Raisins! Raisins!

I had raisins in my oatmeal this morning! I feel so decadent...

I'm a lot less sore today than I was yesterday, boxing is going to be much easier! The dogs look at me so strangely when I'm exercising. I'm sure it's quite funny to watch, but hey, if it works it works.

Yesterday's meals...

Breakfast: Oatmeal, banana - 7 points
Lunch: Tomato-beef broth, turkey pastrami wrap - 14 points
Snack: Apple - 0 points
Dinner: Chicken with teriyaki, Rice-a-Roni, green beans, milk - 22 points
Dessert: Pudding with Cool Whip - 5 points
Total: 48 points

I was 7 points short yesterday, which isn't so good. On the other hand, I had a terrible time figuring out what to do for dinner, but I still managed to cook something and not go off my program, which is very good. It was kind of a cop-out, since all I did was saute some chicken breast and pour a little teriyaki sauce to dip it in, but it filled my stomach and stayed within my points, so I guess it works.

I've been considering off and on trying something I've read about in a number of different places as being a good idea: weekly meal planning. A lot of people seem to swear by it for lowering stress, saving money, and reducing food waste as well as for weight loss. In theory, it sounds like a good idea, but I have a number of concerns about it.

First and foremost, how do I know on Sunday what I'm going to be hungry for on Thursday? Or will the act of having planned to make stir-fry (or whatever) that day somehow automatically put me in the mood for it? Also, will trying to figure out an entire week's worth of meals at once cause me more stress than it saves? It seems like it might be overwhelming. And finally, what if something unavoidable happens that causes me to be unable to stick to the preplanned menu? I'm afraid that might freak me out to the point that I mess up the whole week.

On the positive side, knowing in advance what I'm going to make for each meal would eliminate the hour or more of trying to figure out what I want for dinner, if I have the ingredients, how many points it's worth, etc. It would at least reduce the number of times I look in the produce drawer and wonder what on earth the puddle of slime in that bag used to be. I think it would also be helpful in adding some variety to our meals, since I tend to fall back on the same few recipes over and over again as a result of not being able to decide what I want to make. And of course it would help me be closer to hitting the mark on my points target every day.

Have any of you tried weekly meal planning in the past? Do you do it now? How did you like it?