We all have busy lives.....kids, work, and a myriad other responsibilities fill our time.
Healthy eating can be one of the first things to slip when life gets too much, yet it is the thing that can fuel you through your day and give you the energy and nutrients your body needs to thrive.
Do you have a meal plan for the week? I love a plan - not just for the "perfect" scenarios but for my busy times too. That way, I always have something to fall back on when life feels full-on.
Meal planning is one of the most powerful tools to make life easier - and it doesn’t have to be complicated. The easier you can make it, the more likely it is to work.
The Daily Supermarket Dash
I want to tell you about how meal planning lifted the overwhelm for one of my clients.
Let’s call her Sarah.
Sarah is a highly successful business owner, a mum of two teenagers, and she also supports her elderly mum. Like so many of us, she was constantly rushing - from work calls to caring duties - and mealtimes had become another stress.
Most evenings, she’d find herself dashing to the supermarket on the way home, grabbing whatever she could for dinner. There wasn’t much structure, and even though she was doing her best, it often felt like she was running on empty.
We talked about simple structure - not strict meal prepping or complicated systems - just a bit of gentle planning to make life easier.
Sarah decided to give it a go. She created a weekly meal plan, pinned it to the fridge, and did one main shop with a quick top-up midweek. Within a couple of weeks, she noticed a big shift.
Instead of daily stress about what to cook, she already knew what was on the menu.
And one evening, when she was tied up on a late work call, her husband noticed the plan on the fridge, checked what was for dinner, and got started without needing to ask.
When Sarah came downstairs, dinner was ready - and all because there was a simple plan in place.
It gave her extra time, reduced her mental load, and even helped her husband feel more involved in family meals. That one small change created a ripple effect across the whole household.
Structure Creates Space
This story captures what I see so often: when we create structure, we also create breathing space.
A simple plan doesn’t just help with food - it helps with energy, relationships, and mental load. It takes the decision-making pressure off, and it means we’re not constantly firefighting.
Meal planning doesn’t have to mean cooking everything from scratch or filling the freezer with homemade meals. Sometimes it’s just knowing what you’re going to cook, or making sure the right ingredients are in.
When everyone can see the plan - whether it’s partners, teens, or even older kids - they can help out. And that’s such an important part of sharing the load at home.
Small Steps, Big Impact
So, if life feels chaotic right now, start small.
- Write down three meals for the week.
- Put the plan somewhere visible.
- Shop once with those meals in mind.
You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can feel the difference.