Welcome to the course!

In this module, I’ll provide an introduction of the course and I’ll share a little bit about me and why I created this course for YOU.

I’ll also talk about how the course is structured, to include the accompanying workbook and other resources (located within this course unit). It’s helpful the documents handy as you move through the course.

Transcript

Welcome to Meal planning and meal prep made easy. 

 I’m Tracey Smith and I created this course and I’ll be taking you through the course modules or lessons.  

I’m a dietitian by training, but this isn’t about nutrition. Let’s be honest, you all generally know what to eat for optimal health and what works best for you and your family. You have control and you get to decide what goes into your body!

I’m here to help you put a plan in place and to make it happen.  Because that’s the challenge isn’t it? Making a plan and following through on that plan!

So often we make a plan and don’t follow through. Not here, not now.

In this course, we redefine meal planning and meal prep so that it fits into your lifestyle and you’ll have a blueprint plan that is perfect for you and your family.  We are going to ditch the self‐judgement that comes up when you think about what you “should” do.

And we’re going to ditch unrealistic expectations that work for us.

This course is also not a series of recipes. There is no shortage of recipes out there (you probably have MANY saved on your phone). But, I will offer you some simple, go‐to meal ideas that I prepare for me and my family, as an example of the strategy in action. We’re not talking about fancy, complex recipes {unless that’s what you choose to integrate into your plan}!

Before we get started I want to tell you a little bit about me…  

First things first, I get it. I’m a working mom and my kids and their activities are at the forefront when my husband and I finish work each day. My children are into all kinds of sports and other activities with events a majority of the weeknights. Not to mention tournaments and travel games on the weekends. My husband and I have a lot going on as well‐ not just shuttling them to and from their activities but we also coach them in some of their sports, we both work full time and have other hobbies that we prioritize.  

A few years ago we got to the point where we were eating sandwiches multiple nights per week. That’s OK, there’s nothing wrong with that if that’s what works for you! But it wasn’t how I wanted to eat or how my family wanted to eat day in and day out.  So, I went in the opposite direction and saved a bunch of recipes to my phone, I scoured through my cookbooks and I spent time prioritizing cooking every night. And I didn’t enjoy that either, because frankly I didn’t want to make the time for cooking every night.

I thought there had to be a better way.  I know I’m not alone. In fact, I often hear from my clients something along the lines of “I’m just not motivated to cook”, “Take out is just easier”, or “I’m so busy and there’s just not enough time”. So I came up with this approach and I’ve been refining it over the years, I’ve taught it to others live and now I’m offering it to you in bite‐size pieces (pun intended) so that you can learn how to meal plan and meal prep efficiently and live your life with more joy less stress and less overwhelm!

This is a no judgement zone: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with eating out, take out or using a meal service nightly if that works for you and your family. I’ll talk more about considering those options later. But, I created this guide for those of you that perhaps haven’t budgeted for that nightly ($$$$) and want to have more control over what goes on the dinner table.

Here’s how this course works…

There are a series of modules or lessons that are each about 5‐7 minutes long (except for one of the is 10 minutes). In total‐ it’s about 75 mins. There is also a workbook with the basics that I’ll cover in more depth during each of the course lessons. It’s helpful to have that workbook with you while we’re going over the modules or a blank sheet of paper or a notebook if you prefer. If you want to listen to the modules in your car or when you’re out for a walk you can refer to the workbook when you get home and complete the tasks associated with each of the modules.  The workbook has a nice summary of what I present in the modules and it’s also great for those of you that are visual learners (a couple of the concepts that I cover in the modules‐ for example the mindset piece towards the end of the course) are presented as a schematic or picture in the workbook.  So make sure you download that document and review it along with the videos.

There’s also a PDF of my go‐to meals. These are super simple recipes with only a few steps and a minimal amount of ingredients. I’m sure you have your own “go to” recipes yourself, but for those of you that want some ideas these are what I “go to” on a weekly basis. It’s helpful to have that with you when you’re going through the modules.  

Those are main documents that you’ll want to have on hand and they are attached in the next course module.  

Before we get started, I want you to consider why this is important to you. Use the notes section of the workbook or a blank sheet of paper. Write down why you want to come up with a plan for weekly dinners? In other words, why did you purchase this course? I’ve given you some of my reasons here and I have a bunch of them.

For example, I don’t want to make decisions after a long day. I want to know what we’re having for dinner and I want that dinner to fit into the way I choose to eat‐ generally lean proteins with veggies and complex carbohydrates to fuel our active lifestyles.  Your reasons could be the same OR they can be different. Brainstorm lots of reasons. The only caveat is that they should be deeply personal to you. Because we’ll lean on these reasons when we lose motivation to follow through on our plan. And you can be sure that’ll happen.

I have more strategies to help with the follow‐through towards the end of the course too! So take a few minutes to write down your whys before heading on over to the next course module!