Meal planning & My Meal Plan for Week 3 of 21 Day Fix Extreme

I learned a long time ago that we all need a plan if we want to be successful in all areas of our life.  Meal planning is my tool to keep me on track with my nutrition goals.  We've all heard that 80% of our results are related to our nutrition.  This is absolutely true.  If we're not eating healthy, we won't see the best results from our workouts.

Tomorrow I start week 3 of 21 Day Fix Extreme and I wanted to share my meal plan with you.  This is how I eat each day.  I may not always stick to it, but I know that I have a plan.  I am less likely to eat junk foods or snacks when I have this written on paper.  

Some of my top meal planning tips are:

1. Chose 1 day of the week to meal plan.  My day is usually Sunday.

2. Use a printable meal planner such as a Word doc to make edits easy.

3. Keep a notebook or file folder on your computer for easy access to favorite recipes.  This makes meal planning much faster.

4. Know how many servings you will eat each day of each type of food.  And keep a tally so that you don't plan too much or too little during each day.

5. Decide on the easiest meals first.  For me this is breakfast, I almost always have Shakeology for breakfast.  

6. Decide which types of protein you want to have each day.  

7. I usually plan the largest meals next.  On the days that I work, lunch is usually the largest meal of the day, so I fill in those days next.  On my off days, supper is usually the largest meal of the day, so I fill in those days next.

8. Then fill in the remaining meals and snacks to ensure that you're at your serving targets for each food group.

9. Then make your grocery list and chose the day you will grocery shop.

10. Prep as much food in advance on your plan/prep day.  Wash & chop vegetables and fruits, cook proteins, prepare things that will be re-heated (such as egg muffins this week)