7-Day Meal Prep For Weight Loss

FULL WEEK of healthy meal prep for weight loss, ready in just about one hour.  All 7 days, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snacks - great for weight loss or if you just want to have your healthy meals all prepped for you for the week.

this RECIPE

For so many years I’ve been listening to other people, my friends and even family how sticking to a healthy lifestyle is hard and just takes up so much time. Instead of just waving them off (and saying telling them they’re wrong to their faces ;)), I love showing people how it's actually easier than they might think to eat real food, enjoy what they're eating, and even be FULL, all while losing weight. Yes, it's possible to eat healthy and not hate your food!

Watch My Meal Prep For Weight Loss Video

How To Start Meal Prepping For Weight Loss

Changing your eating habits can be intimidating, I know. It may even feel like you’re leaving everything you love behind. All the midnight snacks, takeouts, sweets…  But, although it may seem like that at first, soon enough you realize that eating healthy will not only make you feel and look good but can also taste darn good!  The key is finding a lifestyle you love (not one you dread) so that you stick to it.

Once you get the hang of it, making healthier and yet equally, if not even tastier, versions of your favorite dishes will bring you more joy than any unhealthy over-processed options out there. I've even made a healthier version of one of my all-time favorites - Healthy Mac and cheese, and it's one of my favorite recipes ever.

With our busy schedules, it’s often hard, impossible even, to cook every single day, and to be honest, sometimes, even when I do have the time, I’d rather spend it doing something else. That’s why we so often rely on meal prep!

Not only is meal prep a great way to save time, as you cook only once or twice a week and have a nutritious meal ready in a matter of minutes every day, but by planning, you can keep track of your calorie intake more easily.  The idea is to plan to succeed, not wait to fail with eating healthy and, ultimately, with weight loss.

To help you jump on the meal prep train, I’m sharing with you some of my favorite tips that will help you get started and a full 7 days meal prep for weight loss.  This 7 day meal prep for weight loss includes 4 easy meal prep meals per day, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack.

Typically, a woman should eat approximately 1400-1700 calories each day to lose weight, depending on their specific body and nutritional needs. So, I've focused on that framework and made this meal plan roughly 1500 calories per day.

Ready, set, go!  You got this!

What Does Meal Prep Mean?

Meal prep, short for meal preparation, is planning and preparing your meals ahead of time. You can meal prep one day ahead or take one day to prepare lunch and/or dinner for an entire week. While most meal prep only has one or two meals, you can easily meal prep breakfast, lunch, and dinner, even snacks for the week ahead. It’s entirely up to you!

In this post today, I've shared a 7-day meal prep for weight loss that includes all your meals and snacks to make it easy to stay on track.

Check out my post on How To Eat Healthy On A Budget for more budget-friendly tips!

How Do I Make A Meal Plan?

First things first - planning. Before you start to prep your meals, you need a nice, solid plan. Coming up with a meal plan may sound overwhelming at first, but it’s not as bad as it may seem. Just take it one step at a time and start with one, simple meal you love and that you know is healthy, and then work your way up. Soon, you’ll be prepping all your meals! Watch out - it gets addicting!

How To Make a Meal Plan

1. Write down all the meals you plan on having in the next few days, including breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. Stick to proven recipes and meals you can easily make even in your sleep, to start. No need to try to learn how to cook something when you're wanting to be as efficient and quick as possible.
2. List out all the ingredients you’ll need to make them and how much of each you’ll need.
3. Time to go grocery shopping!
4. Set aside one or two days to get all your meal prep done - try to keep it to 1 hour or less for each cooking session so you don't hate these days of actually cooking your meal prep recipes.

That’s it, you’re set.

Can You Lose Weight With Meal Prep?

Meal prep is a simple and easy way to track your food intake. Whether you just want to stay away from over-processed foods and eat healthy to build muscle, lose weight, or simply feel better, meal prep is a great idea. Prepping all, or at least most your meals, ahead of time makes cooking and eating healthy, nutritious food easier and quicker than ordering take out or grabbing some fast food on the go.

Meal prep makes it so much easier to grab and eat food you've already prepared than to struggle with also cooking and/or prepping it when you're hungry.

That all being said, focusing on the total caloric intake of your meals, the quality of your food, and daily exercise, are all important to help with weight loss.

Check out my post on how to lose weight without cardio for more tips on how to lose weight!

What Are The Best Meal Prep Containers?

I heart meal prep containers. ❤️

If you want my guide to the best meal prep containers, you can find it here.

When meal prepping, you definitely want a meal prep container that will keep your food fresh. Whether you’re prepping meals for an entire week or just a few days ahead, the way you store your meals is just as important as cooking the food. You want to make sure you always store your food in airtight containers to prevent spoilage.

