How and What to Meal Prep

Why You Should Meal Prep

Like my mornings, on Sunday I have a routine. I deep clean my apartment, I go food shopping, I watch football or Food Network with my husband (he has a strange infatuation with Guy Fieri), and I meal prep for the week ahead.

This guy is all over my television. It's like I live in Flavor Town, USA.

Meal prep is exactly what it sounds like: you prepare your meals for the following week. This serves multiple purposes:

1. You have readily-available, healthy food during the week; no excuse to grab fast food or something from the vending machine because you had “no time” to make your food.

2. You can plan ahead exactly what you’ll eat during the week. When you have a plan, you’re more likely to stick to your diet. “Winging it” results in a lot of unintentional cheats and not being able to hit your macros.

3. You save money. You’ll be bringing your lunch to work instead of buying it, and usually you can buy a bunch of whatever protein/veggie/carb is on sale on Sunday and eat it for the whole week.

 

What a beautiful display of perfectly portioned macros.

A few tips.

-Invest in some high-quality containers. Glass is preferable because plastic can release toxins into your food. Get various sizes. A popular method is to buy 5-6 of the same size and, when prepping, pre-make and measure your meals for each day, so in the morning, you just have to grab one container and go.

-Shop the same day for sales and freshness. The three main things you’re looking for are proteins, vegetables, and carbohydrates. (Fats can hold up for much longer, so you can bulk up on nuts, seeds, olives, oils and cheeses once a month or so). If chicken breast is on sale, it’s chicken breast this week! Sweet potatoes are pretty affordable this time of year, and my farmer’s market has large spaghetti squashes for cheap. Save money by getting giant bags of frozen vegetables and steaming them.

-Set aside at least an hour and a half for this. If you’re serious about your nutrition (and I hope you are!), you’re going to need to measure and weigh (pre-cooked) all your food so you know exactly what calories and macros you’re getting. Put on some good music and sip on some Chai tea. I honestly look forward to meal prep!

Examples of what to prepare.

Proteins

-Chicken breasts, seasoned with spices (like rosemary or thyme with lemon) and baked 

-Chicken thighs, cooked in the crock pot with tomatoes

There is nothing better than a well cooked chicken breast.

-Pork loin, cooked whole and cut into portion sizes

-Dozen eggs, hard-boiled
-London broil, broiled, rested, then cut into portions of thin slices. (If you’re going to heat this back up day-of, it might be wise to undercook it the first time as heating it up will cook it more.)

-Frozen shrimp, thawed and boiled with Old Bay seasoning

Carbohydrates

-Sweet potatoes, cut in half and baked with a drizzle of olive oil*

-1 cup of dry brown rice, boiled (makes four ¾ cup servings cooked)

-Lentils, boiled with curry powder

-Chick peas, tossed in olive oil* and curry powder, baked until crispy

Vegetables

-Spaghetti squash, cut lengthwise and baked, then scraped into “spaghetti” strands

Or, blend them into a homemade hummus! Yumm...

-Zucchini, cut into half-rounds and sautéed with coconut oil*

-Brussels sprouts, tossed in oil* and baked
-Frozen vegetables, steamed

-Salad veggies/fruits (lettuce, peppers, carrots, avocado, strawberries, cucumber, plus any nuts/seeds/olives/cheese etc.), cut and arranged into individual containers of mixed salad

-Fresh broccoli/carrots/cauliflower, steamed

 

Use spaghetti squash as a sub for pasta and add sauces to dress it up!

*If you use oil when cooking your food, this must be counted into your daily calories/macros. Be sure to keep track of how much you’re using (generally 1 tablespoon=120 calories)

These are just some examples of my go-to foods; feel free to mix and match according to your individual tastes/diet! Maybe you include bread in your day; make sandwiches ahead of time. Can’t live without snacking on nuts? Pre-portion them so you know exactly how much you’re eating.

The important thing is that you’re cooking healthy food in a healthy way and dividing them up for easy daily access. This method may seem tedious at first, but it makes your week much less stressful.

Comment below with your tips on meal prepping!

Be sure to look out for our next blog: How Hormones Affect Your Weight.

Lift.Eat.Love.Sleep.