How to Plan Weekly Meals as a High Performing Woman

It’s 5:30 p.m. and after a grueling day, you’re gladly closing your laptop and making the transition from your office. But it’s not exactly like you get to enjoy a mental reprieve. No sooner have you walked into your kitchen that you are reminded that dinner plans are undecided. With kids sports on the calendar this evening, you have exactly 45 minutes to get a meal on the table. You open the fridge and it’s looking like a wasteland. With nothing to work with, you make the call to order in…again.

Every single woman I know has been in this situation numerous times. And while many understand that learning how to plan weekly meals is a big part of the solution, creating a winning system is much more difficult. What do I mean by a winning system? A system solves the problem more than once. A system is also a repeatable process that reduces mental friction, eliminates unnecessary decisions and overall, makes your life easier.

As ambitious women, we need to shift from solving problems to creating systems. Solving the problem simply asks: What’s for dinner tonight? When you’re creating a system, the better question is: How do I avoid wondering, “What’s for dinner” ever again? When you’re a high achieving woman, already juggling multiple demands and responsibilities in a given day, this way of thinking is not just essential, it’s transformational.

As ambitious women, we need to shift from solving problems to creating systems.

Why Weekly Meal Planning Makes Healthy Eating Easier

Anyone will tell you that prioritizing your health means you have to pay attention to what you eat. Predetermining your meals is a great way to keep your health goals in the forefront because you’re not making food choices when you’re ravenous or feeling stressed from the day. Imagine sitting down and deciding what to eat for dinner this week when you’re calm and relaxed.

You’d have the capacity to be more purposeful in your selections. And rather than deciding what to eat every single day of the week – sometimes, multiple times a day if we count breakfast and lunch – you can choose once and move on. This eliminates food waste and the temptation to rely on convenience foods that aren’t aligned to your health goals. This is the power of a winning system. You consolidate decision making so you have more mental bandwidth to focus on higher priorities – the things that matter to you most.

How to Plan Weekly Meals in 5 Simple Steps

Step 1: Build a List of Easy Meal Planning Ideas

If you want to build a system that works, this is the most foundational step. This is where you build what I call your Meal Vault — a bank of your favorite recipes that you and your family enjoy. This allows you to have a master list of tried and tested options rather than looking for new ideas every single week. I find it helpful to put recipes into useful categories like slow cooker, no cook, etc. Use this as an opportunity to choose meals that are aligned with your health goals.

You don’t need high volume at the beginning. You build your Meal Vault over time to the extent that you prefer. Look at it like an up front investment and not something you’ll need to do on a weekly basis. The goal is to have a variety of options so you’re not starting from ground zero with your meal planning each week.

Step 2: Review Your Weekly Schedule

This is a step many people miss. This one is important because it allows you to anticipate needs before they arise. You want to ask things like:

• How many meals do you need to plan for this week?
• Which days require minimal time in the kitchen?
• Do you have late meetings, travel or kids activities that should be accounted for?
• Are there guests coming to your home that you need to plan for?

In our house, on nights where minimal kitchen time is required, I’m using a slow cooker recipe or pulling something from my freezer stash. Asking these kinds of questions during the schedule review will allow you to plan accordingly.

Step 3: Choose Your Meals for the Week

Now that you have your Meal Vault and you’ve reviewed your schedule, all you need to do is determine what you’re making on each day. Some people like to choose meal themes for the different days of the week. For example, Mondays are salads, Tuesdays are slow cooker recipes, Fridays we have pizza, etc. Narrowing your choices can make it easier. I also recommend keeping your meals simple. I love to cook, but I save the more elaborate recipes for the weekend when I have more time.

Next, you’ll want to document the specific meals you’re going to make for each day. You could create a simple note on your phone and keep your list there. Some people like to print their meal plan and post it somewhere handy such as in the pantry or on the fridge. This is helpful for quick reference.

I also highly recommend making use of leftovers whenever you can. I regularly double ingredients for my recipes so I have extra that can be used for another night. This simplifies dinner decisions and cuts down on kitchen time. Have a plan for lunches and breakfasts, too. These meals often get overlooked but are just as important as dinner.

Here’s an example of a clean eating meal plan for a little inspiration:

Sunday

Breakfast (B): Whole Wheat Pancakes, Turkey Bacon and Fruit
Lunch (L): Egg Salad, Sliced Cheese, Fruit and Crackers
Dinner (D): Ginger Chicken Stir Fry and Coconut Rice

Monday

B: Yogurt Bowl with Berries, Granola and Honey
L: Leftover Egg Salad, Sliced Cheese, Fruit and Crackers
D: Ground Turkey Sloppy Joes with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Coleslaw

Tuesday

B: Protein Shake
L: Turkey Slices, Avocado Toast, Cucumber and Fruit
D: Leftover Sloppy Joes

Wednesday

B: Scrambled Eggs, Avocado, Chicken Sausage and Toast
L: Turkey Slices, Avocado Toast, Cucumber and Fruit
D: Tacos

Thursday

B: Yogurt Bowl with Berries, Granola and Honey
L: Chicken Salad and Crackers
D: Taco Bowls or Taco Salad

Friday

B: Protein Shake
L: Leftover Chicken Salad and Crackers
D: Pizza

Saturday

B: B: Scrambled Eggs, Avocado, Chicken Sausage and Toast
L: Leftover Pizza
D: Salmon and Roasted Veggies

Notice that for this clean eating meal plan, multiple meals are working double duty. Lunches are used for more than one day. Dinner leftovers stand-in as another meal. And breakfasts are on a rotation. Instead of making 21 different decisions about what to eat and when, we consolidate the decision making process as well as the meals.

