Since my College Girl’s Grocery Guide became so popular on Pinterest I am continuing with a similar topic: meal plan.

I sincerely believe the best way to maintain a healthy diet is to pre-plan every day’s meal. Lots of times I do this the night before (after I’m full from dinner) on the post-it sticky notes on my laptop. I plan my breakfast, lunch and dinner plus snacks and sometimes dessert. But it only works if you commit to eat what you’ve planned, instead of impulse calorie-bombs like pizza or ice cream.

Now that it’s almost the start of a new year, and a new semester if you are in school, it seems like a good time to clean up some eating habits. And a lot of time, people eat junk food because they want something quick and available. Which is usually nothing super healthy. So here is a basic list of easy, healthy meals that are nutritious and affordable:

Another good reason to plan out each day’s meals ahead of time is to be able to make a grocery list and have every ingredient you need on hand. If you’ve got a meal plan and a grocery list, you won’t even need to walk down the ice cream aisle because it’s not on your list! ;)

I didn’t include snacks on this list, but I’ve got plenty of light snacks on my Healthy Study Snacks Page:

As for dessert:  I definitely can’t say that I skip dessert every night. And that is also why there is not ice cream in our house! Because when there is, I will eat it.

• Some night’s at school, I’ll make a bowl of oatmeal after dinner.
• Other times at home, we’ll pop some light popcorn to go with a movie.
• I think sticking a fat-free yogurt in the freezer for half an hour is also a yummy treat :)
• And so is frozen banana slices with peanut butter!
• Lots of nights I’ll enjoy a decaf coffee with yummy creamer.
• But sometimes you just need chocolate….Dove dark chocolate squares are my favorite.

Basically, if you have the day’s meals all planned out you will be less tempted to reach for the candy bowl or order the pastry at the coffee shop because it isn’t on your agenda! And before you order anything from a restaurant, you should check out the calorie content first – you might just be shocked.

• Typical restuarant salad entree: Around 1,100 calories (Almost 2/3 your daily needs!)
• Typical coffee shop muffin: 550 calories (Add in the latte and that will take an hour on the treadmill to burn off)
• Typical restaurant pasta dish: 1,200 calories

Pin the meal plan here:

You may also like:

College Girl’s Grocery Guide:

Winter Workout Plan:

The Wonders of a Weekly Plan: