Meal Plan: July 20 – July 26

At the beginning of this year, I got a bunch of questions from friends and family about what to make for dinner as people were transitioning to joining WW (PS, anyone want a to join & get a free month? Click this link!). I got the idea to post my meal plan for them. This then spiraled into me thinking of those inquiring minds who weren’t necessarily asking for it but found themselves curious or wanting inspiration. I also noticed that in my close circle of friends, we ask “what’s for dinner?” to each other almost daily, so I just know other people have to be asking that question, too.

Since I do take the time to meal plan, it makes so much sense to share it because I get inspiration from other people all the time since I constantly feel like I get stuck in food-ruts. I wanted to share because sharing is caring.

So, although WW’s official stance is that pregnant women are prohibited from participating in the program, and there is no program designed for pregnant women, WW is actually a diet/lifestyle that is entirely sustainable while pregnant. After several conversations with my doctor specifically surrounding my body, my baby, and my health & history, my doctor was entirely supportive of me continuing with WW, while being mindful of the cues that come from my body.

I had previously included the following “disclaimer” on my food-related Instagram posts because I wanted to make it clear that my posts and content is not specifically endorsed or sponsored by WW and that my approach to this pregnancy should not necessarily be taken as gospel or as an example for all women. All bodies are different and everyone has their own specific needs.

✨WW does not have a program available for pregnancy, so I am not following the #myww program, but points are listed/included for those that are following the program! I was previously following the MyWW Blue 💙 program, so those are the #smartpoints values listed.✨

So, what has this looked like for me? I increased my daily points “allowance” from 23 to 30 gradually over the course of my pregnancy thus far. 30 was entirely arbitrary for me; I just kept increasing until I felt like I was eating enough throughout the day. This has also helped me have a healthy, steady weight gain during this pregnancy. That being said, I still go over my points all the time & dip into my weeklies (and still go negative – a lot 😂). But, in general, 30 feels like that healthy medium to account for the slight increase in calories suggested for pregnancy and still gives me the freedom to be responsible and mindful about what gets put in my body while not going completely off the rails.

This Week’s Recipe Bank:

• Chicken, Twice Baked Potatoes & Green Beans
  • I’ll use my favorite Kraft Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette as marinade for my chicken (1sp) and either grill it or bake it in the oven. I’m budgeting about 9sp for twice baked potatoes, which I plan to make myself. Green beans are an easy 0sp side dish and gets us a green vegetable. I’m still toying with the idea of corn on the cob (0sp), too, because I just can’t get enough of it right now.
• Creamed Corn Cheese Ravioli
  • This is one I saw posted by Half Baked Harvest on Instagram and saved it. It looks straight up delicious (and decadent).
  • I plugged this one in the recipe builder while I was meal planning, already planning what substitutions I would make to try to make this more ww-friendly. It’s a new recipe to me, so we’ll see how it goes. Right now, it’s showing as 11sp per serving with the substitutions I’m planning on making.
• One-Pot Hamburger Helper
  • Ooooh, sis, this one looks good. Originally, I saw @Blaires_eatsagram post this on her IG page and it just screamed out as something my husband would love. So, I’m gonna give it a shot. I don’t really love casseroles but I’ll usually make an exception for pasta. Plus, when I showed my husband the photo, he said he definitely wanted to try it, so there’s that.
  • This recipe comes from The Defined Dish and while I have not tried any of her recipes (yet), I keep seeing her page pop up with something that looks delicious. I’m excited to give it a shot. I plugged this in the recipe builder while I was meal planning and it came to 12sp per serving with the substitutions I plan on making.
• Turkey Burgers & Tots
  • I like to peruse my “saved” IG posts for inspiration when I’m meal planning and I saw one I’d saved from @little.dash.of.pepper of this really perfect summer meal – a turkey burger (sans bun) and some cheese fries. It inspired me to think about how I would like to eat that too.
  • My plan is to get Jennie-0 Turkey Burgers and some frozen tater tots. Everyone talks about the frito cheese dip stuff on Instagram, so I’m planning on giving that a try for my tots. I’m dreaming of bacon on my turkey burger (and tots). I’m willing to spend, like, 15sp on this one.
  • I’ll pretrack my day that day with all the toppings and stuff for my burger & tots so I can account for a higher point dinner. This is my usual MO anyway.
• Takeout
• FFY (Fend For Yourself)
• Leftovers

Drop a comment down below and let me know what you thought about this!! If you liked it, please share it with your friends & tag me @glimpseatgrace on social media!