I want to start this off by saying there is no one perfect way to meal prep/plan. I have worked with hundreds of clients over the years and the approach we take to make eating balanced, nutrient dense meals easy is always different. I will be sharing two primary strategies in this blog post, but please make it your own. My goal is for you to experiment, find what works for you, and forget the rest.

Foods To Prioritize

In order to understand the best way to plan and prep your food each week, we have to first understand what foods we are prioritizing. Below you will find a breakdown of the basics I recommend incorporating. For an explanation of why I recommend these, listen to episodes 2 and 3 of season 1 of the Are You Menstrual? Podcast. I highlight episode 2 in this week’s Podcast Highlight below!

• A mix of protein sources (beef, chicken, pork, seafood, eggs, dairy, etc.)
• Seafood 1-2x per week to support iodine, potassium, and calcium (depending on the fish)
• Organ meats (I like to cook and puree beef liver and mix into ground meat dishes)
• Daily gelatin/bone broth to balance out other proteins and support gut health
• Resistant starch rich foods to support beneficial gut bacteria
• Fiber rich foods to help bind to bile and estrogen in the gut and feed beneficial gut bacteria
• Potassium rich carbohydrate sources (cooked and cooled potatoes and rice, plantains, beans are a few great ones)
• Bitter foods to support digestion (arugula is my go-to for this as you will see below; carrots also aid in digestion; ginger is also a client favorite)

Will this type of eating work for everyone? Probably not. For example, some people will have to reduce the amount of fiber/resistant starch if they cannot digest it well. This is often related to a slower metabolism/poor digestion. Some people cannot tolerate dairy because of the milk sugar, proteins, or poor digestion in general, so they would need to avoid that. Some people can’t tolerate liver or certain fruits because of histamine issues. It’s impossible to share a way of eating that works for every single person. My goal is to share what’s the most nutrient dense and supportive of your overall health,

Planning Your Meals

I typically plan out my meals for the week on either Friday or Saturday morning. This way I can go through what I do and do not need at the grocery store and go shopping on Saturday. I prefer not to plan, shop, and prep all in the same day, it’s also not realistic in this new season of motherhood. Spreading it out helps reduce the stress around each task and make it all feel manageable. In order to plan your meals, you’d want to refer to the list above for what to include.

Planning Strategy 1: Less Variety

Below you can see an example of a week of three meals and three snacks. Before I dig into the meals themselves, I want to mention that you do not need to eat this way. How do you know which way to eat? I typically see three major types of people:

1. Prefers smaller meals, which means they need to eat more frequently. This person would eat smaller portions the main meals below and definitely include all three snacks. This is where a lot of women that I work with start. Most often, they have poor appetites and slow digestion, so eating less at once and consistently helps support their metabolism and can be easier on digestion (for some).
2. Prefers larger meals, which means they need to eat less frequently. This person would eat larger portions of the main meals below and maybe have one snack or none at all. This person typically has healthy thyroid function and good resiliency, so they can keep their blood sugar balanced without needing to eat as frequently. This format of eating often works well with busy schedules as well. Sometimes even if we want to eat more frequently, our lifestyle doesn’t make that realistic, and eating larger, denser meals is the best option.
3. A mix of the two–prefers denser meals, but still feels good eating some snacks. This person would eat larger portions of the main meals below and have 1-2 snacks and is similar to number 2.

Personally, I’m number three. I feel the best when I have larger, dense meals (meaning they contain some sort of muscle meat protein or seafood along with a starchy carb and veggie) and find my blood sugar, energy, and mood are the most stable when I do so, but I definitely need a couple snacks. Here’s a typical schedule of eating for me:

