Kelsey HigginsonSports Nutrition Coach and Founder at Clutch Day Coaching

Easy meal for college athletes!

24 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief instructional video, Kelsey Higginson addresses college athletes who lack time for extensive meal prep. She introduces the concept of a "performance plate"—a balanced meal composed of carbohydrates for energy, protein for muscle recovery, and fats for hormone health and sustained energy. Higginson recommends a ultra‑quick, five‑minute meal using Trader Joe’s beef sirloin roast (a source of protein and healthy fats) paired with one fruit and one vegetable of the athlete’s choice, which can be fresh or roasted. She emphasizes that meals need not be elaborate; the priority is providing the necessary fuel for practice and performance.

Chapters

College athletes, if you're having to cook for yourself and you don't have enough time to batch prep or meal prep in the beginning of the week, here's a stupid simple meal from Trader Joe's that you can run and grab. Now, the perfect athlete meal is a performance plate. A performance plate is made up of carbs, which give you energy, protein, which allows your muscles to have the building blocks it needs to recover and build, and fats to allow you to have healthy hormones and long-lasting energy. And the best part about this is it's going to take you 5 minutes to throw together. So run to Trader Joe's and you're going to grab the this beef sirloin roast. It's got good fats and great protein in it. And then you're gonna grab some color. It doesn't have to be broccoli specifically, but we want fruits, we want vegetables. I would say one fruit, one vegetable within it. It can be fresh, it can be roasted, whatever you want it to be. Meals don't have to be fancy, meals don't have to be elaborate. You just gotta get the fuel your body needs to keep it going for the next practice.