Clean Eating Meal Planning

I've always been the type to make out a grocery list before heading off to the grocery store. My husband and I would even actually make out a list, Monday-Friday x 2 weeks, of the dinners that we were planning on having during the 2 weeks. We pretty much only planned our dinner meals as we were rarely home together for lunch, and we would never have breakfast together.
  
 Now, I plan everything down to how much water I should be drinking in a day (sounds obsessed to most people, I call it dedicated). I make out a meal plan in which I write down everything from breakfast to the snacks that I have in a day. I helps to keep me on track of my healthy clean eating habits and helps to make life more organized and easier. I may sway from time to time, but it's only in regards to maybe I'll have Monday's dinner on Wednesday, etc.

    Eating clean, in theory, is quite easy to do. You pair a lean protein with a complex carb and voila! a meal/snack, nothing processed, everything from it's natural state. I find it to be very easy in practice as well strangely.

    I have always had a great love for food, but planning meals for lunches at work was always such a nuisance. Plus, I have been for the most part, a serial procrastinator when I came to preparing lunches for the next day. Falling asleep on the couch before I got to bed was a common occurrence. The thoughts of getting up to go to bed seemed a bit out of the question, never mind to get up to make a salad! I spent a good portion of my pay cheques in the past going through the drive through on my lunch break.

    I don't even go to the drive through anymore unless it's for coffee. Planning my meals ahead of time has helped me tremendously in staying on track with my healthy eating goals!

Here is a sample of a week of meal planning:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Meal Plan for: Sept 23-29
Workout	P90X Cardio X	P90X Ab ripper X	P90X Chest and Back	P90X Plyometrics	P90X X Shoulders and Arms	P90X Yoga X	P90X Legs and Back
Breakfast	Whole grain flax wrap with almond butter and banana	Steel cut oatmeal with raspberries and blueberries	Whole grain flax wrap with almond butter and banana	Steel cut oatmeal with blueberries	Whole grain flax wrap with almond butter and banana	Steel cut  oatmeal with strawberries	Whole grain flax wrap with almond butter and banana
Snack	Apple and light baby bel cheese	Apple and taste of nature organic snack bar	Apple and light baby bel cheese	Apple and taste of nature organic  snack bar	Apple and light baby bel cheese	Apple and taste of nature organic snack bar	Apple and light baby bel cheese
Lunch	Grilled chicken and peppers on a whole grain flax wrap	Salad with chicken, lettuce, tomato, peppers, balsamic vinaigrette	Organic veggie burger with lettuce and tomato (no bun)	Sandwich made with Ezekiel bread, chicken, lettuce, tomato, peppers and mustard	Chicken salad with lettuce, tomato, peppers, balsamic vinaigrette	Organic veggie burger with lettuce and tomato (no bun)	Chicken wrap with spinach, tomato and mustard
Snack	Shakeology	Shakeology	Shakeology	Shakeology	Shakeology	Shakeology	Shakeology
Dinner	Rotisserie chicken, brown rice, green beans	Fish tacos with corn sprouted tortilla, with peppers, lettuce, tomato	Grilled salmon, steamed broccoli, brown rice	Chicken chili	Chicken stirfry	Chicken fajitas with sprouted corn tortillas, lettuce, tomato, peppers, and side salad	Cauliflower crust pizza with side salad
Snack	Protein bar (post workout)	Protein bar (post workout)	Protein bar (post workout)	Protein bar (post workout)	Protein bar (post workout)	Protein bar (post workout)	Protein bar (post workout)