Food containers come in all shapes, sizes and equally important - materials. Depending on your lifestyle, you can pick the ones that fit into your lifestyle (and your bag!) best. If you’ll be taking a lot of your meals with you on the go, the slimmer and lighter the container is, the better. Also, make sure the container is suitable for keeping in the freezer and/or microwave use, depending on what you’ll be using it most - that's why I love these glass meal prep containers. There are plenty of options and after you’ve done your planning, it will be much easier for you to determine what kind of container is the best option.

My Favorite Meal Prep Containers

Personally, I love these glass meal prep containers for all my meals that will be microwaved.  Then, I use these 1 quart mason jars for my salads and these 16-oz. mason jars for make-ahead smoothies and overnight oats prep.

How Long Can You Keep Meal Prep In The Fridge?

Once you’re done with your meal prep, make sure you let your meals cool down before transferring them to airtight containers and storing them in the fridge, but make sure you don’t keep your food in room temperature for more than two hours. If you are using meal prep containers and have stored your cooked meal prep well, I've found mine can stay for up to 5-7 days, depending on what I'm prepping. Some foods can last longer than others, and you can always meal prep every few days to follow food storage safety standards. If you prep your meals twice a week, that will help keep your food as fresh as possible.

To make sure your veggies stay fresh in the fridge up to twice as long, a great tip is to soak them in ice cold water for 15 minutes and them store them in the fridge with a wet cloth or a damp paper towel.

Can You Freeze Meal Prep Food?

Freezer meals are a great option, especially when you have extra food you know you won't get to in time before it spoils. Before you freeze any cooked food, make sure to let it cool down completely. You may need to transfer your meal to a larger bowl and place in the refrigerator to cool.

For easy thawing and storage, freeze your meal prep either in airtight freezer-safe containers or freezer bags. If using a freezer bag, make sure to squeeze out as much air as possible before placing your meal prep in the freezer.

How To Reheat Your Meal Prep

When you’re ready to eat it, you can either let your meal prep thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat in the microwave for around 2 minutes or reheat it in the microwave while frozen for 4-5 minutes. Easy peasy!

Remember that every person is different and requires slightly different calorie intakes to lose weight at a healthy rate.  If you’re combining this with a workout routine, you may also want to increase your total calories, depending on the intensity of your workout and your goals.

This meal plan aims to focus on enjoying your food and having meals prepped for you that you know are well-balanced so you don’t have to worry about counting calories. You don’t have to think about the calories you’re going to eat, what you’re gonna eat, it’s just so much easier to plan and prep ahead.

More Healthy Meal Prep

Alright, now that I have you hooked on healthy meal prep for weight loss and all its glory, check out these other great meal plans to help you to keep eating healthy!

• How To Meal Prep
• How to Meal Prep - Chicken (7 Meals/Under $5)
• How to Meal Prep – Salmon
• Healthy Egg Muffin Cups (Great for Meal Prep!)
• Healthy Chicken Fajita Meal Prep

I hope you like the recipes I’ve shared in this meal plan. The meals are recipes I love, and they are the exact meals I ate when I lost weight.

7 Day Meal Plan For Weight Loss

Lacey Baier

FULL WEEK of healthy meal prep for weight loss, ready in just about one hour.  All 7 days, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snacks - great for weight loss or if you just want to have your healthy meals all prepped for you for the week.

4.97 from 27 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Meal Prep

Cuisine American

Servings 7 days

Calories 1523 kcal

Equipment

• Glass Meal Prep Containers
• Glass Mason Jars

*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.

Ingredients

  

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats (Breakfast for 4 Days)

• ▢ 2 bananas
• ▢ ¼ cup dark cocoa powder
• ▢ ¼ cup + 2 tablespoon natural peanut butter
• ▢ ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• ▢ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• ▢ 2 cups rolled oats, uncooked

Quinoa and Kale Salad (Lunch for 4 Days)

• ▢ 1 cup quinoa, uncooked
• ▢ 2 cups water
• ▢ 1 cup lentils, uncooked
• ▢ 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• ▢ 2 cups kale, packed
• ▢ ½ cup cooked garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• ▢ ½ cup cucumber, peeled and diced
• ▢ ½ cup carrot, diced
• ▢ ½ cup grape tomatoes, halved
• ▢ 2 tablespoon red onion, finely diced
• ▢ ½ tablespoon raw sunflower seeds
• ▢ ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• ▢ 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ▢ 2 teaspoon raw honey
• ▢ ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon sea salt, plus ½ teaspoon for making quinoa
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ▢ 3 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1 tbsp. to massage kale

