Glow Baby The Organized Family Menu Planner

I love this planner, but I must admit that I do not use it as a planner. I decided to keep track of what I ate daily when I went on a diet to lose weight. I had originally ordered this planner as a planner, but never got around to planning my meals, so I decided to make use of it while on my diet. As an aside I will say that I had heard many times that those who lost a great deal of weight and kept it off tended to keep a food diary. So I stopped bucking success trends and decided to join those who were successful. I lost 43 pounds in 5 months (on the Fast Diet, which I loved and still love and for which I also plan to write a review) and then later last year lost another 17. Throughout the entire time I kept track, in this Planner, of everything I ate and the calories (although I was not counting calories for my diet, I was interested in knowing around how many calories I was eating). I then continued to keep track of everything I ate while I was maintaining (for the last 5 months) and managed never to gain more than four pounds in that time. I am now going back on the diet to try to lose another 20 pounds, and I, of course, will continue to keep my food journal. I highly recommend using this book as either a meal planner, or a food journal as I think it works well for both. I also really like the perforated shopping lists that I can keep as I run out of things and then take with me to the market.

This book is nicely set up but we just don't use it as much as I thought we would. If it laid flat, it might be more useful because I would leave it open on the table or counter. Now we write in it, close it, and barely look back at it all week.

Before I discovered the Organized Family Menu Planner, I was using an old notebook, drawing in the lines and writing the headings each week for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and supper. So finding this planner was a huge timesaver! Every weekend, I consider the week ahead (soccer practice, meetings, etc.) and jot those down in the appropriate boxes. Then I start with supper so I can also plan left overs for lunches. There is a detachable list on both sides of every page that you could use for groceries. However, I use my smart phone app for that. But I do use the list on the sides to periodically record what I have in the freezer. I can check it off when I use it, and then tear off the strip so that the list can still be seen in subsequent weeks for reference. Another time-saver.There is an area in the back for recipes, and I have recorded some of my old standbys there, but haven't found this section too helpful yet. All in all, if you like the idea of a paper copy for your weekly menu plan, then you'll love this! I check it each night so I know what needs to be prepared for the next day. I can't imagine doing that on my laptop. Paper and pen just works for me. I often take it in the car on the weekend trips and do some planning while my husband drives. I just bought my second one because I filled a year's worth of menus up! A friend asked if I ever look back and just pick a week to "redo" the meal plan. Wish I'd thought of that sooner!

I love the idea. So I bought and love the way its displayed but just never got around to using it after I bought it. I think I did a few months then stopped for a few months.

Exactly what I was looking for. The weekly planner pages with detachable groceries list is just what I needed. I can hand the book to family members to have them pencil in what they want to eat during the week :) I don't have to rack my brain for fresh ideas as much and they get to eat what they crave :)I especially liked the Family Member Food Preference (Likes/Dislikes) pages (includes a separate column for Allergy/Food Sensitivity as well as Symptoms and Treatments)to keep track of ingredients to avoid as well as the Favorite Family Recipes pages (to record the recipe name and cookbook title and reference page)for finding recipes I have not committed to memory quickly and easily :)

It arrived with the cover on upside down and backwards. Very frustrating. Not at all what I expected it to be.

I had originally seen this on pinterest and had the hardest time finding it because the link did not lead to a website. I swear I searched Google like a mad woman because I HAD to have this! I was right! I finally found it and I placed the order right away. I am a big organization freak so this helped a lot instead of writing it all on paper and having loose paper all over. And there's no, "What's for dinner tonight?" because I already know. LOVE THIS!

I've used this grocery shopping organizer for years, and it's great. Everytime I near the end of the book, I order a new one. Contains space to plan your menu and a place on either side to organize the shopping list. I love be able to look back for menu ideas from weeks past.