As moms, we want to focus on our own health and recovery during the postpartum period – but it’s challenging to do so. Take some of the guess work out of it with this 7-day postpartum meal plan, which includes over 21 healthy, well-balanced recipes to nourish your body.
This meal plan is easy to follow with the ease and convenience of quick and simple meals. This post can also be used as inspiration to develop your own plan based on your preferences and lifestyle.
These nutrient-dense meals put the focus on healing from labor and delivery, and fueling your body to take care of yourself AND your newborn – while possibly assisting with realistic postpartum weight loss.
This post does contain Amazon affiliate links. I receive a small compensation if a purchase is made, but I only promote products I LOVE or think would be useful.
Building Healthy Meals Postpartum
The number one goal when it comes to building healthy meals postpartum is just to find the time and energy to eat in general!
Ideally, the focus should be on consuming nutrient-dense foods that are higher in protein and fiber along with healthy fats.
Meals and snacks should be EASY to make so that you can also prioritize your new baby, and other forms of self-care.
Advantages of Meals Higher in Protein and Fiber
- Increased feelings of fullness – more likely to be satisfied after a meal and less likely to turn to convenience or processed foods.
- Protein helps with postpartum recovery and hormone regulation.
- Both protein and fiber, combined, help to stabilize blood sugars.
- Consuming a higher protein diet helps to preserve lean muscle mass when in a calorie deficit – which, in turn, can promote a healthier metabolism.
- Improves our gut microbiome and promotes bowel regularity.
- Research shows a higher fiber diet can lower risk of chronic diseases, decrease cholesterol, and regulate immune function.
Tips When Preparing Meals Postpartum
Follow these tips to make prioritizing more home-cooked meals easier during the postpartum period.
Batch Cooking
Think about cooking a meal once, and eating it twice – or three or four times! Batch cooking, or making more than you’re going to eat, ensures there are leftovers for lunch the next day.
Or, freeze in individual containers for a quick and easy meal to pull out of the freezer.
This can also mean batch cooking one ingredient to eliminate the need to cook them on busier nights- like quinoa, rice, chicken, or veggies.
Take Shortcuts
Take shortcuts as needed!
If a recipe calls for rice, buy microwaveable rice packets to eliminate cooking the rice and dirtying another pan.
Buy already cut up vegetables so you don’t have to pull out a cutting board. Frozen or canned fruits and vegetables are convenient and can be just as healthy as fresh.
Meal Prep
This meal plan includes several easy recipes that can be prepped in advance (in under 10 minutes). Things like easy, grab-and-go snacks – like the protein balls for a snack or overnight oats for breakfast.
This way, you have some meals already accounted for during the week and you don’t have to rely on cooking.
More Frequent Meals
If you find that sticking to a regular meal schedule is challenging, think about smaller, more frequent meals or snacks throughout the day.
Be Realistic About “Bouncing Back”
As a mother of two, I understand that it is hard to come to terms with this new postpartum body. However, it’s important to be realistic about postpartum weight loss.
There are a lot of factors working against us during that postpartum period – the hormone changes, dysregulated sleep, and increased stress.
Putting too much pressure on yourself to lose weight can backfire – leading to bingeing, or feelings of sadness and frustration. Be gentle on yourself, focus on healthy meals – and you might find that the weight gradually comes off in time.
Eat Mindfully
With mindful nutrition, the primary focus is not to lose weight. That being said, many people turn to specific diets for weight loss, but find they are usually only successful short-term. Those who develop the mindful eating skills may find a positive relationship with food and weight long-term.
Some of the mindful nutrition principles – like taking a deep breath prior to eating – can help with digestion and recognizing our fullness cues.
As an Amazon affiliate, this post does contain affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I receive a small compensation when a purchase is made. However, I only promote products I love and feel would be useful to you!
Related Posts:
— Losing Weight Postpartum
— Why You Might Have Difficulty Losing Weight While Breastfeeding
— 7-Day Breastfeeding Meal Plan
7-Day PostPartum Meal Plan
This 7-day postpartum meal plan includes 7 recipes for each meal, with snack ideas as well. They are not only healthy and nutritious, but simple to make or meal prep ahead of time for the busier days.
Things like crockpot meals and sheet pan dinners, meals that take 20 minutes or less, or throw everything in a pot recipes. High protein snacks that can be made in a big batch, then frozen!
Feel free to mix and match however you prefer, or utilize some of them and add in your own ideas.
Breakfast
1. Berry Cheesecake Protein Overnight Oats: Overnight oats take less than 5 minutes to prep, and can stay in the fridge for up to 4 days. This specific recipe contains 8g of fiber and 37 grams of protein! If you’re not a fan of protein powder – it can easily be omitted.
2. Greek Yogurt Parfait: For an easy, quick breakfast option – assemble 3/4 cup of Greek yogurt, your favorite fruit (fresh or frozen), and top with chia seeds for the fiber and chopped nuts for some healthy fats.
3. Healthy Pesto Egg Breakfast Sandwich (Haute and Healthy Living): Meal prep these sandwiches, then wrap individually and freeze for future breakfasts.
