🎯 How to Make Your Meal Plan Actually Happen (Without Giving Up by Wednesday)

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

If you think making the meal plan is the easy part but actually following through with implementing it is something else, then you’re not alone! Let’s visit about what to actually do after you’ve made the plan plus I’ll share some of my personal meal prepping tips.

A collage of five vegetarian black bean recipes, including salads, pizzas, energy bites, a rice bowl with veggies, and a black bean burger on a bun with avocado. The website blessthismessplease.com is noted at the bottom.

The “Future You” Rule
Sunday Power Hour
The Backup Plan
Recipes Perfect for Meal Prep
Free Resources for You
A Few of My Favorite Things…

How many times have you made a beautiful meal plan on Sunday….only to order pizza by Wednesday? (Please tell me I’m not the only one! 😬)

I’ve been there. SO many times.

The problem wasn’t my meal plan — it was that I didn’t set myself up for success. Here’s what I learned:

The “Future You” Rule

When you’re planning meals, you’re planning for “Future You” — the version of yourself who will actually be cooking that meal. Ask yourself: Will Wednesday-at-5pm-You really want to dice vegetables and marinate chicken? Or would Wednesday-You prefer something from the slow cooker?

Plan with your actual energy levels in mind. Put complicated meals on weekends or your less-busy days. Save the super simple stuff for your craziest days.

Sunday Power Hour

I spend about an hour on Sunday doing what I call my “power hour” prep (aka meal prep).

Power Hour Tasks:

Wash and chop vegetables for the week
Cook rice or quinoa to have ready
Brown ground beef or cook chicken
Make any slow cooker freezer packs

This ONE hour saves me probably 30-45 minutes every single night. It’s the difference between “I don’t have time to cook” and “Dinner’s already half done!”

The Backup Plan

Always – ALWAYS – have a Plan B. Mine is breakfast for dinner. I keep homemade pancake mix, eggs, and bacon on hand. When life happens and my plan falls apart, we have pancakes and nobody complains.

Want more tips on making meal planning actually stick? Grab the Meal Planning 101 guide — it includes a whole section on meal prep strategies and time-saving tricks!

Recipes Perfect for Meal Prep

12 Healthy Lunch Box Ideas for Kids or Adults

Packing 5 days of lunches for each family member is a fabulous way to spend an hour on the weekend. Just an assembly line and then done.

GET THE IDEAS

Classic Belgian Waffle Recipe

Waffles are a perfect food to make ahead and keep in the freezer for quick breakfasts or lunches, or that Plan B dinner we all need!

GET THE RECIPE PIN RECIPE

Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins

Muffins of all kinds can be made ahead for the week and even frozen for later in the month. I like to put them in lunch boxes—they'll be thawed out by lunch.

GET THE RECIPE PIN RECIPE

two white bowls of steel cut oats with fruit on red and white striped towel

Overnight Steel Cut Oats – the cold cereal method

Even oatmeal can be prepped so it's a simple morning meal! So yummy, so filling, and so quick.

GET THE RECIPE PIN RECIPE

Pork Tenderloin for Tacos in the Crock Pot

Use your slow cooker for prepping this pork tenderloing (double it for even more meals – the meat can be frozen). Have it on tacos one night, in soup another, and on sandwiches for a weekend lunch.

GET THE RECIPE PIN RECIPE

Garlic and Herb Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot

Another win for a fabulous protein made once for the entire week. We love it as roasted chicken the first night, then in chicken tortilla soup, and finally as chicken salad sandwiches.

GET THE RECIPE PIN RECIPE

Two white bowls filled with colorful salad containing shredded cabbage, carrots, edamame, white beans, and chopped peanuts, placed on a wooden board with a small bowl of peanuts and a blue checked cloth.

Mediterranean Dense Bean Salad Recipe with Cabbage

This salad is a new obsession for me, and it's a GREAT make-ahead meal for lunches, meatless dinners, or even dinner sides. (Swap out the beans for whatever you have on hand!)

GET THE RECIPE PIN RECIPE

round white bowl of homemade bolognese sauce with garnish on white tablecloth

The Best Homemade Bolognese Sauce

Another recipe that does well made-ahead and can be used for many different recipes — over pasta, zoodles, baked potatoes, or meatballs.

GET THE RECIPE PIN RECIPE

The Best Pizza Dough Recipe | Easy Homemade Crust for Beginners

Easy Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

Pizza dough can be prepped ahead for the fridge (later today or tomorrow) or frozen for later. Slice up any veggies, grate the cheese, and make pizza sauce so you can throw a pizza in the oven in less than 15 minutes later in the week!

GET THE RECIPE PIN RECIPE

Rows of bite-sized no bake energy bites with various mix-ins, including chocolate chips, oats, and colorful candy pieces, arranged neatly on a white surface.

No Bake Energy Bites: 25 Easy Snack Recipes

And I can't talk meal prep without including the quintessential no-bake snacks—energy bits (aka energy balls). So many options for ingredients and they last so long in the fridge or freezer.

GET THE RECIPES

I hope you found some helpful ideas for prepping breakfasts, lunches, dinners, or even snacks. I’d love to hear any ideas you have so post in the comments below to share.

Thank you for being here! I so appreciate you,

Melissa

A variety of healthy foods are arranged on a table, including eggs, cooked chicken strips, sliced vegetables, grapes, and round chocolate snack balls. The image has an orange border and the website blessthismessplease.com at the bottom.

Free Resources for You

Free 20-page Meal Planning 101 Guide
Ready, Set, Sourdough – Free guide on how to get started with sourdough!
Sourdough Starter video course – Create your own sourdough starter with these 7 daily videos (day 7 is making the loaf of bread!)
Crocktober: 31 Days of Crock-Pot Recipes – Free download with all 31 recipes.