mastering the art of meal prep
What is The hardest part of staying on top of your fitness and health goals?
For most, it’s sticking to a healthy diet. but, Just like hitting the gym for your strength training workout, results from eating a diet of healthy, body fueling foods will come from consistency over time.
So what is the best way to stay consistent in your eating?
Step 1: Lay out a game plan
Step 2: set yourself up for success in that game plan
Step 3: stick to that damn game plan.
Enter...meal prep.
Depending on what type of planner/person you are, meal prep can turn into your new favorite activity, or the part of your week you despise the most.
I used to be a part of the latter group, dreading this part of my week even knowing how helpful it would prove to be time and time again. But through much trial and error, I was able to find a way for this to work for me and my lifestyle that didn’t end with me up to my elbows in pots and pans, cleaning them with tears from meal prep exhaustion.
Meal prep should make your life easier...not harder. And I hope these tips help you accomplish just that!
TIP #1 MAKING A MEAL
Think about what kind of eater you are.
Do you get bored with your food easily and need exciting recipes to keep you interesting in actually sticking to your meals? Or are you fine with eating simple meals and foods over and over again? Make sure you are catering and planning for THAT person.
I failed at meal prepping many a time because I thought I had to be making elaborate lunches like the instagram accounts of my dreams, like “cauliflower crust pizza” and “eggplant lasagna.”
These lunch and dinner ideas were amazing...but realistically I was just not up for the task. I was only able to stick to my plans once I got real about what I was prepared to prepare, see “overnight oats,” and “kale chicken caesar salad.”
Know your plans for the week so you don’t overbuy.
If you have more dinner plans with friends this week than most, factor that in so you don’t end up with a bunch of extra food that is bound to go bad.
Try to pick meal ideas that don’t take crazy long to make, that require a lot of expensive ingredients, or ingredients that you might just need a pinch of and then forget about.
TIP #2 MEAL PREP BREAKFAST
One of my most favorite tips for better living is the idea of eliminating “decision fatigue.” Eliminating decision fatigue is the concept of setting yourself up for success by planning small daily decisions the night before. Meal prep would easily fit into this category as a whole, but even easier is simply to focus on breakfast. I fully believe that one good decision can be the catalyst for another, and what better way to set yourself up for success for the day than with a good first meal.
Three of my favorite recipes to accomplish this are…
I have linked to some great recipes-but to be totally transparent my overnight oats are as simple as oats, water, protein powder of choice, blueberries, 2 tbsp of Peanut butter. I let it sit overnight and just grab and go in the morning.
Pre Portioned smoothie bags
Put your smoothie ingredients into individual zip lock bags (1 banana, handful of spinach, ½ avocado, 1 cup strawberries) and freeze. In the morning dump into blender, add protein, ice, water/milk alternative of choice and blend!
TIP #3 LOOK FOR SHORTCUTS
Meal prepping does not mean you have to make everything from scratch. Unless you truly find joy in cooking, that s*#t takes forever, and in my opinion, not always worth the hassle.
Some of these items can be more expensive (but some aren’t!!) and have saved me from just opening my Grubhub app and going crazy with it on many occasions. My favorite short cuts include: rotisserie chicken, canned beans, cauliflower rice, pre cut zucchini noodles and butternut squash, and steam packets of rice and vegetables. Yes you could argue that pre-packaged food is not the best route to go, especially when you are putting them into the microwave, but it is 1000 times better than hitting the Mcdonalds drive through.
Meal Prep Services. This is definitely more of a luxury item, but if you have it in your budget can be a real lifesaver. There are tons of meal prep services out there, and a lot of great ones that are local to Chicago! If taking this route interests you, here are some services I have tried and recommend:
Salad Club from https://www.loveyourfat.com/
My Might Meals https://mymightymeals.com/
Fittingly Delicious https://fittinglydelicious.smartonlineorder.com/
The Green Gourmet Chicago: https://www.thegreengourmetchicago.com/
TIP #4 PUT TIME ASIDE
“Not having enough time” is not only the biggest excuse I hear, but the one I shake my head at the most. We might like to brush things aside with this notion, but that doesn’t make it true. Plan this time into your weeks.
Know that this can happen any day of the week, it doesn’t HAVE to be a Sunday if that doesn’t work for your schedule.
Know that it will take a couple of hours from beginning to end. This is my favorite time to catch up on my podcasts, talk to my mom on the phone, or prop up my laptop close by and watch my tv shows.
TIP #5 SIMPLE SNACKS
Don’t forget about the snacks! Stock up on some easy munchies.
My favorites are things that I feel like I can really go HAM on without leaving me feeling like I veered too far off track. Baby carrots, pretzels, popcorn, any type of berry, citrus fruit, apples, celery sticks, cucumbers, individual yogurts, clean beef jerky are just a few of my go to's.
Protein bars can be tasty, but focusing on REAL FOOD, as close to its original self is the way to go.
TIP #6 BATCH COOK AND “FOOD PREP” INSTEAD
This is probably my favorite tip and the one that took meal prepping to a doable and enjoyable place for me.
DON’T plan out your meals-instead, pick some veggies, proteins, and starches that you can throw together at a moments notice to combine and make a full meal. And prep those individually.
Usually for me, this looks like heating up the oven and taking care of the chicken breast, sweet potatoes, and asparagus and zucchini in one go. On the stove top, I have my ground beef, am boiling some eggs, and cooking some quinoa.
This way, I can make meals on the fly (like I admitted to previously, I am fine with simple meals) and when I come home hangry I have no reason to grab something that I wouldn’t if I was in the right mind.
Also-this takes away the pressure of HAVING to eat exactly what you planned for. You’ll have a little more flexibility to mix and not feel so stuck in your “plan.”
