Meal Planning

This is a topic that I have recently become very interested in. I just wonder how people do it and if it really does help. Does it help make things easier at home knowing what you are going to make instead of having that hour where you argue with yourself everyday about what you want? Does it really help you save money on groceries since you are shopping from a list that you need to make what you are planning? What happens when you suddenly are invited out to dinner? Or you won't be home early enough to make what you planned because you were stuck at work?

These are the questions I have. Along with others I'm sure. On one hand, I do think that it's a good idea to meal plan to a point. I have not done it before and I would like to start. I think it would help with keeping on track with Weight Watchers. If you know what you are having for dinner you can plan the rest of your day. And if something comes up during the day, you will already know how many points you had planned for dinner and you can help yourself that way. It will help you stay on track, or make you really think if you want to give something up so you can have something else.

Planning is always a great idea when it comes to having a busy lifestyle. It provides peace of mind, it takes some of the guess work out of your day, and it's just a plan - it can always be changed. What happens when it's time to make dinner and that really isn't what you want? My black and white brain says I have to eat it anyway. But then I will screw up later in the day because I didn't have something I really wanted and that will lead me to make bad choices. I'm very black and white when it comes to certain things. And like I've said before, I need to learn to understand the grey area.

I'm just afraid that with the grey area, things will get off track. If I go grey once, who's to say I won't get out of control and just go wild? I know it sounds silly, but this is the craziness that I live with everyday going on inside my head. And since it's going on inside my head, I can't get away from it. I need to look at everything as making life style changes. Not that I'm just doing all this to lose weight. I'm doing it to get healthier and I will most likely need to do it for the rest of my life to be able to maintain it. And that thought shouldn't be scary. It should make me excited.

I'm making life changes. And they are for the better. Life is going to continue on whether I do it or not. I can either work on myself and become a better person all around. Or I can sit and wallow about how I haven't done anything to help myself and look at where I am now. I'm going to get older and time is going to pass me by. So either I deal with this and make some changes or just feel bad for myself. I'm going to make mistakes and I'm going to have bad days. But I need to deal with that and move on. I can't keep beating myself and then undoing all my hard work. How is that helping? It's not. But I have to get that through my thick skull!