Daily meal plans that help you exercise

You have decided to make a change to your lifestyle. You want to exercise more to improve your wellbeing. But what do you eat? Well, here are some daily meal plans that will help you with your lifestyle change.

Our daily meal plans will boost your ability to exercise and and work to improve your health. They are packed with protein throughout the day and cover essential intakes of carbohydrates, fats and sugars. We have also included pre- and post-exercise snack ideas.

The time of day you eat is as important as what you eat. Check out our article on the best times of day to eat to maximise your workout here. If you are vegetarian you can find guidance on what to eat to maximise exercise in our article here.

Daily meal plans to help you exercise

Breakfast

Your first meal of the day is the most important. You can find more breakfast ideas in our Breakfast ideas for working out article. So, starting our daily meal plans choose ONE from the three below. Try your toast unbuttered. Use semi-skimmed milk.

  • 1 cup of Oats with milk
  • 2 pieces wholegrain toast
  • 2 eggs on wholegrain toast

Pre-workout snack

Snacking is not a bad thing, especially if you exercise regularly. It depends what you snack on. If you do eat more often through the day, make the meals you eat smaller. So as part of our daily meal plans we say choose ONE from the following to have a pre-workout snack.

  • Glass of milk and a banana
  • Peanut butter on wholegrain bread
  • Grapes/Blueberries/Apple
  • Nuts/dried fruit

Post workout meal

After exercise you will need protein to help your poor muscles recover. Make protein shake – there’s a good article on making shakes at home here – and add half a banana. Then for your meal choose ONE of the following

  • Chicken with wholegrain pasta
  • Tuna with wholegrain bread/pasta
  • Small Baked potato with chilli/beans/tuna
  • Egg/beans on wholegrain toast

And add to it any of the following…

  • Sweetcorn/peas/broccoli/peppers

Dinner

Healthy main meals don’t have to be complicated or boring. You simply need to ensure you have variety in your diet so you get all the nutrients you need. You can find out more about healthy meals here. For a main meal in your daily meals plans we suggest ONE of the following:

  • Fish/turkey/chicken/lean mince/steak/quorn

With two or three of:

  • Sweet potatoes/tomatoes/broccoli/carrots/asparagus/peas/mange tout/beans/cauliflower/peppers

Nightcap

Not everyone likes to have something before going to bed. But if you are doing a lot of exercise you might want to consider a protein shake or some milk before bedtime to give your muscles an extra boost.

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