4. High Protein Scrambled Eggs with Cottage Cheese (skinnytaste): One egg contains about 6 grams of protein. Therefore, adding cottage cheese is an easy trick to reach at least 20 grams of protein at breakfast (which I recommend). Sounds weird but it’s creamy and delicious!
5. Loaded Oatmeal Bowl: Oatmeal (especially the microwaveable packets) is easy, but I often find that I am hungry an hour later unless I eat it with some protein and healthy fats. Top your oatmeal with fruit, peanut butter, and nuts for increased meal satiation.
6. High Protein Baked Oatmeal (Chelsey Amer Nutrition): This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free and easy to customize for different variations. Make a large batch in the oven and freeze!
7. Sheet Pan Protein Pancakes (Sweet Peas and Saffron): For variety, I have included these sheet pan protein pancakes. Cook it once, freeze, and eat it 8 times!
Lunch
1. Classic Chicken Salad (Spend with Pennies) on whole wheat bread: An easy throw together lunch idea using rotisserie chicken, canned chicken or leftovers from last night’s dinner.
2. Easy Chopped Chicken Salad (Primavera Kitchen): For convenience, you could use a salad kit or already chopped lettuce as the base.
3. Mediterranean Chickpea Salad (Mediterranean Dish), vegan: Chickpeas are packed with protein and fiber and make for an excellent plant-based protein.
4. Frozen Meals: During my postpartum journey, I relied on frozen convenience meals quite a bit for lunch. I think they can be part of a healthy diet when you just don’t have the energy to cook. Check out my top high protein frozen meals for options.
5. Crispy Salmon Bites: These salmon bites are coated in cornstarch and cooked in the air fryer for 7 minutes! Plus, if you’re breastfeeding – salmon is one of the best sources of DHA and EPA which is crucial for brain and retina development.
6. Hearty Black Bean Quesadillas (Budget Bytes): Black beans are another great source of protein and fiber. Make these with a high fiber tortilla and Greek yogurt for additional protein!
7. Sweet and Spicy Turkey Sandwich: A simple grilled sandwich with deli turkey – add avocado slices for some healthy fats, fiber, and additional nutrients.
Dinner
1. Mexican Chili: Just a couple ingredients need to be diced, otherwise, this is a throw everything in a pot recipe that makes 5 servings.
2. Buffalo Chicken Crockpot Pasta: The crockpot will be your best friend postpartum. This recipe is high in protein, only 7-ingredients and minimal prep.
3. Chicken Fajita Tray Bake (Healthy Mom Healthy Family): Simple sheet pan dinners can also make life a lot easier preparing dinner postpartum. Just 10-minutes of prep and all you have to do is throw everything in the oven.
4. Pesto Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner (100 Days of Real Food): This sheet pan salmon dinner is healthy and nutritious – with a homemade pesto sauce. Use a store-bought pesto for more convenience!
5. Egg Roll in a Bowl (Whole New Mom): One pot, 20-minute meal and gluten-free/dairy-free friendly.
6. Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken (Semi-Homemade Kitchen): The easiest recipe possible – just a jar of salsa and chicken! Serve with microwaveable rice and steamed veggies (from frozen) for the simplest, well-balanced meal.
7. Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli (Two Kids and a Coupon) or Shrimp Stir-Fry (Chew Out Loud): If you don’t have an instant pot, try this easy shrimp stir-fry that is packed with flavor and only takes 20 minutes.
For a vegetarian option, try something like this Lentil Salad from Nora Cooks.
Snacks
1. Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Protein Pudding; A high protein pudding that tastes like dessert, except it’s healthy! Top with whipped cream and enjoy it as a treat.
2. Mini Strawberry Cheesecake Cups; This recipe takes less than 5 minutes to prep using Greek yogurt and protein powder for another delicious and nutritious snack.
3. Veggies and Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip (Well Plated by Erin): Level up your ranch by using Greek yogurt to increase the protein content. This dip takes less than 3-minutes to make (easy for batch cooking).
4. Oatmeal Protein Bites (Kiran Campbell Nutrition): Super easy to prep a large batch of these for a high protein snack. Handheld protein bites are ideal for breastfeeding, and made with oats – which some people say helps their milk supply.
5. Protein Chia Pudding (Eating Bird Food): Chia pudding is another easy recipe for snack meal prep – and high in both protein and fiber!
6. Chunky Monkey Yogurt Bark (Live Well Dietitian): A well-balanced snack that can satisfy a sweet tooth! Can be stored in the freezer or an airtight container in the fridge.
7. RX Bars: For a healthy no prep, convenience item – these RX Bars are just 4 ingredients and 12 grams of protein.
For more convenience snacks, I recommend:
— Beef jerky.
— Aloha Plant-Based Protein Bars.
— String cheese and fruit.
— Moon Cheese.
Feel Free to Follow ALong
Whether you follow this meal plan to a T, or just use it as inspiration – I hope it helps to prioritize more healthy, home-cooked meals and snacks.
These meal principles are great for the postpartum period, but can be advantageous at any time as a busy mom!
My whole site is dedicated to help moms prioritize THEIR health amidst the messiness of motherhood- so feel free to search for any additional resources to help you in your postpartum journey.
There are a lot of posts about protein and fiber, with more meal plans!
