Eating well is crucial for a healthy and successful athletic lifestyle. This article provides a comprehensive guide to athletic fit meals, offering recipes and strategies to fuel your body for peak performance, support muscle recovery and growth, and make healthy eating effortless.
The Importance of Meal Prep for Athletes
Meal preparation is an invaluable strategy for athletes striving to maintain a balanced and nutritious diet. It eliminates the stress of daily meal planning, ensures portion control, optimizes nutrient timing, and saves valuable time.
Effortless Healthy Eating: With a little forward planning, you won't even have to think about cooking for days.
Pre-Portioned Food: Weighing food for every meal can be tiresome and confusing. Meal prep in advance for pre-packed, pre-portioned meals to support your fitness goals.
Nutrient Timing: Research shows that to get the best out of your training regime, it's vital to consume enough protein and carbohydrates at the right time, in order to expedite muscle recovery and growth and prevent muscle catabolism. Preparing your food in advance makes it so much easier for you to consume the food your body requires, at the correct time.
Read also: Meal Plan for Athletes
Time Efficiency: Get ahead of the game and meal prep in advance, so you can spend your time doing what matters the most to you.
Meal Prep Containers
You can keep your new meals perfectly packed and portioned throughout the week with these slim-design, multiple-compartment meal prep containers.
Meal Ideas for Runners
These meal ideas for runners help you recover faster and fill the tank quickly. Runners should eat a balanced plate with protein, carbs, and healthy fats.
Recipes for Runners
These recipes for runners can easily be healthy easy dinner recipes for the family, too. I chose these recipes for their nutritional content, ease, taste, and simplicity.
Meal Themes
When trying to come up with meal ideas for runners or dinner ideas for the family, it can be helpful to think of themes. Foods that are whole foods and include simple carbs are best for runners. To perform their best and avoid stomach issues, runners should avoid sugary, greasy, and heavily processed foods. If you are a distance runner, you need more carbs than the average person. The keto diet and the intermittent fasting diet (especially if you are a morning runner) are definitely not for you! As a distance runner, eat 2.7 to 4.5 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight per day. Do this by including carbs in all your meals and snacks. Cereal, oatmeal, granola, rice, pasta, bagels, crackers, rice cakes, toast, bananas, fruit, and starchy vegetables are great ways to fuel your runs. Foods that give you energy for running have simple carbohydrates that your body can break down into fuel.
Read also: Nutrition for Football: Your Winning Meal Plan
Athletic Fit Meal Recipes
Here are some athletic fit meal recipes:
Spicy Chicken With Couscous
This super-tasty macro-balanced meal is perfect for nailing that meal prep. Bursting with flavour, it's a simple way to liven up your routine from plain old chicken and rice.
Seared Tuna Steak & Sweet Potato Wedges
Try this super-easy seared tuna steak with pink peppercorns and sweet potato wedges for a batch of healthy meals, with a huge 38g protein per meal.
Lean, Creamy Sausage Pasta
Give this high-protein creamy sausage pasta a go for your next batch meal prep session. This recipe uses quark in place of cream cheese and reduced-fat sausages to keep it lean - without skimping on flavour.
One-Pot Lentil Dahl
Batch cook your lunches in advance with this flavoursome, vegan-friendly, high-protein lentil dal.
Read also: Guilt-Free Waffle House Dining
Quick Spicy Cajun Salmon & Garlicky Veg
This spicy salmon meal prep recipe makes 3 days’ worth of tasty lunches and is seriously easy to prepare. Plus, salmon is brimming with omega-3 fatty acids - known to enhance muscle building and keep you lean. Bonus.
Breakfast Burritos For All Week Long
Whip these up on a Sunday for breakfast burritos that brighten up your weekday mornings. Simply pop them in the freezer, then grab one and warm it up 2 minutes’ flat for the ultimate healthy, filling breakfast.
Superfood Overnight Oats
This superfood overnight oats recipe is packed with powerful and nutritious ingredients including maca, bee pollen, flax, green tea extract, and chia so you can start your day right. Soaking oats overnight means the oats get super plumped up and pudding-like - great for a grab and go breakfast.
