Happy New Year planner friends! I’m back on the Limelife Blog to share how I am using my Layout C in my planner starting this January. Back in July, I ordered my planner for the new year. I ordered two….because I really wanted to try Layout L, but being a creature of habit, I also ordered Layout C which I had been using for a year, just in case I didn’t like Layout L. Well, I love Layout L, and I can’t stand to have an entire planner not get used, especially when it’s so pretty. So, I’m jumping on that whole let’s get healthy band wagon and use my layout C to help me do this. I have a husband and two boys who can eat anything and everything they want and they are not squishy and cuddly like I am. I don’t have an end goal in sight, I just want to feel better, and not be quite as squishy and cuddly. My goal is to move more, eat healthier and have more energy. I am super private about this type of stuff, mostly because I do not want people hounding me to join their weight loss groups, so I was really hesitant to share how I am using this in my planner. One thing that I have learned over the past couple years in the planner community though is how supportive and loving of a community it is. Plus I have gotten better at just saying NOPE. So here we go! This is how I am using layout C in my planner for the next year!

I ordered both 7x9 planners this year uncoiled and Limelife punched it for me to fit A-5 ring planners. The reason I requested this is because I love moving things around, adding sections, taking out sections and using things in a creative way. At the back of my planner, I created a “Loosing It” section to track my health, movement and mood. I started out by taking the weekly pages for January and washi taping them. I dug into my fun washi tape stash, the cutesie ones that I hardly ever use, to make it a bright and fun part of my planner since at times, I’m sure I’m not going to feel so excited about visiting these pages.

Layout C has 6 boxes to use daily, so I wanted to brainstorm how I’m going to organize this before I just jumped right in and started stamping. After I mapped out how to use my boxes, I dug through my stamps and got everything I needed to I could quickly get this layout done.  I decided to stamp an entire month at a time because I know that this will be an easy section to neglect and not set up every week.

The first two boxes I’m using for food/meal tracking. Boxes 3 & 4 will be used for Carb and Sugar tracking (the addiction is real!), and the last two boxes will be to track movement and mood. I will color in what mood I am in every day. When choosing the four mood options, happy, meh, irritated, and stressed were the four most common that I am, as much as I hate to admit. Friday will be my weigh in day.

Lastly I added my menu section so I can plan for the week, and my water jug to make sure I’m drinking enough water. This actually shouldn’t be a problem for me, I love water. I just love coffee so much too, and will often drink coffee well into the afternoon instead of switching over to my water earlier in the day. For the entire month of January, the format will be the same. Come February, I will evaluate and see if I need to change anything, but for now, this is feeling good, and most importantly, feeling doable for me.

I wanted to add something fun to this whole section of my planner. So I made a tracker for pounds lost. I printed out a digi stamp and colored her, cut the section marker on my Cricut, and stamped hearts to color in for each pound lost.

Since I did 4 weeks at once, this project took me about an hour. I kept it simple, usable and plenty of room to write. The great thing about Limelife Layouts, is that they can be used in multiple ways, not just for planning our busy days. It’s fun to figure out how to use what I have and make it work for me, and there are so many wonderful planner girls out there that inspire me to be creative and think outside the box. I hope that I was able to share some of that inspiration with you as well!

As always, thanks so much for taking time to stop by and check out the blog! You can find me on Instagram: glam2plan_pnw

See you soon!

~Lindsay

Good news! Meal planning is a lot simpler than most people think and it requires just a little time and effort. What’s the best way to start meal planning? Just start! There’s no right or wrong way to do it. The best method is the one that works for you. With a few simple systems in place, you’ll be all set for success!

Here are 3 reasons I meal plan:

1. It saves me time.

I grocery shop once per week and I can usually be in and out in 20-30 minutes. As someone who grocery shops with a toddler, this is amazing. Even if you don’t grocery shop with a tiny “helper,” who doesn’t want extra time for the things you really want to do?

I know exactly what I need so I don’t spend hours wandering the aisles and I don’t have to try to figure out meals on the fly. I save time at home as well because I know what’s for dinner. No digging in the fridge and pantry trying to throw something together. Prep work (chopping veggies, marinating meat) can be done ahead of time, like in the morning or on the weekends, to save extra time in the evenings when things are more hectic.

2. We eat much healthier.

Before meal planning, it would be 4:00 pm and I still didn’t know what we were having for dinner. I usually had food in the house, but the meat might not be thawed or I might have just bought things willy nilly while I was at the grocery and not actually have the ingredients for any meals. There were a lot of drive thrus, a lot of pizza nights and a lot of cereal for dinner. Planning healthy meals ahead of time keeps our family on track with our goals for healthy living.

3. It saves us money.

Impulse buys can be super easy if you step foot in a grocery store without a plan and a list. The stores are actually designed to make us buy things we don’t really need.  I take my notebook with my Meal Planning Add-On Pages to the store with me and I stick to my shopping list. Please keep in mind the pictures I'm sharing in this post are of the older version of the add-on, you can see the new design if you click here.

I usually meal plan on Sunday and use store circulars to plan our meals around what’s on sale. This way, I can get the most bang for our buck. Besides the savings in the actual grocery, it eliminates the cost of those emergency drive thru or pizza trips I mentioned before.

*****

While I’ve been meal planning for quite some time, I started using the Limelife Planners Meal Planning Add-On Pages about six months ago. It has totally streamlined the process and made it even easier!  I love having my meal plan and my grocery list all in one place. I also really like having a place to write my grocery budget for the week as well as another space to write how much I actually spent.

The boxes for each day are plenty big enough to plan main dishes and sides. I use it exclusively for planning dinners because our breakfasts and lunches are a rotation of very simple choices. If you wanted to plan all of your meals and snacks, there’s plenty of room for that, too!

Another great feature of the add-on is the Family Favorites pages. If I get stuck during my weekly meal plan session, I can refer to these for instant inspiration. My pages are color coded by type of protein (chicken, beef, pork, vegetarian, seafood) and I used a separate color to designate crock pot meals. I also use these colors when I meal plan to make sure we have a good variety. If we have an on-the-go day coming up, I can quickly and easily pick out a crock pot meal. If we try a new recipe that we love, I add it to the Family Favorites pages so I can be sure to make it again.

We’d love to see the ways you’re using your Limelife Planner and planner add-on to meal plan! Share your pics on social media and tag them with the hashtags #lovemylimelife and #limelifeplanners.

This blog post was written by Katie Clark for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. For more information about Katie visit her on Instagram @katiedidproductions. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.