• 7am: Breakfast 30 minutes after waking. This was initially very challenging with a baby, but I’ve experimented a lot the last 9 months and eating right away is what works best for us. I eat a big breakfast and don’t do a morning snack since I don’t need it.
• 11-12pm: Lunch
• 3pm: Snack. This is what I consider a denser snack. I typically have 1 cup of Greek yogurt with 1 cup of fruit and a sprinkle of bee pollen for added minerals. It ends up being a decent volume of food and keeps me full until dinner.
• 6-6:30pm: Dinner
• 7:30pm: Snack. I used to always have my nighttime snack at 8:30pm, which is pretty close to my bedtime (9-9:30pm). Since my daughter has gotten older and is not nursing as frequently, I’ve found I actually feel better having more of a dessert/smaller snack after dinner and giving my body 1.5-2 hours before bed without food. If this were 3+ months ago, I would have never thought that would work for me. This is an important lesson that our life circumstances will play a huge role in what works for us food-wise. I’m sure this will change again in the next year.

This may not be what makes you feel your best and that’s okay! You have to experiment and find what works for you and remember that it can change overtime.

Planning Strategy 2: More Variety

If you looked at the above sample meal plan and dreaded having the same thing for lunch everyday, don’t worry! I have a plan to help you switch it up. I personally don’t mind eating the same thing for lunch daily since we switch up dinner every night, but I’ve worked with a lot of women that need more variety. I’ve found the easiest way to do this is to pick one or two protein sources and make a larger amount of plain versions then make different meals out of those. For example, shredded chicken is an easy one. You can add minimal seasoning and then use it to make a variety of meals (see below). You’re eating shredded chicken daily, but it has different toppings and pairings to make it a whole new meal with less prep.

Strategizing Sustainable Food Prep

I personally do not prep all of my meals ahead of time. Lunch, gummies/nighttime dessert, and morning carbs like potatoes, I always prep ahead, but dinners we make fresh. When my husband is deployed, I will make the same lunch for the week and prep the same dinner or two dinners for the whole week. I will not eat enough if I don’t have food prepped, but this isn’t the case for everyone. Do what feels right to YOU.

I like to break down my food prep into categories. If I based this off the samples, here is what that would look like:

Proteins:

• Egg bites
• Beef Sausage patties
• Beef chili or shredded chicken

Carbs:

• Sweet potato fries
• Black beans

Misc:

• Casein Custard or gummies
• Carrot salad

From there, I like to plan when I will actually prep everything. I like to spread things out a bit, especially if I’m making meals that use the same cooking methods. For example, below you will see that the beans, chili, and custard all require the instant pot. This is why I soak the beans Friday night then cook them Saturday. Then on Sunday I only need the Instantpot for two meals, which will cut down on the total time I’m cooking. I like to mark what cooking method I am using, so I know what I can make at the same time. For this type of meal prep, here’s the order I would cook them in on a Sunday:

1. I would start with cutting the sweet potatoes and baking them since they take a while and I like to bake at 400F but the egg bites need 350F.
2. Once those are baking, I would start the chili which is actually a mix of the saute setting in the Instantpot and only cooks for 10 minutes. Once it’s cooking, I would make the beef sausage patties on the stove top.
3. After I finished the beef patties, the sweet potato fries will likely be done as well. The chili will be done in the Instantpot, which means it’s time to make the egg bites.
4. While the egg bites are baking, I will clean the Instantpot and mix together the custard ingredients then cook on the steam setting in the Instantpot. If I were out of time (I usually prep during nap time), then I would make the custard later that day/evening.

I also have clients that will break up meal prep into two days. That totally works too! I find that planning helps reduce the time I spend in the kitchen and the stress of prepping overall.

I don’t think we all need to prep a ton of food each week. You can make nourishing meals last minute if you have time during your day. I typically don’t, which is why I prep a lot ahead (minus dinners). Some people like a mix of both. I hope you don’t feel pressure to do all the things after reading this, but instead feel empowered to experiment in the kitchen and figure out the best approach for you. I hope this was helpful!

I also have a free nourishing meal guide that will give you plenty of recipe ideas! You can find that HERE!

reminder: i’m currently taking on 1:1 clients. if you’d like to explore what it would be like to work together and if we are a good fit, fill out this form to get more details!