Most of us don’t eat badly because we don’t know what’s healthy. We eat badly because it’s 6:30pm and the fridge is empty. Planning moves that decision to one calm moment a week. Here’s the routine.
1. Know what a balanced week looks like
The NHS Eatwell Guide splits what we eat roughly like this:
- Fruit and vegetables: just over a third, and at least five portions a day.
- Starchy foods: just over a third. Choose wholegrain or higher-fibre versions where you can.
- Protein: beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat. At least two portions of fish a week, one of them oily.
- Dairy or alternatives: some. Oils and spreads: small amounts.
A quick test for any meal: is there a vegetable, a protein and a starch?
2. Plan around your calendar
Busy nights get quick meals or leftovers. Quieter nights get a bigger cook that covers two meals. Nights out get nothing. In your first week, plan three or four days, not seven.
3. Pick the meals
- Repeat breakfasts. Pick one or two and move on.
- Cook once, eat twice. See batch cooking and leftovers.
- Share ingredients. If one recipe uses half a bag of spinach, pick another that uses the rest.
- Vary cuisines so you don’t get bored and give up.
In Carroty, you answer one sentence on the Meal Plans tab: how many days, how long you want to cook, which meals, which cuisines and how many people. It builds the plan from around 240 curated recipes and leaves out any dish with an allergen you’ve set. Recipes that make more than one meal’s worth become leftovers on the following days.
Don’t fancy something? Swap opens the recipe browser, including your own recipes. Eating out? Skip clears the day.
4. Glance at the numbers (optional)
- Calories: around 2,000 a day for women and 2,500 for men (NHS). Your own needs depend on size, age and activity.
- Protein: the UK reference intake for adults is 0.75g per kg of body weight a day. Some people, such as athletes and older adults, may need more (British Nutrition Foundation).
- Fibre: aim for 30g a day. Most UK adults average about 20g (NHS).
Carroty shows each day’s calories and protein under the date, and macros on every recipe. The numbers come from CoFID, the UK’s official food composition dataset. Want vitamins and minerals too? Cronometer tracks them, and its basic account is free.
5. Shop from one list
Check the fridge, freezer and cupboards first. Then in Carroty, tap Shop, pick how many days to buy for, and the ingredients land in your basket with duplicates merged. More in shopping lists that cut food waste.
6. Keep what worked
At the end of the week, heart the meals you’d eat again. Carroty’s Favourites filter brings them back when you swap, so planning gets quicker every week.
Sources
- NHS: The Eatwell Guide
- NHS: How to get more fibre into your diet
- British Nutrition Foundation: Protein
- GOV.UK: Composition of foods integrated dataset (CoFID)
General information, not medical advice. If you have a health condition or specific dietary needs, talk to your GP or a registered dietitian.