How to Meal Plan

How to Meal Plan

A question I often get asked is how to meal plan?  Where do you start?  It seems like it takes forever, right?  Is it really necessary?  The truth is, meal planning makes it so much easier to eat healthy and filling food.  Of course, I am not perfect and don’t always have a meal plan BUT the weeks I do, and the weeks I meal prep I find choose healthier foods because I’ve already planned and prepped them.  I don’t believe in being restrictive, so if I want the ice cream, I eat it. I just also like having a plan in place. It also makes grocery shopping easier and quicker, as you don’t wander around the store. I get exactly what I need and I get out!

My meal plan for the week is below.  So how do I go about planning it? (see below!)

1. I know I am following a portion controlled clean eating meal plan.  How much of each food group you should eat is based on your weight, your goals, your workout program, and your activity in daily life! These all play a part.  I am currently doing the 21 Day Fix Extreme program.  It breaks down how many of each food group I should eat based the factors I discussed above.
2. Once I know how many of each food group I am eating, I make a plan!  I usually do the 3 meals first, and fill in snacks with what I have left!
3. BREAKFAST:  Breakfast for me during the week is always Shakeology and a pice of fruit blended in.  I workout in the morning so it serves the purpose of refueling me after my workout, a quick breakfast, and gives me my daily vitamins, minerals, and several superfoods first thing.  It gives me a good amount of protein in the morning as well so I stay full.  I LOVE ice cream, which is why I make it for lunch as ice cream when I have more time on the weekends.  I recommend having a protein packed breakfast, as it has been shown to keep you fuller all day!
4. LUNCH:  I like to have salads for lunch usually as they are easy to take to work and don’t require cooking!  Here I load up on veggies, a protein and healthy fat.
5. DINNER:  This is where I change it up and LOVE trying new recipes! This week I have creamy garlic cauliflower ‘mashed potatoes’ and roasted acorn squash!  I use Pinterest for new recipes and keep my favorites in the Recipes section of my blog! I like keeping it simple to a protein, veggie, and healthy starch for dinner. Some people don’t eat starch for dinner, BUT I know it’s something I struggle with. If I don’t eat one at dinner, I am more likely to cheat after. Dinner and nighttime is where I struggle most so by keeping it balance I stay on track!
6. SNACKS:  I fill in the snacks with the food groups I have left. I LOVE overnight oatmeal, greek yogurt, fruit, and nuts as my snacks.  When on the go RX bars and Perfect Bars are my go-to

After I meal plan, I go grocery shopping and then meal prep. Here’s a sneak peek of my meal prep.