Meal Prep for Busy Runners

Hello! I did a week of meal prep yesterday and wanted to share my menu and grocery list. I get a lot of questions like:

“What should I eat while training for my half marathon?”  (or insert any race distance in there!)

“What do you eat after running?”

“Do you create meal plans for runners?”

So, I’ve been collecting all your questions about what runners should eat to post more menu plans and lists of best practices for fueling. For now let’s look at the meals I put together for a busy week. This means there’s not a lot of variety but there are a lot of ‘grab and go’ healthy meals that will be prepped for Monday through Friday.

This is what I’m eating this week so it’s not a formal plan but is what’s on my menu! Let me know if you have any questions…

For my grocery list I usually make sure I have at least –  5 options for carbs, 4 options for protein, 5 veggies and 3 kinds of fruit and 3 options for healthy fats. From there I can build a lot of different healthy meals. But I usually have more than that when I use freezer and pantry staples.

My Meal Plan for Running this week:

Breakfast: Overnight Oats Monday through Thursday, Fast French Toast on Friday

Lunch: Hummus wrap on Monday, Leftovers the rest of the week

Dinner: Stuffed sweet potato with beans or chicken, Burrito bowls, Homemade Pizza

Pre-run: This week I’ll probably do PB toast since I’m obsessed with crunchy PB lately and I drink Spark before running

Post-run: If I don’t eat breakfast right after I’ll make a protein shake or have yogurt

Snacks: Trail mix, Yogurt, Popcorn, Whatever else I scrounge up…

 

Breakfast Meal Prep:

Overnight oats with yogurt, oats, fruit and nuts – I just mixed these up in small mason jars. This is a very easy ‘grab and go’ breakfast that you can make ahead for the week.

It’s great for a post-run or post-workout meal because it has a good combination of carbs and protein if you use Greek yogurt. Regular yogurt (non-Greek yogurt) and milk alternative yogurts don’t have as much protein so check the nutrition info if you are choosing another type.

Lunch and Dinner Prep:

To Do List:

1. Steam rice – use a steamer and follow package directions for 5 servings (or more if you are prepping extra). I added cilantro and lime juice & lime zest to rice  since I was using it in a chipotle inspired burrito bowl.
2. Cook sweet potatoes – I ‘baked’ these in the crockpot (see directions here). You can bake them in the oven but I think they come out so good this way.
3. Bake chicken for burrito bowls – Cut raw chicken into 1 inch pieces and season with garlic, chili powder, cumin, S&P. Chop onion. Combine and bake at 350 degrees until chicken is done. Cooking time depends on how thick the pieces are – mine took about 25 minutes.
4. Bake chicken for stuffed sweet potatoes – optional. You can stuff them with beans & nuts and either add chicken or switch out the beans for chicken.
5. Chop vegetables & roast or cook veggies that you prefer to eat cooked
6. Rinse off beans

Sweet potatoes: Let cool a bit before handling – they are super hot and juicy. Cut open, mash a bit and combine with beans or baked chicken. Serve with your favorite green veggie.

Burrito bowls: Build the burrito bowls by portioning out a serving of spinach, rice, beans, chicken, corn, salsa and veggies into each container.

Anything not on the list – like the salmon… I made for dinner during the week and cooked that evening.

What I eat before a run and snacks – I didn’t prep those this time but I’ll include them in an upcoming menu!

Let me know if you have any questions… leave a comment or email me RunEatRepeat@gmail.com

Question: Do you plan out what you’re having for breakfast, lunch and dinner or just ‘wing it’? 

Do you meal prep?

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source https://runeatrepeat.com/2018/04/23/meal-prep-for-busy-runners/