Veggies + Hummus (Snack for 4 Days)

• ▢ 4 carrots, cut into matchsticks
• ▢ 1 large cucumber, cut into matchsticks
• ▢ ½ cup homemade hummus divided (store-bought or homemade)

Beef With Broccoli and Brown Rice (Dinner for 4 Days)

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 lb flank steak, thinly sliced across the grain
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 1 shallot, finely chopped
• ▢ 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• ▢ 4 cups broccoli florets about 2 small crowns
• ▢ 2 tablespoon arrowroot starch
• ▢ ¾ cup water
• ▢ ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• ▢ 2 tablespoon coconut sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups brown rice, uncooked
• ▢ 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sea salt

Mango Green Smoothie (Breakfast for 3 Days)

• ▢ 3 cups mango chunks fresh or frozen
• ▢ 1 ½ bananas
• ▢ 3 cups fresh baby spinach
• ▢ 3 tablespoon flaxseed meal
• ▢ 3 cups unsweetened almond milk
• ▢ 3 scoops vanilla protein powder, optional

Chicken Cauliflower Fried Rice (Lunch for 3 Days)

• ▢ 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• ▢ 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 1 large head cauliflower
• ▢ 2 carrots, finely diced
• ▢ 1 cup frozen edamame
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 5 stalks green onion, sliced
• ▢ 3 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• ▢ 1 teaspoon chili paste
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 3 cups raw snap peas

Strawberries + Almonds (Snack for 3 Days)

• ▢ 32 strawberries
• ▢ 1 cup raw almonds

Lemon Roasted Salmon With Asparagus (Dinner for 3 Days)

• ▢ 3 6-oz salmon fillets
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ 2 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 2 lemons, thinly sliced
• ▢ 1 lemon, juiced (2 tbsp)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon parmesan, grated (omit if non-dairy)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ 2 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed
• ▢ quinoa, optional, for additional calories

Instructions

 

To Prep the Grains and Beans:

• In a deep pot, combine the brown rice, sea salt, and low sodium chicken broth. Heat this over high heat until it begins to boil, then reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for another 25-30 minutes, or until the water is all absorbed and the rice is tender.
• To cook the quinoa, combine uncooked quinoa with sea salt and chicken broth, in a deep pot, and then bring to boil. Then, reduce the heat to medium-high and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. Once all the liquid is absorbed, fluff with a fork and set aside to cool as well.
• Next, let’s get our lentils started. Add the dry lentils to a pot, followed by water. Be sure to use a large enough saucepan as the lentils will double or triple in size. Bring this to a boil over high heat, then cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until the lentils are tender. For whole lentils, it should take about 15-20 minutes. Then, drain the lentils and set aside for later.

For the Healthy Beef with Broccoli:

• To make the Beef with Broccoli, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add thinly sliced flank steak and cook until it’s well-browned, about 6-8 minutes. Once it’s well-browned, remove from the pan and set aside.
• In the same pan, add minced garlic, chopped shallot, and green onions. Cook one minute, stirring frequently.
• Then, add the broccoli florets and cook for 5 minutes until the broccoli turns bright green and becomes mostly tender.  Since we’ll be storing this meal, we don’t want to cook the vegetables completely through or they’ll be super mushy when we reheat them later.
• To make the sauce, in a mixing bowl, combine low sodium soy sauce, coconut sugar, fresh minced ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes. Add arrowroot starch and water and stir until no longer lumpy.
• Add this sauce to the pan and cook until it starts to thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Return the beef and stir to combine, cooking an additional 2-3 minutes. Then, set this aside to slightly cool.

For the Chicken Cauliflower Fried Rice:

• To make the cauliflower fried rice, heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add some sesame oil.
• Season the boneless, skinless chicken breasts with sea salt and pepper, then place into the hot oil.
• Cook for 4-6 minutes per side, turning occasionally, or until the chicken is cooked through.
• Once it’s cooked through, remove from the pan, dice into bite-size pieces, and set aside.
• Add the diced carrots into the empty pan and cook until they’re mostly tender, followed by the low sodium soy sauce, peanut butter, and chili paste and stir to combine.
• Add the frozen edamame, minced garlic, and sliced green onions, and cook until heated through.
• To make the cauliflower rice, grate a head of cauliflower using a kitchen grater (or you can also use a food processor or buy pre-riced cauliflower).
• Once you’ve grated all the cauliflower, add to the pan.
• Add the rice and cook the cauliflower rice over med-high heat until tender.
• Return the diced chicken back to the pan, and stir to incorporate.
• Push the fried chicken cauliflower rice mixture to one side of the skillet and add a couple eggs into the empty side of the pan and then scramble. Once the eggs are mostly scrambled, break up with a spatula and combine with the rice mixture.  This is now done and can be removed from the heat and set aside.