Step 4: Create Your Weekly Grocery List

I like to split my grocery list into two categories: the staples and the recipe-specific ingredients.

The Staples

These are the items that you go through each week without fail. Our family rotates through breakfast and lunch options, so the ingredients for those meals stay on our staples list. Things like frozen berries for smoothies, fresh fruit, eggs, yogurt and crackers are all items that show up every week. I tend to purchase the non-perishable pantry staples in bulk so we’re set for a while versus having to restock every week. So, instead of buying a single box of crackers, I’ll buy several. Your staples list should stay relatively the same from one week to the next.

The Recipe-Specific Ingredients

These are the items that are needed for the recipes you’re making this week that are not part of your staples list. These change from week to week depending on what you’re having.

When you make your grocery list, have all of your recipes handy and group your ingredients into categories. Keep your produce, meat, dairy and freezer options grouped together. This is helpful because it allows you to see where ingredients are duplicated across recipes so you’re not overshopping.

For example, if I have two recipes that call for cilantro I’m not going to buy 2 bunches of cilantro. I’ll typically buy one and use it for both recipes. Another reason why you want to categorize your ingredients is because it’s a major time saver if you’re physically going to the store and shopping. It’s an annoyance to get all the way to the freezer section and realize that you forgot the apples in produce. Categorizing your ingredients prevents backtracking.

Step 5: Decide What to Prep Ahead of Time

Meal planning is the process of deciding what to eat. Meal prepping is the act of preparing the ingredients. If you’re having egg salad for lunch you could boil the eggs ahead of time. If you’re making a soup with shredded chicken you could roast the chicken breast and shred it in advance. Consider chopping veggies before you need them. This type of meal prep is easy and doesn’t take a lot of time.

One woman I know preps her smoothie by putting all of the ingredients (except the liquid) in the blender the night before and then places it back in the freezer. In the morning she just adds the liquid, puts the blender jar on the base and presses start. Her protein smoothie is done in 2 minutes. You don’t have to spend hours on Sunday meal prepping. This goal is to think through what (if anything) can be done ahead of time to make meal time easier.

The Secret to Easy Meal Planning Is a Repeatable System

Planning your meals for one week is great. But then you have to do it all again the next week. What if, eventually you just have a list of menus and grocery lists that you can repeatedly use over and over again? With this approach, eventually, meal planning becomes something that turns into a very low effort activity instead of something you dread (or avoid) each week. By creating a system, you’ll reduce friction and lessen your mental load. Here are the components of this process:

• Determine a set time to meal plan each week
• Set up your meal vault somewhere easy to access – digital is preferred
• Use the same meal planning template each week
• Keep your weekly menus and shopping lists organized together

Choose Your Day and Time

This is probably the most important part. You need time set aside for this. Pick a day of the week and a time that works for you. I usually plan our weekly menu on Saturday afternoon. It’s a standing time that I’ve grown accustomed to and helps ensure that I actually get it done. At the beginning, when you’re just getting started you’ll need to invest more time up front, but it will pay off.

Create Your Meal Vault

I recommend a digital meal vault because it’s easier to keep track of your recipes and keep them organized. I also frequently use AI to help in the planning process and that would be much more difficult with paper recipes. A digital meal vault also allows you to access recipes from anywhere – even from the grocery store, which can be very helpful.

Standardize Your Meal Planning Template

A meal planning calendar works well for this, but it does not have to be elaborate. In fact, I think simple is better. You want to use the same meal planning calendar from week to week to standardize the process and have a reliable menu.

Keep Your Menus and Shopping Lists Together

This is huge. When you keep your menu and shopping list together you can reuse it. The menu and shopping list for one week essentially become Grocery List 1. At the top you can name the meals that correspond to the list and reuse the entire setup. If you do this from one week to the next, eventually you will have several menus and grocery lists that are already done for you.

The more you use this system, the less work it requires. Eventually, planning your meals for the week might be as simple as pulling out a menu you’ve already created, making a few adjustments and calling it done.

When Things Don’t Go As Planned

Even the most carefully constructed plans can get derailed during an off week. Your child gets sick, a deadline appears out of nowhere, your dog is barfing on the rug and your dishwasher decides to break down. Having a back up plan is part of the process. I like to have freezer meals tucked away for days when my meal plan isn’t feasible. These freezer meals are not separate meals that I’m preparing just to have a freezer stash. I’ll take leftovers from a meal we’re already eating and freeze them for another day when I’m pressed for time or don’t feel like cooking. Things like meatballs, roasted chicken and casseroles freeze well without compromising quality.

There’s also a business near us that makes prepared food specifically for freezing and reheating later. They use whole food ingredients and I’ve used their service plenty of times to have backup options readily available. You might have something similar available near you.

And for those moments when you can’t pre-plan even enough to unthaw a freezer meal, having a baked in choice for ordering in can be helpful. I like thinking about this in advance so that the meal selection is intentional and aligned with my health goals. Otherwise it can feel like, “We’re ordering in tonight. What sounds good?” Thinking about the options ahead of time increases the likelihood that you’ll make a good choice.

The Power of One Less Decision

As an ambitious woman, your mental energy is one of your greatest assets. Having a weekly meal plan protects that energy by reserving it for what truly deserves your attention versus thinking about meals. It’s a return on investment. Rather than feeling the pressure of deciding what to eat during the busiest moments of your week, you can enjoy less stress, more calm and a feeling of ease around meal time because you’ve planned in advance. You already know what you’re making. The ingredients are in the fridge. You have enough time to prepare the food. And you’ve chosen options that align with your health goals. When you plan in advance, meal time moves from a place of constant, ongoing friction to one of simplicity.

As an ambitious woman, your mental energy is one of your greatest assets.