Meal Prepping
Is your New Years goal or resolution to start meal prepping?
I have been seeing a LOT of people get into meal prep this year already and it inspired me to share my own tips on how to meal prep like a pro.
Do I meal prep all the time? Nope!
I do it when I am in the mood, but I never force myself to do it every week.
Why? Because I don’t ever promote forcing yourself to eat foods you aren’t actually hungry for, with the goal of losing weight.
I LOVE food, and if I crave some pizza instead of a Tupperware dish, I’m choosing the pizza. 🍕
But sometimes I have a busy week coming up, or feel like giving myself a project — so I meal prep!
The benefits of meal prepping
Meal prep has a ton of benefits. For me, I’ve found that prepping my meals in bulk one or two days a week helps:
👉 Save me time from cooking on busy weeks
👉 Me with hitting my macros
👉 Save time from going back and forth on what to eat
👉 Me get more veggies and greens in — I tend to meal prep a lot of veggies
And, it can be super fun!
My tips to make meal prep efficient and enjoyable
First and foremost comes PLANNING.
When you go to the grocery store, make sure you have a list with you and recipes in mind. This will make the cooking part much easier!
BONUS: keep each food group in mind as you shop. Getting a balance of fruit, grains, proteins, veggies etc. can make sure you enjoy some healthy, balanced meals!
Once you get home, think about what needs to be defrosted before you cook. Making chicken burrito bowls? Let the chicken thaw for a day in the fridge!
If you’re not planning to meal prep for a while, freeze what you need to freeze, then take out items that need to be defrosted a day or two in advance of your meal prep session.
I then like to make sure I have a TON of yummy seasonings to work with. I don’t mess around with seasoning. I season things up aggressively because nobody likes boring meals!
I also like to take inventory of my pantry. Doing this helps you move through the food you already have, reduces waste, and prevents you from unnecessarily buying the same things over and over again.
You’re going to want some high quality Tupperware containers and an organized kitchen ready to go, too! Have everything clean and ready for you to start cooking with. It especially helps to have a clean countertop, because you’ll need a good amount of surface area for cooking and dividing up and packing up your meals.
Lastly, track the meals you really enjoy. I even take notes on how I can improve my meals for the next time I meal prep. Meal prep is NOT fun if you just cook chicken and rice every single week. Get creative!
My favorite meals to prep
Did you know I actually have an entire E-book of recipes that are PERFECT for meal prepping? Just double, triple or quadruple the servings based on how many meals you want to prep!
Check my favorite recipes of all time here:
Moral of the story
Meal prep is not always about weight loss. It’s about saving time, energy and cooking delicious food — just in bulk so that you don’t need to do the cooking part too often.
It’s a great skill for ANYONE to have! Just remember not to let meal prep control your life. If you aren’t in the mood for what you cooked, then listen to your cravings! Save the prepped meal for another day.
Happy prepping! 👩🍳
