Weekly Meal Planning

Today I will talk about weekly meal planning.......Yes it is tedious and time consuming, but so so so important!! There are several steps you can take to make it a little more manageable and once you get the hang of it your body will be forever grateful :)

Step One:

Know your caloric needs!! Before you can begin monitoring your food you will certainly need to know how much to eat each day :) I have based my caloric intake with the Piyo workout (available here!) but you can use myfitnesspal if you haven't purchased a Beachbody Challenge Pack!

Step Two:

Make a menu/calendar for planning your meals! Once you know how many calories you need you can start breaking your food down by types!! Example: I need approximately 1600 calories per day and I would need to break it down as follows:

Primary Vegetable: 4
Secondary Veg/grain: 2
Fresh Fruit: 2
Lean Protein: 4
Healthy Fats: 3

This is a per day tally of the types and servings of food I need :)

Some examples of food types:

Primary Vegetable: kale, collard greens, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots...

Secondary Veg/grain: sweet potato, quinoa, beans, peas, brown rice, corn on the cob....

Fresh Fruit: blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, apple, grapefruit, orange, cherries....

Lean Protein: eggs, chicken breast, turkey, fish, greek yogurt, shell fish, tofu, protein powder...

Healthy Fats: avocado, raw nuts, raw seeds, olives, nut butters, certain cheeses, certain oils

Step Three:

Precook as much a possible!!! I can't stress this one enough, the more prepared you are the easier it will be to stay on track!!! After precooking, section your food in meal containers. Foods like rice, meats, beans are great to precook, then you only have to worry about your fruits and veggies come meal time!!

Step Four:

Keep track of what you are eating! Once you start counting your calories and eating fresh/whole foods you will most likely be surprised at what you have been eating  up to this point!! It doesn't take long to get the hang of keeping track of your food and learning proper portion control :)

There are lots of helpful resources available to help you keep track, and great fitness programs!
I am starting 21 day fix next week, it comes with color coded meal containers for food prep and portion control along with a daily 30 minute workout! Shakeology is another great resource, it can be used as a full meal replacement and there truly is nothing comparable to it on the market :) I've listed some links below for those interested in checking out these programs!

beachbodycoach.com/kamaren
shakeology.com/kamaren
myfitnesspal.com