How I Meal Plan Each Week 🥑 (and Why I Don’t Obsess Over Food Anymore)

Jun 11

If meal planning feels like a chore, you’re not alone. In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on the system I use every single week to make food feel simple, flexible, and actually enjoyable.

Gone are the days of yo-yo dieting, food guilt, and trying to follow someone else’s rigid plan. Today, I’m walking you through how I’ve reclaimed my relationship with food and how I’ve created a system that works with real life—not against it.

In this POST, we’ll talk about:

What intuitive eating really looks like
How I shifted to a mostly meatless lifestyle (without labels)
My 5-step meal planning system that’s realistic and repeatable

LET’S DIVE IN. 🖤

Hey hey friend— and welcome back to the show! I’m so excited you’re here because today we’re talking about something that can feel really overwhelming—but doesn’t have to be: meal planning.

Now, if you follow me on social, you already know I’m that girl in the produce aisle with a plan, a grocery list, and probably a podcast in my ears. Grocery hauls? Weekly meal planning? I love it.

But it wasn’t always this way.

I used to have a really complicated relationship with food. I bounced between extremes—yo-yo dieting, food shame, restriction, binging, all of it. For a long time, I didn’t have a rhythm. I didn’t have peace. Food was either something to control or something to feel guilty about.

That’s why today I want to pass along a system that’s helped me completely shift my relationship with food—and honestly? My relationship with myself.
It's simple. It's flexible. It's repeatable. And my hope is that it gives you something to try in your own life this week.

We’ll talk about:

What intuitive eating actually is
Why I eat mostly meatless (and don’t label myself)
And how I meal plan every week in a way that supports my energy—not drains it.

But before we dive in—I have to tell you…

📣 Enrollment is OPEN for summer in The Sisterhood Membership!
If you’ve been feeling disconnected from yourself, overwhelmed by “healthy habits,” or just ready for a reset—this is your invitation.

This season’s theme is RECLAIM YOUR SUMMER—a 12-week wellness reset for your mind, body, and spirit. We’re focusing on rhythms, nourishment, movement, rest, play, and showing up for the life you want without the burnout.

And we’re kicking it all off with our summer challenge:
✨ RECLAIM30—30 days of gentle, sustainable habits to help you feel better in your body and your life.

Come join us. It’s going to be real, supportive, and deeply refreshing.

Okay—back to the episode.

What Is Intuitive Eating?

Let’s clear something up first: “healthy” doesn’t mean perfect.

I used to think it did. I thought healthy meant hitting macros. Or eating clean. Or following a strict program.
And when I couldn’t keep up? I’d swing hard in the opposite direction—fast food, skipping meals, shame, guilt… repeat.

It wasn’t sustainable. It wasn’t kind.
And it definitely wasn’t making me feel my best.

That’s when I started learning about intuitive eating.

Here’s the difference:

Diet culture says: You need rules, restriction, and willpower.
Intuitive eating says: You need trust, awareness, and self-respect.

Intuitive eating isn’t about “eating whatever you want, whenever you want.” It’s about listening to your body. Learning what foods give you energy, which ones don’t. Noticing when you're hungry or full. Allowing space for joy and nourishment.

It’s also about flexibility. People want to but you in a box and label what + how you eat. That’s just not it for me. There’s no “box” when you eat intuitively. Exploring how food makes me feel started when I got curious and tried Meatless Mondays— it started as a fun way to challenge myself to cook more. But it slowly evolved into a mostly meatless lifestyle that felt better for my body, my digestion, and honestly—my creativity in the kitchen.

Some weeks I eat fully plant-based. Some weeks I’m making shrimp tacos and throwing feta on everything. And I refuse to turn down real Texas BBQ if the opportunity presents itself.
There’s no shame in listening to what your body needs and changing it up.

For me, intuitive eating feels like a gentle rebellion against diet culture. It’s a return to trusting yourself.
And that’s hard when the world’s been shouting that your body can’t be trusted.

If you’ve ever downloaded a new food tracking app with hope, only to delete it 3 weeks later with guilt...
If you’ve ever bounced from keto to low-carb to intermittent fasting, all while feeling like something’s wrong with you...

You’re not alone.
And it’s not your fault.
Those systems are built on distrust—on the idea that you need external rules to manage your internal world.

So what does intuitive eating actually look like in practice?

Here are a few shifts that helped me:

From: “I blew it this weekend, I’ll start over Monday.”
To: “What does my body need today to feel better than it did yesterday?”
From: “I can’t eat after 7pm.”
To: “I’m hungry, and I honor that need.”
From: “This food is ‘bad.’”
To: “No food has moral value. I can choose what supports me best today.”

A few principles I live by now:

Gentle Nutrition: I know what foods give me energy. I also know there’s room for joy and spontaneity.
Body Cues > Food Rules: I listen to hunger, fullness, cravings, and fatigue as information—not failure.
Mindset over Macros: I care about how food makes me feel—not just what it adds up to on paper.

This took time, friend. It’s a journey. But the more you practice, the more trust gets rebuilt.

My 5-Step Meal Planning System

So let’s get practical. I want to share with you the system I use every single week to stay consistent, even in full seasons:

1. Pick Your Planning Day – And Protect It

Think of this like a weekly meeting with your future self.
Ask: When do I naturally have the time and energy to think about food?

For me, that’s either Thursday or Friday. It’s my end of week, close-the-loop energy. I take 10–15 minutes to map out what’s happening the following week, including what I want meals to feel like. Do I need ease? Do I want to try a new recipe? Is there something fun or festive coming up? What’s in season or what seasonal meals am I craving? I also delegate here ladies. Don’t be afraid to be your family or roommates in charge of certain days.

