NUTRITION AUTHOR
Coach Kati Epps
HOW TO BUILD A HEALTHY, BALANCED MENU n Let’s talk about weekly meal prep and how it can help foster a healthy lifestyle.
B
uilding a weekly menu can save you time and money, and help plan for living a healthy-eating lifestyle. Depending on your nutrition goals, creating a meal plan can be a solid foundation as you work toward those goals. But what does this look like? Staring in the face of having to create seven different days of four to six meals/snacks per day can look like a daunting task and cause you to get overwhelmed — quickly. If the process seems crushing, break it up into a few simple steps.
early, do you prefer to eat before or after? If you train in the afternoon, what do you need from your nutrition to give yourself the right fuel for an incredible workout? This will determine what you eat and when you eat it. Pro Tip: Sign up for your classes or schedule them with a partner at the beginning of the week so you have accountability and a clear picture of when you will be training.
1. Evaluate Your Lifestyle
3. Think About The Food
Are you up at 5:30 a.m. or not until 7 a.m.? Do you rush out the door to get to work or take your children to school, then you’re away for the rest of the day? Are you home most of the day and have a lot of access to the kitchen? This will determine if you need easy and quick meals that travel well or if you can have meals prepped and ready for assembly in your fridge. Pro Tip: Analyze your week on Sundays and look for early meetings, late nights or potential cliententertaining at restaurants.
What do you like to eat? Do you need a different menu every day, or do you prefer to eat the same things over and over? This will determine how much preparation you will need at the beginning of the week. Pro Tip: If you like food variety but need convenience, find two to three meals or snacks that you like and do not mind eating multiple times per week, and save your variety meals for lunch or dinner. Once you have a good idea of what your week looks like and what kind of foods you want to eat for the week, it is time to balance your day’s food. The easiest is to either have a calorie goal, a macronutrient goal or a portion goal.
2. Consider Your Energy Expenditure
When do you work out? How much are you active at your job? Are you constantly on the move? If you train
APRIL 2021
10