Sweet Potato & Chorizo Hash
Looking for something new to make with your sweet potatoes? This protein-packed sweet potato hash is the perfect muscle-building breakfast.
Speedy Harissa Chicken & Tabbouleh
Liven up your chicken meal prep with this quick harissa chicken and tabbouleh - packed with protein and healthy carbohydrates.
One-Tray Cashew Chicken
Meal prepping couldn’t be easier when you only need one baking tray to make it. Try this delicious one-tray cashew chicken meal prep recipe for 4 days' worth of tasty lunches.
High-Protein Kedgeree
This ultra-speedy haddock kedgeree makes a serious meal prep upgrade from plain chicken and broccoli. Swap in Protein Rice for the ultimate high-protein meal prep.
Low-Carb Teriyaki Beef Zoodles
Who said takeaway meals have to be unhealthy? Try this low-carb teriyaki beef meal prep fake-away recipe next time the cravings set in.
Low-Carb Loaf Tin Lasagne
Craving lasagne, but don’t want to make a whole tray of the stuff? Try loaf tin lasagne. You’ll get 3 easy portions for 3 days’ worth of low-carb, high-protein meal prep.
Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
This high-protein buffalo chicken pasta salad will change your chicken meal prep game forever. Trust us - buffalo sauce makes everything better.
Sweet Paprika Vegan Bowl & Chocolate Protein Balls
Try this delicious and easy to make 3-day vegan meal prep recipe, with sweet paprika roasted chickpeas and tofu, maca sweet potato fries, asparagus and avocado cream.
Low-Carb Burrito Jars
Try out low-carb rice in your next low-carb meal prep recipes session, at only 7kcal and 0.1g carbohydrates per 100g. Mason jars make meal prep super-easy - just shake when you're ready to eat.
Asian Peanut Butter Sesame Chicken
Try switching up your chicken meal prep for our Asian-inspired peanut butter chicken, at only 498kcal and a huge 40g protein per meal.
Ultimate High-Protein Stuffed Peppers 4 Ways
Peppers make the ultimate tasty carb swap-out to stuff with all your favourite fillings. From sausage and egg sandwich stuffed peppers to burrito stuffed peppers, pepperoni pizza stuffed peppers and chilli cheese stuffed peppers for the ideal breakfast and lunch prep - what more could you ask for?
Bangin' Barbecue Chicken & Rice
This bangin' barbecue chicken and rice meal prep recipe takes under 15 minutes to make and will keep you full for hours, with a huge 41g protein per meal.
Low-Cal Lime & Chilli Turkey Burgers
These low-cal homemade lime and chilli turkey burgers will spice up your meal prep game and then some, at only 147kcal per burger. This recipe subs in Powdered Peanut Butter for 70% less fat than regular peanut butter.
Additional Recipes
- Breakfast super-shake: This smoothie is high in natural fats and sugar - ideal if you need some fuel for intense exercise
- Tuna, avocado & quinoa salad: A high protein meal with healthy fats from the avocado. This is the perfect salad to revive you after a morning workout and keep you going 'til lunch
- Dark chocolate, banana & rye loaf: We've adapted swimmer Jazmin Carlin's favourite muffin recipe into a loaf that's free from unrefined sugars, flours and dairy. A great snack for on the go
- Classic spaghetti Bolognese: This classic recipe stays as true to the Italian way as possible - no garlic, white wine instead of red and a little milk splashed in at the end. A great source of iron and folate
- Bobotie: Pronounced ba-boor-tea, this much-loved South African dish is a delicious mixture of curried meat and fruit with a creamy golden topping, not dissimilar to moussaka
- Malt loaf: There's something very satisfying about a cup of tea with a slice of sticky buttered malt loaf - this simple, good-for-you version makes two and improves on keeping
- Butternut squash soup: Come in from the cold to a comforting bowl of autumnal squash soup. Adding a hint of chilli gives it a warming kick whilst crème fraîche makes it creamier
- Tuna sweet potato jackets: If your standby supper is baked potatoes with tuna, switch to sweet potatoes and a fresh, spicy topping. It's budget-friendly and low fat too
- Lasagne: Little is more satisfying than cooking a classic to perfection - Sarah Cook gives us a lesson in how to make lasagne
- Mocha milkshake: A decadent iced coffee for a sunny afternoon. Serve in tall glasses for a retro treat
- Cheeseburger & chips: Homemade burgers and chips beat shop-bought every time. Why not make double and freeze a batch?
