Decision Fatigue + Grocery Shopping

[Middlespace Brat]

Hello everyone, 

 

So I tend to cook a good chunk of my family's meals and as such have to meal plan pretty often. My and my Daddy's lives are hectic, so sometimes figuring out what to eat can be a chore on top of our limited budget. However, we've come up with a couple ideas that help me with this so I don't get too overwhelmed. They include:

- Daddy and I grocery shopping separately so that we both get food each of us likes
- Keeping a log of foods I like so that I can visually pick some out and have a go-to for less decisions

- Ordering groceries online so I can put it in my basket and think on it, putting anything away if need be

 

While all of these help greatly, sometimes I still get a little overwhelmed and stressed trying to figure out what to eat. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm open to trying anything, I just want meal planning to be a little less stressful. 

[SmolAetherr]

have you looked into those meal delivery services like hello fresh? i've never used anything like that but it may be what you are looking for to reduce the stress of keeping yourself fed

[Flip a doodle]

Online ordering is a great idea! I am the same way, i tend to make the same thing for dinner all week because of work hours but having online groceries makes it easier because i dont have to worry bout forgeting somthing and can go back and add it in

[sighing]

I used to get really annoyed when I couldn't figure out what to eat. What ended up working for me is having a short list of 4-5 easy meals that I can default to if I'm not craving anything specific. They range from taking 5mins - 30mins to make. When I get bored of any of them I just replace them with another easy meal. Most nights I'll gravitate towards one of the meals more than the others, but if nothing looks particularly good I can just pick the one that takes 5 mins.

 

Hope this helps. 

[Nymph]

Decision fatigue will sometimes make you choose something either too easy or just straight up junk and eating like that will not give you enough energy and then you will gain weight and get depressed and it's just a down spiral from there!! well, at least that was how it went for me.

 

Figure out what has you so exhausted, is it really just choosing what to eat? are you sleeping enough and if so, do you wake up feeling rested?

 

Your ideas should fix the issue, not much more you can do if it's really just the food. The only thing I can think of is doing a schedule with your partner and alternate cooking, letting them cook whatever when it's your turn so you don't have to think about it every day.

[MysticSand]

[LittleStarLight]

Another tip: my husband and I use the Listonic app. We can make lists (such as a grocery list) and share and sync it to eachothers phones. That way when we need something from the store, we add it and know the other person will see it when they go. 

In terms of planning meals, I look for recipes online and might omit certain ingredients if they are not absolutely needed for the meal. I meal prep for 3 - 5 days worth of food, and then make sure to have some easy stuff on hand to make such as sandwhiches, pasta with sauce, frozen pizza, Soups, etc. That way I get a balance of mostly healthy foods that i cooked once, and also easy to prep (but probably not as healthy) meals.  

I highly recommend researching meal prepping online. There is so much helpful info out there for how to cook efficiently, healthy, and tasty