Simple Weekly Meal Plan for Teenage Athletes: Fuel Their Performance and Recovery

If you’re the parent of a teenage athlete, then you’ve probably asked yourself:

"Am I feeding my child the right types of food to support their energy, performance, and recovery?"

This is a valid concern, especially if your athlete is a picky eater or you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the conflicting nutrition advice that’s floating around on social media. 

The reality is that teenage athletes do have higher nutritional demands than the average student. And to help your athlete perform at their best, having a solid nutrition plan in place is essential.

As a certified sports nutrition coach, I’m going to show you how to design a practical and effective weekly meal plan for your athlete. I’ll also provide grocery shopping tips and time-saving meal prep ideas because, as a parent myself, I know just how busy life can get. 

Developing a Meal Plan for Your Student Athlete

👉(Download a simple nutrition plan for your teenage athlete!)

My first piece of advice for parents of student-athletes is to have a conversation with your child about their sport-specific goals. Whether it’s improving performance, building strength, or simply having more energy for practices and games, it’s the perfect opportunity to reinforce the idea that a nutritious diet is one of the best ways to support their goals. Once your athlete understands the connection between diet and performance, they’re more likely to be invested in this process of developing a meal plan, and it will become a team effort.

Step 1: Selecting the foods your athlete enjoys

I don’t care how healthy or nutritious a food is, if your child doesn’t like it, they aren’t going to eat it. That’s why it’s important to start by creating a list of your child’s favorite foods. I’m sure you already know which foods they like and dislike, but it’s essential to include your athlete in this process. That way, when you inevitably make something that your athlete refuses to eat (because this will happen), you can show them the list that you created together and how they said this was a food they enjoyed eating. 

For ease of use, I recommend separating the list into breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as organizing the foods into the three macronutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. This makes it easy to mix and match the foods they enjoy while still covering their nutritional bases.

For example:

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Step 2: Create meal ideas using your athlete’s favorite foods list

Now that you have a list of your athlete’s favorite foods, you can begin creating meal ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Again, it’s important to include your athlete in this process. Not only does it give them a sense of ownership around their nutrition, but it also teaches them how to create well-balanced meals. Plus, the more involved they are now, the more confident and capable they will become when it comes to preparing their own meals in the future. 

Let’s prepare a week’s worth of breakfast meals using our example list from above. Keep in mind, it’s perfectly fine for your athlete to eat the same breakfast several days in a row. This consistency can even help your athlete develop a morning routine. Since many breakfast meals can be prepared ahead of time, they’ll be grab-and-go ready for your athlete on those hectic mornings when everyone is scrambling to get out the door.

• Monday: Greek Yogurt Bowl

  • 1 cup Greek yogurt

  • ½ cup blueberries

  • 2 tbsp. chia seeds

  • ⅛ cup slivered almonds

  • 2 tbsp. honey

• Tuesday: Greek Yogurt Bowl

  • 1 cup Greek yogurt

  • ½ cup strawberries

  • 2 tbsp. flax seeds

  • ⅛ cup walnuts

  • 2 tbsp. honey

• Wednesday: Egg and Cheese on a Bagel

  • 1 bagel

  • 2 eggs scrambled

  • 1 slice of cheese

  • ½ avocado

  • 1 banana

• Thursday: Egg and Cheese on a Bagel

  • 1 bagel

  • 2 eggs scrambled

  • 1 slice of cheese

  • 1 grapefruit

• Friday: Overnight Protein Oats

  • ½ cup old-fashioned oats

  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder

  • 2 cups of milk

  • ¼ cup raisins

  • 1 tsp. cinnamon

• Saturday: Egg and Cheese Omelette with Toast

  • 2 eggs

  • ¼ cup shredded cheese

  • 2 pieces of bread

  • 1 apple cut into slices

• Sunday: Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie

  • 1 scoop chocolate protein powder

  • 1 banana

  • 2 tbsp. peanut butter

  • 2 cups of milk

Repeat this same process for lunch and dinner. I’ll give you an idea for each of these meals that you can use as a reference.

• Lunch: Turkey Sandwich with Snacks

  • 2 slices of wheat bread

  • 3 oz. of turkey lunch meat

  • 1 slice of provolone cheese

  • 1 tbsp. mustard

  • 10 baby carrots

  • 1 apple, cut into slices

  • ½ cup honey roasted peanuts

• Dinner: Salmon Rice Bowl

  • 4 oz. grilled salmon

  • 1 cup of white rice

  • ½ cup shelled edamame

  • ½ avocado

  • 2 tbsp. soy sauce

  • 1 tbsp. Everything but the bagel seasoning

Step 3: Grocery shop and meal-prep

Now that you’ve mapped out a week of meals for your athlete, it’s time to bring that plan to life by grocery shopping and simple meal prep. 

Start by creating a shopping list based on the meals you’ve planned, break it down into categories like produce (fruits and vegetables), proteins, dairy, grains, nuts and seeds, oils, canned items, seasonings, pantry staples, and condiments. This makes your trip to the grocery store easier and helps ensure you don’t forget any key ingredients.

When it comes to meal prep, keep things simple. You don’t need to prep every single meal for the entire week. Instead, focus on the meals that tend to cause the most stress during your week, usually breakfast and lunch. Some simple steps to take include washing and chopping your fruits and veggies, portioning out snacks into containers or bags, and preparing some easy, weekly staples like hard boiled eggs. You can also batch cook a few proteins and grains, like chicken breast and rice, to make assembling dinners easier throughout the week. 

I encourage you to involve your athlete as much as possible. Have them help prepare the shopping list, go grocery shopping with you, and even prepare meals in the kitchen alongside you. This teaches them valuable life skills, makes them more invested in their nutrition, and is a huge asset when they head off to college, and now know how to cook and prepare well-balanced, nutritious meals. Plus, I promise that if your athlete helps with the cooking, they are going to be proud of what they’ve made and much more likely to eat it. 

Remember, the goal isn’t perfection but consistency. With a little planning, your athlete and your family will have access to nutritious meals and snacks, setting them up for better performance both on and off the field. 

Want to give your athlete the competitive edge?

Check out the 7-Day Nutrition Playbook for Parents—a practical, easy-to-follow course designed to help you fuel your athlete for peak performance. You’ll learn exactly what to feed them (and when) to support energy, recovery, and long-term development—without adding stress to your already busy routine.

Learn more about the 7-Day Nutrition Playbook for Parents here!