Food Mapping

As of October 2013, I have found meal planning to be virtually impossible. How do you say "no" when your 16-year old brother goes out to dinner to celebrate his academic victory, and they invite you? Should you really respond, "thanks, but I already had my healthy meal planned for tonight!"
I say no to that because family time is too precious.


From what I have discovered, though, is that through food mapping, you can start to see where the most difficult meals lie for you and how to fix them with future planning. I find it less intimidating than scheduling every single meal for the week.


Here is a typical week for me (which fluctuates, depending upon my academic schedule):

Monday: Cook 1 cup lentils in morning (while doing classwork);
Oatmeal for breakfast, banana post-workout;
Leftovers for lunch (at home);
Shakeology en route to hour-long grad school commute
night class 5-9pm: lentils (cooked earlier in day), applesauce, Greek yogurt, cheese, rice cakes

Tuesday: Day off!
Oatmeal for breakfast, banana pre-workout;
Shakeology post-workout;
Lunch leftovers as discovered;
Dinner with the fiancé

Wednesday:
Oatmeal for breakfast, banana post-workout;
Eggs and veggies for lunch (at home);
Shakeology en route to hour-long grad school commute
dinner with my grad student friends!

Thursday: 
Oatmeal for breakfast, Shakeology post-workout;
Lentils and veggies for lunch and dinner (at work)

Friday: 
Eggs for breakfast, Shakeology post-workout;
Last bit of lentils + chickpeas + veggies for lunch;
Dinner plans with the fiancé


Saturday:
Banana for breakfast, Shakeology post-workout;
Chickpeas + veggies for lunch;
fruit as snack mid-day;
Dinner plans with the fiancé

Sunday: (rest day, no workout)
Oatmeal for breakfast, 6 am;
Banana AND Shakeology, mid-morning snacks (10:30 and noon)
(this is where it gets tricky) late lunch (2-3 pm)
Family dinner




When you write down what (and how) you typically eat in a day, it says a lot about you. You see what is the most difficult to plan and stay healthy with, which, in my case, is definitely dinner. I struggle constantly with getting enough food at dinner and end up snacking later. By food mapping, you can see where your weakness lie and work on strengthening them.


What will you do to keep yourself healthy and on track?