How To Meal Plan For The Week (Step by step worksheet)

Meal planning is by far one of my best secret (not-so-secret-now) methods to staying on track with my health and fitness goals. I’ve taught many clients and challengers simple tips on how to meal prep, but for some reason, I continue to get asked over and over again how to do it.

As a self-proclaimed “meal prep queen,” I would continue to be surprised at how HARD it was for people to do. Yet for me, it was a no-brainer.

I kept scratching my head and kept thinking to myself, “how can I break this down in the simplest way that even a caveman could do it?”

Then finally, it hit me!

As I was writing down my meals for the coming week, I realized that not many people know how to:

• Create balanced meals that contain the 3 essential macronutrients we need (carbohydrates, protein, and fat)
• Portion out each food group accordingly to avoid consuming too many calories or any particular food group
• Mix and match food together to create amazingly delicious combinations that make you extremely satisfied

And I told myself: “If I can teach people how to do these 3 steps, it will forever change not only their outlook on food and nutrition itself, but their body goals, energy, and life.

So here it is - my step-by-step guide on how to create a balanced, delicious, and healthy meal plan for the week.

Step 1: Understand & Fulfill All Of The Essential Macronutrients

The first step to creating your meal plan for the week is by first understanding what macronutrients are, why they’re important, and why you need to include them in almost all of your meals for the week.

Macronutrients are the building blocks of what make up food. In addition to macronutrients, food contain micronutrients, zoochemicals (nutrients found in animals), and phytochemicals (nutrients found in plants).

The 3 macronutrients that we need are carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

Carbohydrates are the body’s #1 preferred energy source. Carbohydrates give us energy to live, function, and kill it in the gym.

Fats are necessary as well because it provides us with energy, makes and balances our hormones, forms our cell membranes, brains, and nervous system, and keeps us feeling satiated.

Protein helps us to restore and rebuild muscle through regular daily living and after a tough workout. It keeps us full and satiated.

It’s important to have all 3 macronutrients within each meal because it ensures that we’re fueling our bodies with a diverse array of nutrients and keep us feeling full for a few hours.

What if I don’t know what food contains what macronutrient?

For the average Joe, it might be a little difficult at first to figure out which foods contain which macronutrient(s). It can even be more difficult to categorize different foods depending on the recipe (e.g. a crockpot recipe, a medley dish, or even a salad).

However, knowing the fundamental basics of which macro group it falls under is a good starting point.

Protein: think anything along the lines of egg whites, chicken, fish, turkey, protein powder, beef, etc.

Carbohydrates: think anything along the lines of fruit, starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, grains, legumes, beans, rice, oatmeal, corn, gluten products, etc.

Fat: thinking anything along the lines of avocadoes, nuts, butter, ghee, oils, coconut, chia, flax, almond/peanut butter, olives, dark chocolate, etc.

When you start creating your meal plan, try to stick to simple cooking as opposed to creating “medley” dishes in which all of the macronutrients are combined. Medley dishes are definitely super convenient and easy to do, but for the sake of portion control in the next step, I recommend batch cooking your foods.

For example, cooking your vegetables, chicken, rice, etc separately, then combining later during your meal prep.

Step 2: Use your hand as a portion control guide

I’ll admit, I’m a fan of alternating between using my 21 Day Fix containers (from when I used to follow the plan) and my food scale, but as I continue to search for a long-term approach to nutrition, I believe using your hand is the BEST way to portion control.

Plus, I’m currently studying to become a Nutrition Coach through Precision Nutrition and they recommend this method.

Why use your hand as opposed to anything else?

Well, we all have different needs and goals, as well as different body types and sizes! A small person will have smaller hands than a big person with bigger hands.

Secondly, you can take your hand everywhere you go! You don’t need to freak out when you go to a restaurant or a party because you can’t weigh your food or put it into a box. You can simply use your hand as a general guide of how much to eat.

And lastly, I do believe we should be eating intuitively, and not be so disconnected from our own bodies just because a meal tracking app said we ate too many calories that day.

So here’s how to do it:
Your palm determines your protein portions.

Your fist determines your veggie portions.

Your cupped hand determines your carb portions.

Your thumb determines your fat portions.

 For men, these intakes range from approx. 2300-3000 calories. For women, it can range from 1500-200 calories. These numbers can depend on the size of the individual, but is a good representation of what we should be eating on a daily basis.

For each meal, men might begin by eating:

• 2 palms of protein-dense foods
• 2 fists of veggies
• 2 cupped handfuls of carb-dense foods
• 2 thumbs of fat-dense foods

For each meal, women might begin eating:

• 1 palm of protein-dense foods
• 1 fist of veggies
• 1 cupped handful of carb-dense foods
• 1 thumb of fat-dense foods

If you use this system, you will be able to consistently get the wide variety of nutrients you need to perform and look at your best!

Step 3: Write Out Your Plan

Now that you know the basic framework of how to design and create your meals, it’s time to start applying this strategy to real life.

I simply take out a piece of paper and start writing down every single meal I’m going to have for the day.

For example:

Meal 1

Meal 2

Meal 3

Meal 4

Meal 5

Meal 6

Then, based on my cravings for the week and what’s in season or on sale, I start writing down combinations of all 3 macronutrients.

Note: You don’t need ALL of your meals to have each macronutrient. Personally, I like to eat frequently, about every 3-4 hours. Also, I workout multiple times a day, and having a huge meal right before a workout won’t feel good. So I adjust the framework to fit my lifestyle. You should do the same.

If you like eating 3 big meals, then feel free to load up on those macros for all 3. If you like eating more frequently like me, then feel free to use my plan as inspiration to get started.

As you can notice, almost every macronutrient is accounted for in each meal. This will help to keep you full and not leave you craving more food.

Also notice that I’m eating REAL WHOLE food and eating as minimally processed as I can. I’m not perfect and do give in to some treats like my boyfriend’s Quest bars and whatnot, but if you can stick to your plan 80% of the time, you will reach your goals slowly but surely.

To help, I created a printable worksheet that you can use when you’re trying to figure out your meal plan for the week. The best thing you should do is make a list of all of your favorite proteins, carbs, and fats, and figure out a way to best combine them to create a meal. The possibilities are endless!

Once you’ve created your meal plan, then obviously you have to get your food, spend maybe 2 hours or less in the kitchen meal prepping all of your ingredients, then storing them in small containers that you can take to work.

By the way, if you need a lunch box that’s conducive to your meal prep goals, this Six Pack Meal Prep Bag is my all-time favorite.

So if you’re ready to get started and become a meal prep queen/king, download my printable step-by-step meal planning worksheet here!