3 Meal Planning Methods: Which One is Right for You?

Have you ever noticed that our gym loving friends tend to be much more detail oriented when it comes to meal planning?

They have 6 meals mapped out each day, often pre-packed on Sunday and every meal is a perfect balance of protein, carbs and fat for their goals.

I admire them because I know the huge benefits of being that prepared in anything!!! Yet, I know very few runners who fall in to this category! It could be because runners have a bit of a “I eat so I can run” mentality, but I also think it’s because we think we’re too busy after putting in all those miles.Luckily when I met with the Dietitian at Wellfit Malibu in January, I realized that while I might not be batch cooking, I had indeed found a meal planning method that worked for me.

Man I love those words — worked for me.

Today we’re exploring 3 styles of meal planning, so you can find the one that best fits your life and will get you the results you want.

How Meal Planning Improves Running?

You’re a runner…you burn a lot of calories…do you really need all this meal planning stuff?

It seems like dedicated, very routine runners should be tops at meal planning, but I often find it’s the opposite. We’d simply rather be moving than hanging out in the kitchen while not eating.

Unfortunately, sans meal planning we’re often lacking in nutrients or reaching for quick foods that lead to increased inflammation and don’t support our dream big goals.

I’ve also found a little meal planning can help to keep in check the post marathon eating that stumps so many runners! How to get back to eating less calories with the massive drop in calorie expenditure!

Nutrient Variety
As we get into a routine with training, it’s easy to put the exact same ingredients in our green smoothie and lunch salad. Same snacks, same dinners…in fact, this is my biggest issue!!

Unfortunately without varying the freggies in our life, we risk creating food intolerances and not getting sufficient variety in the vitamins and minerals from our food.

High Quality Food
A little advance planning helps to ensure we have plenty of fruits, veggies, quality protein and snacks on hand at all times. We all know that when HANGER hits post run, if good foods aren’t readily available we’re going to reach for whatever we can find because our body is ready to refuel!

The quality of our post run foods impacts our recovery and thus our long term performance. Checkout this post for more tips on managing hunger during marathon training!Here is Carrots N Cake grocery haul after doing her weekly meal planning to ensure healthy foods and no waste.

Macros
Whether you want to try something like IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) or not, just looking in advance at each meal to ensure you are getting sufficient protein, fat and carbs is key for feeling satisfied, fueling your runs and build muscle as an endurance runner.

Budget Friendly
A little meal planning can make both our wallet and waistline happy, by eliminating the need for a last minute fast food pick up. Even cutting back on 1 weekly night out of dining, can slash hundreds of calories and fat from your meal…plus you’re in control of the ingredient quality.

In Canada alone, an estimated $27 billion in food ends up in the landfill each year. Just think of all the running shoes you can buy with the saved dollars!!!

Not a Diet
I think meal planning often feels synonymous with dieting or following a restricted plan. But that’s not what it is!

Just as you have a coach help you create a plan to reach your new running goal, a meal plan helps you reach your goals in the kitchen…which let’s be honest, directly translate to how you feel during training!

3 Planning Methods

Option 1 – I Love Following Training Plans (cook or prep ahead for the week)
The most commonly accepted method of meal planning is the total plan method, which is perfect for those who love to follow every single workout on their training plan.

• Write out meal ideas for dinner all week
• Use some of these to create lunch time leftover meals
• Plan for any known events
• Write in breakfast and lunches that remain
• Create a grocery list
• Use Sunday afternoon to prep

What’s even better now is there are a number of meal prep containers you can buy, which make it easy to pre-pack lunches or pre-portioned meals for the entire week. {Make sure you look for BPA free one’s like these}

Bonus: Batch cooking is an amazing option for those super busy times of life. Busted Button did a post ages ago that still has a ton of great tips.Option 2 – I Like Guidelines Not Rules (general ideas for meals without specifics)
Do you enjoy knowing that in general Sunday is your long run and Tuesday is your speedwork, but not really care about the specifics until that day? This is for you!

Take the need to be creative out of your week and set up themes like “Meatless Monday” “Slow Cooker Tuesday” and “Pizza Friday”. Or even more basic than that, I like how Wellness Mama describes it:

Rather than starting from scratch each week, I have a template of the general types of foods I cook each day of the week and the number of times I use each main food. In other words each week I cook:

• 1-2 stir fry
• 1 salad
• 1 slow cooker or soup meal
• 1 fish/seafood meal
• 1-2 meals from a different cuisine from around the world
• 1-2 prepare ahead oven meals

Option 3 – In It For the Long Run(stocked kitchen, but meals change by feel)
I have always fallen a bit more in to this category. I think it allows me to shift workouts and to change my meals based on my level of hunger or how I’m feeling.

I call it intuitive eating.

Sometimes I just don’t want a big dinner, I’m perfectly satisfied with some soup and other days I want everything in the kitchen for breakfast! The goal is here is to keep the kitchen stocked at all times with the variety of foods I’d need to satisfy either.

• Keep a general list of foods to have on hand (veggies, fruits, nuts, frozen items)
• Write on fridge here’s what we have that could make a meal to give you and anyone who lives there ideas for creating a meal
• Enjoy the art of power bowl meals

Gorgeous to go meals from FitLivingEats

The other thing I love about this style of planning is that if you missed Sunday planning you aren’t screwed for the week!! Too often we think well I didn’t plan, so I’ll order in or I’ll start next week. Instead, you can start at any meal and have a lot of flexibility.

Read more >> 10 Tips for Successful Meal Planning
Read more >> No time to cook? Healthy fast recipes to the rescue!

Tools For Success

#1. A Complete Plan
Lindsay of the Lean Green Bean a Registered Dietitian has been hosting meal prep links up and talking about the benefits for years!!

She finally released an ebook that takes all the guess work out of how to do it and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!

Food prep is probably the most under-rated, under-utilized healthy living tool. Making it a habit to spend even one hour on the weekend to prep food can make a huge difference in your food choices during the upcoming week.

Instead of stressing out about what to make for breakfast or dinner every single night, you can have a fridge full of healthy options that can simply be reheated or easily combined into a balanced meal.

Get the ebook ASAP (and learn more about her meal planning bootcamp!)

#2. Containers/Labels
Meal Prep containers if you’re pre-packing meals {Make sure you look for BPA free one’s like these} or good glass containers because they last so much longer, don’t stain or hold smells. Glass is also perfect if you are doubling a recipe and want to freeze part of it!!Whether your focus is 1 day or a week, MarekFitness shows off high protein focused planning.

#3. Dedicated Time
Successful meal planners have turned their Sunday afternoon’s in to a time of fun and relaxation where they turn on some tunes and start prepping away. I can see the pride and excitement they have after getting things completed!! Whether you’re pre-cooking or just ensuring you have what you need for a week, creating a routine around this every week will ensure it becomes a habit you never consider breaking.

#4. Food!
It’s going to be hard to be successful with any of these approaches if you’re fridge is empty.

• Join a CSA so you know that fresh fruit/veggies will be delivered consistently to keep you stocked up.
• Check the weekly sales and when things you use a lot go on sale…you guessed it, stock up!
• Don’t be afraid of frozen veggies and meats

In weight loss, in running, in anything it’s about listening to all those who have come before you with great success and finding which pieces work for you then discarding the rest.

Are you a meal planner?

What tips work for you?

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