This 7-day meal plan for athletes is based on an average 2,300 kcal diet.
Depending on your age, height, weight, body composition goal, medical history, fitness status, training regimen and diet your fuelling needs for optimal athletic performance could be above or below this Calorie goal of 2,300. This 2300 Calorie meal plan is based on 50% carbohydrates, 25% fat and 25% protein. This specific meal plan has been made for a female aged 28 years old, 5 '5'’ tall and about 145 lbs (~66 kg) who is active five days per week at a moderate intensity and wants to maintain weight. Other weeks, she might exercise at a higher intensity 3-4 times per week and this would be relatively the same meal plan.
Each meal plan day resembles a different time of working out in which the type of food before and after (pre-workout and post-workout) snacks and meals are accounted for.
Pre-workout foods highlight carbohydrates to be utilized as energy. If it is an early morning workout, you want to choose simple carbohydrates, especially if you do not have much time to digest before beginning exercise. Simple carbohydrates could be: graham crackers, low-fiber cereal, toast, english muffin, granola bar, pretzels or sports drink.
If you have more than 30 minutes before your workout, you can add some more fibrous carbohydrates, moderate protein and or moderate fat. This will help slow down digestion, before you exercise. For example, the english muffin with peanut butter, apples and soy milk would be a meal I would want to digest for a couple hours before the mid morning exercise versus an english muffin and peanut butter perhaps I could exercise in the next 30 minutes. If I am awake and out the door running in under 5 minutes, I'm choosing graham crackers or a sports drink to absorb the carbs quickly to be utilized for energy right away.
You also want to think about the type of exercise, duration and intensity. For example, if I am waking up and doing an easy 3-mile walk, I don’t necessarily need to eat simple carbohydrates such as graham crackers right before. If I am waking up and going on a five mile run, I might want some carbs to fuel this type of activity. If I am waking up and going to do a High Intensity Interval workout then I NEED to eat some carbohydrates before this type of activity because my body is burning carbohydrates at a faster rate.
The post-workout meals and snacks focus on protein, but we aren’t forgetting about carbohydrates. It’s easy to get your post-workout meal of carbs and protein if it is a typical mealtime such as lunch or dinner. Other times, you could be done working out at 3pm and need a high protein snack to start muscle protein synthesis and muscle recovery. If you are working out late at night, such as a club soccer game, a protein shake might be easy right before bed rather than a full on dinner. Make sure to have dinner before the game, but go easy on the fiber and fat as this takes longer to digest and can make you feel sluggish. Day 5 is an example of a day of eating for nighttime exercise. Take note, the Chicken Pizza, Sliced Tomato & Feta Salad dinner should be eaten with at least 2-3 hours before activity so that you can give yourself some time to digest the protein, fat and fiber.