My 5 Easy Steps to Weekly Meal Planning

•

Mary

Most busy professionals struggle at one time or another to maintain a healthy diet amidst their hectic schedules. With meetings, deadlines, and personal commitments, finding the time and energy to plan nutritious meals can seem overwhelming.

We get stuck wondering things like, “What should I eat to stay energized throughout the day?” or “How can I prepare healthy meals quickly?”.

When you’re unsure what to do, it’s hard to move forward. 

The good news is you can easily bring order to the chaos by implementing a well-thought-out meal plan tailored to your busy lifestyle.

In this post, I’ll define what makes a perfect meal plan and provide 3 quick and nutritious recipes to help keep you fueled and focused. I hope that this will give you a roadmap so you can get started with meal planning and achieving your health goals effortlessly.

What is the perfect meal plan for busy professionals?

A perfect meal plan for busy professionals is a well-balanced, easy-to-follow dietary strategy that ensures you get the necessary nutrients without spending hours in the kitchen. This plan prioritizes quick preparation times, simplicity, and variety to keep your meals interesting and healthy.

In other words:

By following this meal plan, you’ll have a clear and efficient guide to preparing nutritious meals that support your busy lifestyle.

The added benefit is that you’ll save time and reduce stress around meal decisions, allowing you to focus more on your work and personal commitments while maintaining your health and energy levels.

Balanced Nutrition – The First Ingredient

Balanced nutrition involves consuming a variety of foods that provide the necessary vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients your body needs to function optimally. This includes a mix of proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and plenty of fruits and vegetables.

This is a crucial component because proper nutrition is vital for maintaining energy levels, supporting brain function, and overall health.

Many people who are new to meal planning start out on the right track but then get stuck because they don’t realize the importance of variety and balance in their diet.

And then they end up giving up because they are bored of eating the same things.

The key to maintaining a balanced diet while having a busy schedule is to plan your meals ahead and ensure each meal contains a good mix of macronutrients.

To get started here, create a simple template for your meals that includes a protein source, a healthy fat, and a portion of vegetables or fruits.

Meal Prep Efficiency – The Second Ingredient

Meal prep efficiency involves organizing your cooking process to maximize your time and effort, ensuring you can quickly prepare meals even on the busiest days. This might include batch cooking, utilizing time-saving kitchen tools, or preparing ingredients in advance.

If you’ve spent hours cooking each day but still feel like you’re constantly pressed for time, this is likely the piece that’s missing.

Without efficient meal prep, you can spend a lot of time in the kitchen and still not have meals ready when you need them.

What can you do?

A useful technique for boosting meal prep efficiency is batch cooking. Spend a couple of hours on the weekend preparing large portions of food that can be divided into individual meals for the week. This not only saves time but also ensures you always have healthy meals available. Invest in good-quality storage containers to keep your meals fresh and easy to access. 

Delicious Variety – The Third Ingredient

Delicious variety means incorporating a range of different flavors, cuisines, and ingredients into your meal plan to keep your meals interesting and enjoyable. This encourages you to stick to your healthy eating habits and prevents boredom.

Here’s where you’ll really start to bring it all together. By adding variety, you’ll look forward to your meals, making it easier to stay on track with your nutrition goals.

Of course, this will take some planning and creativity. Consider exploring new recipes, experimenting with different spices, and incorporating seasonal produce.

The approach you can use to incorporate delicious variety is:

1. Plan your meals weekly: Each week, choose one new recipe or ingredient to try.

2. Incorporate different cuisines: Rotate between different types of cuisine to keep things exciting.

3. Use seasonal produce: This not only adds variety but also ensures you’re eating fresh and nutrient-dense foods.

Once you’re done, you’ll be well on your way to maintaining a healthy and enjoyable diet that fits seamlessly into your busy lifestyle.

Putting it All Together for Your Perfect Meal Plan

There you have it! The 3 components of your perfect meal plan. 

It may sound like a lot, but like most things practice makes perfect. Just focus on implementing balanced nutrition, enhancing your meal prep efficiency, and adding delicious variety to your meals. This will help you streamline your meal planning process and ensure you’re consistently eating healthy, nutritious meals.

What’s next? Download My Free 3-Day Meal Plan

If you need help getting started, my 3-day meal plan will help you create three days worth of delicious, nutritious meals so you can gain confidence in your meal planning journey.

