One of the biggest mindset shifts I have had to make since becoming a mom is the belief that I should be doing everything by myself.
Ten years ago I really believed good moms did everything themselves.
They were disciplined and organized and efficient in all areas of their lives and they had single-handedly figured out how to be a serious one-woman show.
Well now I know that’s just silly.
Nobody has everything figured out. Nobody masters all the things.
We all have areas of expertise, sure. We all have strengths.
But we also all have weaknesses.
And the people who look like they have all their shit together have help.
They have babysitters or nannies or trainers or personal assistants or personal organizers or personal chefs.
Or they have accountants or interior decorators or personal stylists or personal shoppers or cleaning ladies.
Or they have retired parents who live nearby or a big fat trust fund or a mom’s group they lean on for help and support.
OR THEY HAVE ALL THAT STUFF.
(Also, if you are using Facebook or Instagram as a she-has-her-shit-together barometer you are not seeing the full picture and your barometer is broken. I promise you).
One of the most common things people say to me is, I don’t know how you do it.
I’ll tell you how I do it.
I no longer delude myself into thinking I should be doing everything alone and perfectly.
And I get help!
Sometimes I ask my parents for help.
Other times, when I can afford it, I invest in help!
One of my most recent investments?
A meal planning membership.
It’s an online platform I use to help me with meal planning, shopping, and prep.
This is one of the things I used to think I had to master.
But you know what?
There’s only so much a girl can master at once.
And this has not made it onto the master list.
What I do know is that when I plan and prep meals, my life runs more smoothly.
When I don’t, it adds to the chaos.
So until I’m at a different stage in my life, it makes a lot of sense for me to get help from an expert in the field rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.
If you are struggling in the meal planning department, consider getting some help!
There are so many sites out there that can help you.
I don’t know who they all are, so I turned to my trusty Facebook followers for their favorite online meal planning resources, and they delivered!
Some are more educational about how to begin the process of meal planning, some provide free meal plans, and some are membership sites that charge a weekly or monthly fee.
I have no affiliation with any of them. I just know that meal planning is a game changer, and if you are having trouble doing it, getting some help will fix that.
Here are 15 sites that make meal planning easier and do a lot of the work for you so you can have success:
- Skinnytaste
- Forks Over Knives (this is the one I’m using right now and you can try it for free for 2 weeks and no I’m not an affiliate — I just like the ease of this one and it’s also pretty comprehensive).
- Clean Food Dirty Girl
- Organize Yourself Skinny
- Emeals
- Six Sisters Stuff
- Plan To Eat
- Real Mom Nutrition
- Sweet Peas And Saffron
- Clean Food Crush
- Mealime
- What’s Gabby Cooking?
- Green Healthy Cooking
- Tastes Lovely
- Hello Fresh (the woman who shared this one adds the meals her family loves from this service to her rotation dinners once they’ve tried them out)
Check them out and see if any might be a good fit for you.
Getting help in this department might be just the what you need to make the whole process of feeding your family run much more smoothly and efficiently.
Then once you get some practice under your belt, you’ll know what works best for you and your kids and your schedule, and then you’ll be able to easily plan and prep on your own!
If you have any sites you use that aren’t on my list, please share!
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I used The Fresh 20 for several years, and just saved all the recipes. It gives a shopping list, recipes, and nutrition breakdown for 5 dinners a week.