✨ Micro Tip: Pair this with something you enjoy. Favorite drink, playlist, or candle to set a vibe and make it feel fun— not like a chore.

2. Check Your Calendar + Kitchen

This is about reducing overwhelm before it even starts.

Look at what’s already going on: busy evenings? Travel days? Hosting friends?
Take inventory of what’s in your fridge and pantry—don’t forget leftovers or anything from this past week that you need to use up.

✨ Coaching Insight: This isn’t about doing more. It’s about creating meals that support the season you’re actually in—not the idealized one on Pinterest.

3. Plan Out Your Week

Let’s be real: planning seven dinners, three meals a day, plus snacks? That’s a recipe for burnout.

I don’t plan every single thing we eat—I plan anchors that give structure and rhythm without boxing me in.

Each week, I pick 3–5 meals that:
✔ Are simple and nourishing
✔ Fit our schedule
✔ Sound good to eat
✔ Use what I already have, if possible

Some meals repeat week to week (like tacos or bowls). Some change with the season. Here’s an idea of what our weekly dinner rhythm usually looks like:

Sunday: Big Dinner
→ I always make extra for Monday.
Monday: Leftovers from Sunday
Tuesday: Taco Night or Stir Fry Night
Wednesday: Simple Weeknight Meal from my "faves”
Thursday: Charlie typically cooks
Friday: Takeout or Build Your Own Pizza
Saturday: Flexible—grill out, leftovers, or dinner out

Pro Tip: Keep a running list in your phone of your “Tried + True” faves so when your brain is tired, you’ve got easy go-to’s ready.

And for breakfast + lunch? Keep it repeatable.
I rotate through staples like:

Breakfast: egg cups, bagels and hard boiled eggs, or brekkie tacos/sammies
Lunch: bento boxes, salads, wraps, leftovers (making double portions for dinner has been a GAME CHANGER lately in our house since opening the coffee shop)

✨ This isn’t about perfection. It’s about making the decision fatigue around meals easier—so you can reclaim energy, time, and presence around food again.

4. Build Your Grocery List

Once I’ve picked my meals, I pull out my weekly meal planning notepad—it’s simple, structured, and saves my brain.

One side is for daily meals and snacks (Monday through Sunday).
The other is a grocery list broken down by store sections so I’m not zig-zagging all over the place.

I jot down:
✔ What we’re eating each day (just the anchor meals + snacks if needed)
✔ Any ingredients I need to buy for those meals
✔ Staples we’ve run out of during the week (I keep the pad visible on the counter so we can add as we go)

PRO TIP:
If you’re in a full season? Don’t fight for margin—buy some back.
I take my list and plug it straight into Target online and do a store pickup. Zero impulse purchases. Zero stress. It’s a game-changer.

🛒 Whether you love shopping or want to be in and out as fast as possible, this step sets you up to succeed. When the plan is visible and the list is clear, it’s way easier to follow through.

5. Romanticize The Routine

This final step is where I bring joy and presence into the plan. We’ve talked about it in this space before, but if a routine turns into a rut, it’s time to shake things up. Routines are meant to serve you, not cage you in.

So, last step before I close out my grocery list, I pause and think:

✨ What might future me want this week?

Maybe Tuesday’s been a long day and I’ll want a fun mocktail while making tacos.
Maybe Sunday night calls for a cozy popcorn + movie moment.
Maybe I’ll want fresh fruit with breakfast or protein snacks for those 3pm hanger moments.

This is where I plan for ease, for comfort, and for moments I’ll actually enjoy—so I’m not staring into the fridge later feeling uninspired or frustrated bc the things I bought I don’t even want to eat.

This step is your invitation to romanticize your life in the smallest ways:

Stock your favorite sparkling water.
Get a dessert you’ll actually look forward to.
Buy flowers if that makes your kitchen feel a little more special.
Choose foods that support you but also delight you.

💭 This isn’t about perfection. It’s about intentionality.

Let’s get away from restrictiveness when it comes to our eating habits. All that does is lead to more diet culture. And I want different for you.

Whew—okay friend, that was a full one. So let’s zoom out and recap what we walked through today:

✻ We talked about intuitive eating—what it is, what it isn’t, and how it can help you rebuild trust with your body.
✻ I shared my mostly meatless journey and why I don’t believe in labeling or rigid food rules.
✻ And I walked you through my exact 5-step meal planning system—one that’s flexible, supportive, and designed to work in real-life seasons like yours.

If nothing else, I hope today reminded you that food can be fun again.
That wellness doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
That you’re allowed to feel good in your body without guilt, shame, or burnout.

And if that kind of approach feels like the refresh you’ve been craving… then this is your sign to come join us this summer inside The Sisterhood Membership. 💛

This season’s theme is RECLAIM YOUR SUMMER—a 12-week wellness reset for your mind, body, and spirit. We’re focusing on gentle rhythms, nourishment, rest, movement, joy, and showing up for yourself in a way that feels sustainable and real.

And we’re kicking it all off with RECLAIM30, a 30-day challenge filled with the very kinds of habits we talked about today—like intuitive nourishment, movement that feels good, hydration, rest, and mental hygiene.

✨ It’s your invitation to reset without pressure and realign with what truly matters.

So if your soul whispered “this is what I need” while listening to today’s episode—trust that.
We’re saving a spot for you.

You can get all the details and join us at www.inspirebeautybritt.com/jointhesisterhood

Thanks for tuning in, friend.
Your growth, your wellness, your journey—it matters.
And I’m cheering you on always and I can’t wait to see you back here next week on The Self Care Sisterhood Podcast. 🖤🤟🏼

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