, your grocery cost is higher, prep time takes longer, and decision fatigue bogs you down every week as you sit down to make the meal plan.

The Solution: There are a couple of possible solutions for this one. Yes, variety is great, but we don’t need a huge abundance of different things every single day!

• Option 1: mix and match meal plan link to associated post. Plan and prep 2-3 protein choices and 1-2 carb choices, and have veggies prepped or available to round out your plate. Then, just mix and match – each meal feels brand new even though it’s the same things being swapped around. Try a different sauce or toppings for even more variety.

• Option 2: if it’s a struggle to just come up with the meals in the first place, embrace repetition and rotation. If you want different meals weekly, come up with a list of 10-15 favourite meals that you know you and your people will always love. Then, just decide where to drop them into the weekly meal plan. Maybe these repeat favourites will fill the whole week, maybe you just want to use 1 or 2 and allow some space for new recipes to try, it’s up to you – but at least some of that decision making is done. If you don’t mind repetition, try building a simple 2-3 week menu to rotate. For both of these options, review every couple of months and adjust for seasonal favourites, adding a new recipe that now makes the cut, or getting rid of the ones you’re bored of. Decision paralysis is minimal because the big decisions are already taken care of, now you just have to drag and drop into the day of the week where it makes the most sense!

Problem 2: you’re not planning for leftovers

The Problem: You plan to cook a different dinner each week, a fresh lunch every day, and a variety of snacks on hand at all times. It feels overwhelming to have to cook a brand new thing every day!

Why it fails: More cooking, more time spent in the kitchen, more overwhelm, and ultimately may lead to wasted food.

The Solution: No one said you have to have brand new meals every dang day! Embrace leftovers to reduce how much time it takes to get a meal on the table or in the lunchbox – believe me, future you will be so grateful! Try planning meals that intentionally create leftovers (soups, casseroles) or make extra of your recipe to intentionally have extras for lunch or freezing for future you to have a quick heat-and-serve option.

Problem 3: life gets in the way

The Problem: You have great intentions to cook a nutritious dinner when you get home from work – but oh no, traffic was terrible and now you don’t have enough time to make that thing before the kids turn rabid. I guess you’ll just have to order pizza, again, and hope you can try again tomorrow (narrator: but she didn’t try again the next day, because traffic is always terrible, and all the ingredients went bad)

Why It Fails: Your expectations are high but there aren’t enough hours in the day, especially when a wrench (or traffic jam, illness, power outage, whatever) gets thrown into your great plan. You then default to ordering in and spending more money on food, even though you have food in the fridge.

The Solution:  Listen, I get it. Life happens sometimes and it sucks when your great ideas never come to fruition. We’ve all been there, and pizza delivery exists for a reason on those one-off days. It can help to have a well-stocked pantry and freezer to string together a quick and easy meal for those times when it just is what it is (stay tuned for a future post on this). Eggs and toast or sandwiches can be a quick save at times like these!

But, if this situation happens to you frequently (as it does to me, like, OFTEN), perhaps you need a different approach to your meal plan. Mix-and-match options make dinners quick and simple on busy nights and days when you’re just too tired to think straight. Maybe you can stash some leftovers from Problem 2 in the freezer for just such an occasion. For me personally, rush hour traffic is always a nightmare. I also have a chronic disease that can cause illness to come on fast and furious with little warning – so I’ve learned to plan ahead for these emergency situations by keeping a couple of things in the freezer and pantry that can be easily cobbled together when my energy level is at the bottom of the tank. If all else fails, sometimes the pizza guy rescues us, sometimes it’s cereal for dinner. As a dietitian mom it has taken a long time for me to let go of my high expectations for mealtime for my kids, but some days I will just call it a win if everyone gets fed.

Problem 4: your expectations are too high

The Problem: meal planning takes FOREVER because you obsess over each ingredient and each meal, ensuring a beautiful Pinterest-perfect balanced plate at all times. Sure it takes a few hours to make a meal plan, and sure you’re exhausted just thinking about what comes next to prepare it all. You end up feeling overwhelmed, overburdened, and maybe even a little resentful of this meal plan that is running your life.

Why it fails: Overly fixating on the small details leads to burnout. You’re not likely to feel motivated to keep planning every week if it takes you literally HOURS to slog through it!

Solution: keep it simple, and keep it flexible. You don’t have to be perfect to have a meal plan, and not every meal is going to be perfectly balanced. That’s OK! A simpler meal plan that you can actually stick to beats a rigid plan any day.

Problem 5: you’re not prepping ahead

The Problem: planning is done, yay! But nothing is prepped ahead of time

Why it fails: traffic is bad and you ran out of time, you and the kids are hangry, and the plan falls apart.

Solution: designate prep time weekly. Chop veggies and fruits in advance, pre-cook grains and proteins. If you’re using the oven for one thing, may as well pop something else in there too.

We've all had the experience of good intentions that turned out to be a flop. Jut remember that failed meal plans aren’t about you failing. Meal planning is a skill, it takes time, trial and error, and adjusting to make it better over time. It may take some time to personalize your meal planning style, to figure out what makes sense for you and your circumstances.

Ready to make meal planning actually work for you? Discover the surprising benefits beyond saving money - you might be more motivated than ever to give it another try.