How to Meal Plan for Beginners

One of the truest and most difficult things about weight loss and fitness is that most of your results are going to come from what you are EATING. You can work out until you turn purple but if you go and eat junk after your workout you will never have the fat loss that you need to get the body you truly want. With that being said, we all know that between work, the grocery store, the kids' practices, the house, and everything else we are expected to keep up with, it is much easier to grab and go. That is why so many of us turn to junk. It is accessible and it is easy.

When it comes to weight loss, planning your meals is the most critical element. The old adage proves true time and time again: "Failing to plan is planning to fail!" But the problem is, most people think it takes so long to meal plan or that it is so difficult that they might as well just not even try. Well, folks, I am here today to help you conquer that meal planning fear. 

1. Block off a specific amount of time to plan. Your first week I would allow about 30 minutes of quiet time. 

2. Plan for repeats. There are a few ways to do this. First, you can make enough dinner to provide lunch for the next day. Second, you can use the same ingredients for different recipes during the week. This allows you to buy in bulk which will often times save you money! 

3. Don't skip the workouts. Put those in first. Write them down as if they are meetings with your boss. When you schedule things you are less likely to end up skipping them. 

4. Work horizontally. This has worked best for be because of how often I double up on ingredients or use a meal over again. So for example, when I plan what we will eat Monday night for dinner, I am able to then decide if I will want to make enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day! 

5. Alternate those repeats. I usually stick to a few snacks per week and just plug them into different snack time slots on varying days so that it does not get too mundane. 

6. Plan ahead for cravings. My sweet tooth hits hard and strong at night. In order to combat that, I plan a clean AND sweet night time snack (like greek yogurt with berries!). You know your body best. Plan to set it up for success. 

7. Don't plan to eat food you hate. If you know you won't eat it, don't put it on your meal plan because it is clean and you think you should. If you hate kale chips but plan to eat them, you'll probably have one, get grossed out, not eat them, and be more likely to binge later. If you are new to clean eating, ease into it. Moderation is okay.

8. Be okay with trial and error. If you have the time to add up all of your calories ahead of time, do it. If, like a lot of people, you don't, then download a free calorie tracking app for your phone. I love My Fitness Pal. During the day plug in each and every thing you eat. You will get an idea of if you planned for too much or too little food and be able to adjust accordingly the rest of the week and onward.

9. Prep ahead of time. You will be more likely to stick to a plan of healthy food when it is already portioned out, cooked, etc.

10. Know your surroundings. Do not plan to microwave or heat up food if you work from your car. In the same regard, allow yourself to utilize your surroundings to their maximum capacity. Call ahead if you bounce around to work sites. If you plan a meal you need to heat then can't you not only waste food but waste energy!

11. Be specific with portion sizes. A lot of times people prep SO much food in one day and cannot eat it all before it goes bad. It is my experience as a leftover-hater that I would rather prep in smaller sessions 2-3 times per week than one giant prep session. I also find I have less to throw away at the end of the week when I prep this way!

12. Get an accountability partner. I have done my cleanest and healthiest eating when I have grabbed a partner to do the same and we held each other accountable. One thing that I have found to work marvelously is texting your clean eating accountability partner a picture of your food each time you eat. It makes you think twice before stealing a bite of brownie if you have to take a picture of it and send it to someone!

These twelve tips are a perfect way to get started! Be sure to check out what's on sale first.

Here is a blank meal plan I made for you to copy and paste and individualize. I used Microsoft word but Excel also works fabulously! 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Workout
Breakfast
Snack
Lunch
Snack
Dinner
Snack

Here is a sample of a 21 Day Fix-style meal plan that I helped one of my challengers make!

Budget: 3 Veggies 2 Fruits 4 Proteins 2 Carbohydrates 1 Healthy Fats 1 Nuts & Seeds 2 Oils & Nut Butters

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Breakfast	Oatmeal	Oatmeal	Oatmeal	Oatmeal	Oatmeal
Snack	Apple Almonds	Orange Pistachios	Celery Natural PB	Apple Almonds	Celery Natural PB
Lunch	Baby Carrots 2 Hard Boiled Eggs Sunflower Seeds	Spinach Salad Cherry Tomatoes Chicken	Baby Carrots 2 Hard Boiled Eggs Sunflower Seeds	Spinach Salad Cherry Tomatoes Chicken	Baby Carrots 2 Hard Boiled Eggs Sunflower Seeds
Snack	Shakeo Almond Milk	Shakeo Almond Milk	Shakeo Almond Milk	Shakeo Almond Milk	Shakeo Almond Milk
Dinner	Baked chicken in EVOO Brown Rice Mushrooms Corn	Baked chicken in EVOO Brown Rice Mushrooms	Tilapia Medium Baked Potato Vegetable	Tilapia Medium Baked Potato Vegetable	CHEAT MEAL! Out to Eat, Friday’s
Snack	Plain Greek Yogurt Strawberries Pure Vanilla Extract	Cottage Cheese Berries	Plain Greek Yogurt Strawberries Pure Vanilla Extract	Cottage Cheese Berries	Plain Greek Yogurt Strawberries Pure Vanilla Extract

It is all about making it work for you! I encourage you to give meal planning an honest attempt. It will prevent you from needing to grab that bag of popcorn at Target to hold you over until dinner and will help you to hit your goals faster and more effectively!

Happy Planning!!!

xo,
C