Week 13 Challenge – Proper Portion Planning!

 

After a small break, our Weekly Challenges are back! We kick back off with Week 13 – Proper Portion Planning!

This time around, we’re going to talk about portion planning and meal planning – the easy and effective way.

Many people have asked me on Facebook how to properly plan for healthy meals and often times request tips and tricks to make it a little easier to eat healthy throughout the week… and it’s a great question to ask.

With the distractions in life, eating and cooking healthy daily can sometimes seem very daunting. Between work, kids, school, daily schedules and daily stresses, eating healthy can really become a challenge – especially with easy, cheap fast food available around every corner.

The good news is, if you follow this weeks challenge, you’ll discover how easy it can be to have a fast, healthy meal available during your day. So, lets get right into it:

*NOTE: We’ll be using my Herb Crusted Baked Chicken recipe as an example below. However, I encourage you to choose a few recipes and prepare multiple servings of multiple recipes as they can all usually be cooked at the same temperature, and around the same length of time.

What You’ll Need:

  • A deep pan (or 2) that can fit 8-12 chicken breasts, spaced 1/2 inches apart
  • Olive oil cooking spray
  • Spices: minced garlic, basil, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper
  • A pack of frozen chicken breasts
  • A bottle of light marinara sauce – look for less sugar and sodium options
  • A box of zip-lock bags
  • 8-12 Tupperware containers big enough for a chicken breast, and a side or two
  • About 20 minutes to prep, 45 minutes to cook, and 20 minutes to portion

Step 1: Preparing:

  1. Lay out your chicken breasts over a large cutting board or sanitized counter top
  2. Click here and follow this recipe for seasoning and cooking instructions
  3. Boil about 4 cups of brown rice to spread over 7 days, or 2.5 cups for 5 days
  4. Portion out exactly 1/3 cup of marinara sauce and store in 5 –  7 zip lock bags
  5. Cook, boil or saute a favorite green vegetable such as broccoli, zucchini, or spinach and portion accordingly
  6. Once chicken is done cooking, slice each chicken breast into bite size pieces (no knife required when eating!)
  7. Divide the chicken, marinara sauce, rice, and vegetables into tupperware containers big enough to store one of these full meals

Step 2: A Meal In 1.5 Minutes

  1. This meal can be enjoyed either heated up in a microwave, or served cold. My preference is served hot, though.
  2. If you have access to a microwave, just remove the lid to your tupperware, pour the marinara over the rice and chicken and heat for about 1.5 min.

 

This portion planning example can be applied to nearly any of the recipes you find on ChristinasFitness.com. Having about 7 of these packaged up can really help you stay the “nutrition course” throughout the week. With your fitness goals literally resting on nutrition, be sure you’re planning a day of the week to be dedicated to cooking and portioning your meals for the week ahead!

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