Because eating well shouldn’t feel like another job.

You know the feeling: it’s 5:45pm, you’re running on empty, everyone’s asking what’s for dinner, and your brain just… blanks. You open the fridge, stare into the abyss, and think, “I just can’t deal with this today.”

If meal planning feels like another exhausting task on an already overflowing to-do list, you’re not alone. Many people in our community feel stretched thin, mentally tapped out, and guilty for not being more “on top of it.”

The truth is: you don’t need to overhaul your whole week to eat well. And you definitely don’t need to be a meal prep queen (or king) to feel organised and nourished.

You just need a new approach. One that takes into account your energy, time, and brain bandwidth.

Why meal planning feels so hard

Meal planning isn’t just about food. It’s a complex set of skills that has to balance multiple factors and competing priorities. It feels hard because you:

have decision fatigue from 273 choices already made today
are managing everyone else’s preferences and needs
are the one responsible for meals, day in and day out
are trying to be “healthy” without realistic and sustainable guidance
are feeling guilty when Uber Eats wins again (and also, this is nothing to feel guilty about!)

When you’re tired and overwhelmed, planning meals feels like a mental mountain. Not because you’re lazy, but because you’re human. And humans have limited cognitive energy. Especially when juggling work, kids, ageing parents, and everything in between.

The myth of “just be more organised”

The wellness industry loves to tell you to “just be more organised.” In fact, I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve had over the years who say: “I know what to do, I just need to be more organised.” The problem is, this advice or mindset usually comes with an unrealistic Pinterest-perfect plan, a rigid spreadsheet, or four hours of Sunday prep you don’t have.

Realistic meal planning doesn’t start with colour-coded Tupperware (nothing against Tupperware, I have heaps from 20 years ago!).

It starts with self-compassion. And a plan that takes you into account, especially when life is feeling challenging.

How Ayla Health makes meal planning easy

At Ayla Health, we’ve reimagined meal planning to work for your real life. Not your fantasy life. Our in-app planner called My Meals helps you:

Plan your meals in minutes, not hours
Filter recipes by what you already have, what you feel like, or what’s quick
Generate a shopping list so you don’t forget the garlic again
Build your “go-to” meal bank of simple, satisfying meals you actually enjoy, called your “favourites”
Adjust and move meals easily when plans change (because they will)

And because we know energy and time fluctuate, our recipe library contains heaps of different meal options:

No-cook (e.g., toast with ricotta + tomato)
15-minute throw-togethers
Batch cook when you’ve got time

3 Simple steps to start meal planning

Pick 3 meals for the week—just three. One familiar, one quick, one you’re excited about.
Double one of them so you have leftovers for a second night or lunches.
List 3 go-to lunches/snacks that don’t require much thought (e.g., tuna wraps, hummus + crackers, yoghurt + fruit).

That’s it. You’re planned. Practice that. Evaluate how it went. Tweak and repeat.

You don’t need to be perfect. You need a system.

The goal isn’t to meal plan perfectly. If you try to do that, you’ll find yourself back at square one. Exhausted and overwhelmed. The meal plan is there to serve YOU. It’s there to take the pressure off. To help you consistently have nourishing food available when you need it.

So drop the bar of expectation, so you can get some wins on the board!