To be honest, I have a hard time with this. Most of the time when I fall off my eating schedule or see less than stellar results it’s because I have not taken the time to plan my meals. There is nothing more frustrating than to work you tail off at the gym and not see either fat loss of muscle definition. Menu planning combined with journaling is the answer.
Weekly meal planning allows you to see the big picture. It snapshots your nutritional picture so you can make sure you get all your important needs fulfilled. It’s easy to see when you are low on fruits and veggies, calcium, or protein when you make a weekly schedule. Here’s how I did it and I hope it helps you with your own planning.
Step One: I did my plan in Excel, but a simple piece of paper done like this will do:
Mon. Tues. Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat. Sun.
Breakf
Workout
Fuel
Lunch
PM Sn
Dinner
PM Sn
Step Two: Fill in the holes. I tend to eat the same types of foods over and over again because it’s simple. I took a few of my favorite meals and dropped them into the slots.
Example: I will eat a veggie omlette everyday this week. Seven breakfasts done. You might need more variety but most of us eat the same two or three things over and over again. Just drop it in. Each week you can pick a different menu staple.
Step Three: Plan your splurge meal and plan your social calendar. I know I have a busy week ahead of me so I made sure that I had plenty of portable foods for my cooler. By having a meal plan I was able to shop smart this week.
Step Four: Make your grocery list from your plan and go. I eat healthy enough that I will feed my family anything I’m eating. I just count it all up, add in the household goods that need to be bought, and I’m done. Ready to shop.
Step Five: Cook and chop. I spent about 1:30 hours today chopping and cooking my meals to get me through Wednesday (I even did three loads of clothes and washed all the dishes). On Sunday I will make my most labor intensive meals: this week was baked chicken breasts. Wednesday I’ll cook again but I save my easy meals for the end of the week. 
Next, I portioned out the foods into Ziploc containers so that my meals are grab and go. Lettuce is washed and chopped, fruits are cut, and veggies are sliced and bagged to make easy sandwiches, salads, or snacks.
Now I have a week’s worth of food ready to go. Another PNP week is ready to begin!