14+ Free Printable Weekly Meal Plan Templates [Word, Excel, PDF]

If you usually cook meals for more than one person, then it is best to create a meal plan template. With this useful tool, you will be able to make sure the dietary of everyone is well met, which is essential in ensuring you live a healthy lifestyle.

A meal plan is a detailed plan that allows lets you know what to cook in advance. Thanks to this, you get to save yourself from the last-minute rush of trying to decide what to eat. This saves you not only time spent in the whole cooking process but also makes your life a lot easier. Therefore, you get to enjoy the cooking process a lot more while ensuring everybody enjoys the meals.

Here are a few weekly meal plan examples and templates available in MS Word, Excel and PDF Format.

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Benefits of Using a Meal Plan Template

Having a meal plan template is essential as it helps improve your diet, thereby improving your overall health. Some of the benefits to expect for having a meal plan include;

• Learn portion control: Having a meal plan helps you know the quantity of food you are eating. This then ensures you do not overeat when eating out as restaurants might serve a bigger portion that what you want.
• Eliminates any indecision: Going into your kitchen and finding nothing inspiring to cook is usually very frustrating. Because of this indecision, you end up wasting a lot of time, which then gives room for procrastination. This is something you never need to worry about when you have a meal plan.
• Reduce food wastage: A meal plan helps you go shopping for commodities needed for a specified duration. Thus, you never need to worry about any food items going stale while still in your freezer.
• Save money: You should always strive to save money, and using a meal plan is an excellent way of doing this. This is because having a meal plan and sticking to it helps you avoid buying any unnecessary items from the grocery store.
• Enjoy more variety: Having a meal plan helps you eat a wider variety of foods instead of consuming the same meal repeatedly. As a result, you get to include more vegetables and fruits in your diet, which are essential in lowering the chances of getting chronic lifestyle illnesses.
• Less bad choices: With a meal plan in place, you are less likely to eat unhealthy meals such as ready or takeaway meals. This helps ensure you stick to a healthy diet, which is essential in improving your overall wellbeing.

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So why should you create a meal plan? This is a question you possibly are asking yourself, and here are some things to consider that will help come up with a suitable meal plan.

• Check your calendar: You should look at your weekly or monthly schedule to know what events are planned and thus be able to make the appropriate preparations. For instance, nights, when meals need to be ready to go after your kids, come piano lessons or soccer practice. Also, it might include increasing food quantity when expecting guests.
• Examine your budget: It is vital that you confirm what is the set budget and thus be able to make preparations accordingly. Your grocery budget should be divided into weeks, as this helps you in the planning process.
• Look for recipes: You can either ask friends or do a quick online search to come up with the ideal recipes. Consequently, customize your meal plan to use of the available ingredients.
• Set aside time to plan your meals before the week starts: You should take around 30 minutes to one hour, creating a grocery list and meal plan of what to have the following week.
• Consult everyone who will eat your meal: Ask the persons in your house who will be enjoying the meal plan what meals they would love to eat the subsequent week. You can also take this opportunity to share cooking responsibilities.
• Look through your freezer, fridge ad pantry: Check to see whether there is something that is about to expire soon. If there is, then include this in your meal plan to use it before it goes stale.
• Go shopping: You should now go shopping for everything on your list and resists the temptation to buy anything else.

Having a meal plan should never be overlooked, especially if you want to save money and time and stick to a healthy diet. Now that you know this, make sure to create a meal plan and stick to it to realize its amazing benefits.