Click here to download your 3-day Meal Plan now >> sendfox.com/marybos

Meal planning doesn’t have to be hard. With just 5 easy steps, see how I plan and execute my meals for the week. 
I’m going to share with you the exact process I use every week to plan and execute my meals.

Step 1: Look at your Week

The first thing we need to do is take a look at our weekly calendar. Are there any days where you will be eating out? Are there days where you need something super quick because of an evening activity? Are there days where packing leftovers into your lunch would be beneficial? Remember, when you are first starting out, you don’t have to try and conquer 7 days’ worth of meals. Start small. Maybe one or two days, and then build up from there.

BONUS TIP: I always leave one or two days where I will use up any leftovers that I have. This helps me make sure that I am not wasting any food. Also, when looking at your week, pick one day as your planning and grocery shopping day, and another day as your prep day. Some people find it successful to do this all in one day, but for me, I find it easier to break it up into 2 chunks. Do what works best for you! 

Step 2: Choose your Meals

Decide on a place you will store recipes. Whether these be physical recipes cut out of magazines, or written out by hand. Or digital copies saved from a website or typed out on your computer. Either way, have one place that is your go-to. Start with 3-5 that you are comfortable with. In order to get comfortable and effective in the kitchen, you need practice. Repeating some of the same recipes will help with this. When you are comfortable, start with introducing one or two new ones each week. Now that you have decided which meals you are going to have for the week, start plugging them into the days you will have them. Keep in mind, that leftovers are your friends. Are there certain meals that you can make a double batch and have the leftovers on another day? Look at meals with similar ingredients. Do you have salmon and broccoli down for dinner one night? Is there another recipe that includes broccoli and you can make it another night? Minimizing the number of ingredients is going to help with not getting overwhelmed and will cut down the time it takes you to go shopping. 

Step 3: Grocery Shopping

Go through your meal plan and make a list of all of the ingredients you will need. Have a look at what you already have on hand. Take inventory of your pantry, freezer, and fridge. Are there ingredients that you already have that you can use? Once you exclude the items you have already, make a list of the items you will need to purchase.

BONUS TIP: Organize your list according to where you find the items in the store. For example, group all of your fruits and veggies together. Then group all of your meats together. This will save you time having to scroll through your list as you walk down each aisle. It will also prevent you from forgetting anything. Really strapped for time? Use an online/pick-up option. Since the pandemic, most grocery stores allow you to place an order online, select a pick up time, and be able to pick up your groceries without even having to walk into the store. If you are choosing to go in and shop the traditional way, make
sure NOT to do this on an empty stomach. This is the best way to make sure you aren’t buying additional foods you don’t need or quick snack options to eat on the car ride home. 
 

Step 4: Prep Time! 

Time to get out the pen and paper. Go through each recipe and write out what you can do ahead of time to eliminate the length of time it will take the night you are making your meal. Some people, they like cooking all of their meals and then just reheating them each day. If this is easiest for you then do your thing! For me, I like to prepare as much as possible without actually completing my meal. For proteins, this could include cutting them into my desired sizes and putting them in containers with marinades. For vegetables, this is all of my chopping. I also like to blanche my vegetables. This is where you cook them for a couple of minutes in boiling water and then immediately transfer them to an ice water bath. What this does is allow the vegetables to cook through to the center. This way when you are ready to make your meal, your vegetables simply need to be roasted or sauteed, allowing for caramelization on the outside to occur, without having to wait until the centers are cooked. Blanching ahead of time not only cuts down on your cooking time during the week but also ensures even cooking. Nobody wants charred vegetables that are raw on the inside. Lastly, for any of your green vegetables, blanching preserves their bright green color. For starches, making your rice or quinoa during your prep means you simply have to reheat it at mealtime. 

Step 5: Mealtime Execution

Now we get to the easiest step of all – making your meal. Since all of the “work” has already been done, all you have to do is basically put your meal together. Cook-off your protein. Finish off your vegetables. Reheat your starch. VOILA! Let’s Eat! 
 

Plan your work, and work your plan! 

The best way to be successful in the kitchen is to have a plan and then execute what is on your plan. The more practice you get, the quicker you will be able to do this. At first, it might seem daunting, but practice makes perfect. Take the extra time on your prep days to make sure everything is ready to go, which means that during the week, you aren’t spending hours making a meal, especially after a long day at the office!

•