{"id":325,"date":"2016-07-03T14:13:53","date_gmt":"2016-07-03T21:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nodietliving.com\/home\/?p=325"},"modified":"2016-07-25T19:04:04","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T02:04:04","slug":"are-you-a-planner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nodietliving.com\/home\/2016\/07\/03\/are-you-a-planner\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You a Planner?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>[et_pb_section admin_label=\u201dsection\u201d][et_pb_row admin_label=\u201dRow\u201d][et_pb_column type=\u201d4_4\u2033][et_pb_code admin_label=\u201dCode: Google Analytics\u201d global_module=\u201d25375\u2033 saved_tabs=\u201dall\u201d]<script> (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i[\u2018GoogleAnalyticsObject\u2019]=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,\u2019script\u2019,\u2019https:\/\/www.google-analytics.com\/analytics.js\u2019,\u2019ga\u2019); ga(\u2018create\u2019, \u2018UA-80928733-1\u2019, \u2018auto\u2019); ga(\u2018send\u2019, \u2018pageview\u2019);[\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=\u201dRow\u201d][et_pb_column type=\u201d4_4\u2033][et_pb_post_title admin_label=\u201dPost Title\u201d title=\u201don\u201d meta=\u201don\u201d author=\u201don\u201d date=\u201don\u201d categories=\u201don\u201d comments=\u201don\u201d featured_image=\u201don\u201d featured_placement=\u201dbackground\u201d parallax_effect=\u201doff\u201d parallax_method=\u201don\u201d text_orientation=\u201dcenter\u201d text_color=\u201dlight\u201d text_background=\u201don\u201d text_bg_color=\u201d#086a87\u2033 module_bg_color=\u201drgba(255,255,255,0)\u201d title_all_caps=\u201doff\u201d use_border_color=\u201doff\u201d border_color=\u201d#ffffff\u201d border_style=\u201dsolid\u201d] [\/et_pb_post_title][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=\u201drow\u201d][et_pb_column type=\u201d4_4\u2033][et_pb_text admin_label=\u201dText\u201d background_layout=\u201dlight\u201d text_orientation=\u201dleft\u201d use_border_color=\u201doff\u201d border_color=\u201d#ffffff\u201d border_style=\u201dsolid\u201d]\n

Meal planner, that is. I can honestly say I am not. I have a friend who is great at planning her family meals while able to cook\u00a0low carbohydrate alternatives for herself. She posts her dinner meals on Facebook all the time and I am truly envious. \u00a0They look yummy, sound yummy, and if my browser had an olfactory plugin, I\u2019m sure I\u2019d say they smell yummy, too. \u00a0Not surprisingly, she\u2019s definitely a meal planner.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. \u00a0By nature I am a total planner\/organizer. I function better when things are written down and displayed especially when several people are involved. For me, I\u2019d be planning meals for one. Maybe that\u2019s why it seems time consuming. \u00a0Normally, I can just toss ingredients together after raiding\u00a0the refrigerator\u2019s contents. My difficulty lately is actually having usable ingredients IN the refrigerator.<\/p>\n

$\"dreamstime_s_27253885\"$
\nYou might remember my sister visited a recently, and when she opened my\u00a0fridge, she had no words. \u00a0I think there was cheese, eggs, lettuce, radishes, and a couple of alcoholic root beers. \u00a0Okay\u2026there were a few other things, but not much that\u00a0could be used to throw a meal together\u2026especially not a fresh and healthy one. What happened to my healthy eating practices?<\/p>\n

I know french fries contributed to my eating detour. I gave into a craving for them\u2026for about a month, 2-3 times each week. It doesn\u2019t help I walk past the local hamburger joint to get to my corner pharmacy. I know. That\u2019s not an acceptable excuse. So I recently (this morning) decided to try meal planning again.<\/p>\n

I did a search on Pinterest for easy to use forms. \u00a0I don\u2019t recommend this. You\u2019ll find calendar forms, lists divided into grocery store departments, fancy ones with graphics, \u00a0plain ones printable at home, colorful ones, and simple black and white ones. It was really overwhelming.<\/p>\n

I quickly abandoned that and did a Google search. \u00a0I discovered several websites offering software, and some even offer services where real people help you with your planning needs. Some software is\u00a0free, none of the service based programs were free. \u00a0Not shocking. I found Plan to Eat<\/a>. A responsive app that works on\u00a0any mobile device and also works with your desktop\/laptop. \u00a0This seemed like a good fit as I\u2019m always online looking for new healthy recipes on my laptop or my tablet. Then I can use my mobile at the grocery store. It has a \u201cclipper\u201d feature allowing you to drag recipes into your meal planner from wherever you find them\u00a0on the internet. I was impressed by other\u00a0features designed to give you option. \u00a0So, I\u2019m going to do the free 30-day trial. \u00a0I registered and am going to throw myself into planning.<\/p>\n

Join me, if you want to try the free trial,too. \u00a0Just click here<\/a>\u00a0or on the pretty picture below.\u00a0You could be my first recipe swap friend. I\u2019ll post a progress report in a week. Wish me luck!<\/p>\n

$\"Simple$ <\/a><\/p>\n