- Chocolate brownie cake: Get kids cooking at the weekend by baking this yummy brownie cake, much better than shop bought
- Ultimate vanilla ice cream: Learn how to make ice cream from scratch. Angela Nilsen's recipe for homemade vanilla ice cream recipe will give you a beautifully smooth and creamy result.
- Nut & raisin protein balls: Keep these little balls of protein goodness in the fridge ready for when you need a bit of a boost. Along with nuts, they contain egg white and hemp protein
- Easy protein pancakes: Up your protein with these pancakes made with eggs, oats, milk and protein powder. A great breakfast after a workout, enjoy with nut butter or fruit
- Perfect porridge: Learn how to make porridge on the hob and in the microwave using our easy recipe. Serve with a dollop Greek yogurt and honey for the perfect breakfast.
- Feta & semi-dried tomato omelette: Cooking up eggs with cheese and tomato makes for a super-quick meal for one that's ready in 10 minutes
- Baked potatoes: Crisp-skinned, fluffy jacket potatoes are a budget-friendly way to feed a crowd. Serve our easy baked potatoes with soured cream, cheese or baked beans
- Protein overnight oats: Kickstart the day with these overnight oats made using protein powder. The perfect make-ahead breakfast if you have an early morning workout planned
- Prawn stir-fry: Make this Thai-inspired prawn stir-fry with ginger, spring onions and a spicy green chilli kick. Once you've made the paste, it takes only 10 minutes to cook
- Vegan tagine: Achieve all five of your five-a-day with this easy vegan tagine.
Other Recipes for Athletes
- Beetroot Salad: This salad is packed full of nutrients and antioxidants. Beets are one of the top foods for endurance athletes because they can help with blood flow to the muscles.
- Vegetable Pasta Bake: Another great option for vegetarian athletes is this Vegetable Pasta Bake, a great endurance meal.
- Easy Salmon Fritters: One of my favorite quick weeknight recipes. I know dinner is what we typically struggle with the most since we either get home starving from a workout, work, or from picking the kids up.
- Sweet Potato Turkey Burgers: Looking for a gluten free burger option? My delicious Sweet Potato Turkey Burgers should meet all of your needs!
- Butter Chicken Rice Bowl: This butter chicken rice bowl is flavorful, easy and balanced with all you need.
- Strawberry Chickpea Muffins: If you’re looking for a grain free muffin recipe, strawberry chickpea muffins are a delicious way to up your protein intake.
- No Bake Peanut Butter Coconut Balls: Running low on time? Looking for something that you don’t have to bake? Try these No Bake Peanut Butter Coconut Balls. These are great to make in batches to reduce your meal prep for the week.
- Skillet Breakfast Scramble: You have to try these Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes.
- Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes: Love oatmeal but feel stuck with the same old?
- Sweet Potato Blueberry Baked Oatmeal: Spice your morning up with Sweet Potato Blueberry Baked Oatmeal.
- Trail Mix Breakfast Bars: Perfect for on the go or if you have a busy morning planned.
- Almond Butter and Jelly Energy Bites: Need some pre-workout power? Need something on your way out the door? The Foodie Dietitian has cooked up some Almond Butter and Jelly Energy Bites that are great for a pre-workout choice.
- Turkey Taco Quinoa Skillet: Another easy option is this turkey taco quinoa skillet.
- Orange Mango Smoothie: After a long workout, try cooling down with this delicious Orange Mango Smoothie.
- Banana Date Protein Shake: Looking for a vegan smoothie? This Banana Date Protein Shake is vegan and gluten free and high in protein.