For the Lemon Roasted Salmon with Asparagus:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
• Arrange the pre-cut salmon portions in the center of the making sheet and then arrange the asparagus around the sides.
• Add thinly cut lemon slices around the edges of the salmon and over the asparagus.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, sea salt, and pepper. Pour this mixture over the salmon and asparagus.
• Then sprinkle parmesan over salmon and asparagus.
• Place this in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven to broil and broil another 5-7 minutes. Then remove from the oven and set aside. This salmon is so easy and so flavorful.

For the Quinoa and Kale Salad:

• To make the dressing for the kale and quinoa salad, combine freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, raw honey, dijon mustard, sea salt, ground black pepper, and olive oil in a small mixing bowl, and whisk together until well combined.
• To prep the kale for the salad, we’re going to add it to a large bowl with a little olive oil and rub all over the kale, massaging it until the kale reduces in volume and becomes less stiff. (This makes a huge difference in the texture of the kale and makes it much easier to eat. I like to buy pre-cut kale when I meal prep because it’s just easier and takes one less step out of the process.)
• To assemble the salad, combine ¾ cup of the cooked quinoa, ¾ cup of the cooked lentils, the kale, garbanzo beans, diced cucumber, diced carrot, grape tomatoes, finely diced red onion, and raw sunflower seeds in a large mixing bowl. Toss to combine.
• Then, drizzle over a few tablespoons of the lemon vinaigrette, and toss once more. This is so dang good.

For the Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats:

• To make the chocolate peanut butter overnight oats, add the bananas, dark cocoa powder, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and unsweetened almond milk to a kitchen blender and blend until smooth.
• Add the rolled oats and stir to combine. Do not blend. (You could also do this in a separate bowl, but this makes less dirty dishes.)
• Divide this into four mason jars because we will be using it for breakfast four of the days. Then, close, and then place into the fridge overnight or for at least 4-6 hours. (You can heat them up each morning or just eat them cold right out of the mason jar. When the oats are ready, I like to top them with some dark chocolate chunks.)

For the Mango Green Smoothie:

• To prep our mango green smoothie, divide fresh or frozen mango chunks, banana, and baby spinach into either ziplock freezer bags or mason jars. When it’s time to blend this all together, you’ll add in flaxseed meal, protein powder, and unsweetened almond milk for a tasty smoothie.

For the Strawberries and Almonds:

• Our snacks for four of the days will be raw almond with fresh strawberries. This can be prepped in a mason jar or a reusable bag. (This snack is roughly 200 calories. If you don't like almonds, you can replace with cashews or walnuts. Fruits can be switched out as well.)

For the Veggies and Hummus:

• Our other snack for the other three days is carrots and cucumber with hummus. You can make your own hummus or buy it from the store, depending on your preference. https://www.asweetpeachef.com/homemade-hummus/
• To pack this snack, add the homemade hummus to the bottom of a mason jar - we’re looking to do about 2 tablespoon in the bottom. Then add carrot and cucumber sticks for dipping right into the hummus. This makes a tasty, crunchy snack that is savory.
• To store the salad, you can either use a meal prep container or mason jars. 
• To pack our beef with broccoli, add it to one side of the meal prep container and then add in the steamed brown rice on the side. Top with sliced green onions. This meal is roughly 500 calories and will make a tasty dinner for four of the nights.
• To pack up the chicken cauliflower fried rice, add it to one end of the meal prep container, and next to it add some fresh snap peas. I like to have a crisp veggie along with the fried rice for a little texture. This will serve as a lunch for three of the days and is roughy 400 calories.
• Now for our salmon meal, make a layer on the bottom of the container with the asparagus and then top it with one of the salmon fillets. If you wanted to add some quinoa to this meal, that would be a good option if you find you’re still somewhat hungry.

Video

Notes

- Remember that every person is different and requires slightly different calorie intakes to lose weight at a healthy rate. If you’re combining this with a workout routine, you can increase the amount of calories easily by adding in another 200 calorie snack to find what best suits you and your needs.

- Nutrition facts are for 1 day of the meal plan, including breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner

Nutrition

Serving: 1 dayCalories: 1523 kcalCarbohydrates: 173 gProtein: 72 gFat: 50 gSaturated Fat: 8 gTrans Fat: 0.01 gCholesterol: 108 mgSodium: 1099 mgPotassium: 3501 mgFiber: 39 gSugar: 49 gVitamin A: 16278 IUVitamin C: 260 mgCalcium: 672 mgIron: 16 mg

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