I tend to make a meal plan over the weekend so I can make my grocery list and have some idea what I will be making for supper during the coming week. I find it works for me. I don't end up throwing out lots of food I bought and then didn't use because I forgot about it, and I don't have to go to the grocery store multiple times during the week. Who wants to be doing that? Ugh.
In the past, during my diet years, I made weekly plans as well. Mainly to help me stay on track. The biggest difference now (aside from following some strict diet plan/rules for eating) is I don't feel guilt or shame if I don't follow the meal plan exactly. The meal plan is there to make the weeks meals easier, it's not a "do it exactly or suffer the wrath" plan :)
This week I started out following my meal plan. Had a few new recipes picked out to try that I was looking forward to. I made a nice Chicken Soup on Sunday. On Monday, I made a Mediterranean Fish dish using fresh caught trout instead of salmon. Then, on Tuesday I went a little off track; and that's fine. The meal plan had a new Mediterranean Chicken recipe to try, but it turned out to be such a nice day (after a long weekend of cold and rain) that I though Hubby would rather grill. I picked up some salads (couscous, quinoa, and chickpea) from the grocery store and he grilled some chicken breasts. Now I'm not a fan of grilled chicken and I don't really like BBQ Sauce, so Hubby had the chicken and salads and I had the salads with a slice of rye bread dipped in oil and vinegar. It was great. It was what I wanted to eat, so I ate it :) No shame or guilt or worry over not eating enough protein or over eating bread.
I am ending my day with a piece of cake :) I would never have dreamed of this while dieting; well (let's be honest) I would have dreamed of it but unlikely eaten it. Well (let's be really honest) I would have unlikely eaten it until I went on a full binge from being so restrictive with my eating and then I would have eaten an entire cake in a day or two. Now, if I have a craving for cake, I have cake, and it's usually just a piece and I'm happy :)