The majority of our nutrition clients come to us wanting to learn how to clean up their diet and learn the ins and outs of meal prepping. We get it, meal prepping can be intimidating and it’s sometimes hard to know where to start. When you break it down into a few simple steps it becomes a lot more manageable.
Before we jump into the different steps of meal prepping, let’s look at just some of the benefits you may notice after you implement weekly meal prepping.
Benefits
🥦 Saves time and money. It may seem to take more time at first, however, as you get more efficient you will save time in the long run and only spend a few hours in the kitchen cooking each week.
🥦 Helps you reach your nutrition goals. Many of our clients who begin meal prepping start to notice their diet is more nutritionally balanced.
🥦 Can help reduce stress about making last-minute decisions about what to eat or rushing to prepare a last-minute meal.
🥦 It gives you full control over the ingredients that you put in your food since you are doing all of the cooking.
🥦It prevents you from choosing the drive-thru when you are on the go or short on time.
🥦It reduces the temptation to eat processed/packaged foods because you have food prepped and readily accessible.
Commit to It
The best thing you can do for yourself to ensure that meal prep happens each week is to fully commit to it. You can do this by scheduling it into your calendar just as you would schedule an appointment, work, etc. The meal-prepping process involves planning, grocery shopping, and cooking so it is crucial that you set aside time for each of these steps.
Most individuals prefer to do their planning (compiling recipes and making grocery lists) on one day and then do their grocery shopping and cooking on another day. By doing the grocery shopping and cooking all on the same day you skip the step of having to put all their groceries away and can hop right into cooking!
How this looks is totally up to you and you will figure out your personal preferences the more you meal prep.
Figure Out How Many Meals You Want to Make
Whether you are meal prepping for your family or yourself, you will want to determine how many meals you are planning. If you are brand new to meal prepping, don’t overwhelm yourself. It is okay to start slow and start by only prepping one meal ahead of time for the week. For example, you could start by prepping just your lunches for the week rather than breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
Decide What Types of Meals You Want to Make
It can be tempting to go to Pinterest and find some fun new recipes to prepare. However, if you compile a bunch of new recipes that require a lot of preparation, you are going to overcomplicate it and burn out quickly. When you first start out, try to keep things simple. Stick to the basics when you create your meals for the week.
For example, choose a protein source, carb source, fat source, and vegetable. This could look like chicken, rice, and green beans with a little avocado oil. The simpler, the better when you are new to meal prepping. As you get the hang of things and become more familiar with the process you can start to include more advanced recipes.
Multitask as Much as Possible
A helpful tip to consider when you are planning your meals is sorting your meals by the method of cooking. Your methods of cooking may be in the oven, air fryer, stovetop/skillet, instant pot, etc. Trying to plan meals that are all different methods of cooking will allow you to multitask rather than having to wait for one meal to finish baking before you can move on to the next.
Make your grocery list
Once you have a list of the meals that you are going to prepare for the week, go through each one and write down everything you need. You can then organize your list by food type (produce, meat, dairy, canned, etc.) and the total amount you need of each item. This will save you a considerable amount of time and prevent you from having to backtrack through the grocery store.
For example, if multiple recipes call for chicken, calculate the total amount of chicken you will need and write that down under the meat category.
Before you head out the door to go to the grocery store, walk through your list and figure out what you already have in your pantry, fridge, and freezer. This will prevent you from doubling up on food items you may already have which will ultimately save you money and reduce the amount of food going to waste.
Cooking Your Meals
When it is time to start cooking, dedicate at least 2 hours of uninterrupted time to some bulk cooking. I know this isn’t always practical when you have kiddos running around the house but do the best you can. In those two hours, put your phone away, turn the tv off, and work without distractions. During this time, you are going to cook the majority of your meals at once so you can have them prepped and ready to go throughout the week.
Storing Your Food
Storing your food is a big part of meal prep. Invest in some good quality storage containers like Pyrex, Snapware, or even mason jars (these save tons of space in the fridge). We like to store our food in glass containers because they are free from chemicals, reheat your food more evenly, and they last longer than plastic Tupperware containers.
Other Tips
Steps to Successful Meal Prepping
Whether you are meal prepping for yourself or a family, start by making a list of your favorite foods/meals. I like to build my meals around the source of protein to ensure I am getting enough protein throughout the day.
Once you have come up with your list, make a calendar and write down which meals you would like to have on each day. Typically, I suggest planning one week at a time to prevent you from getting overwhelmed and purchasing groceries too far out in advance. This will help prevent food from spoiling before you get to it.
Once you have your weekly meals planned out, make your grocery list, sort it by type of food (produce, meat, dairy, canned foods, etc.), and head to the grocery store.
Decide which day of the week works best for you to meal prep. I personally like to prepare meals on Sundays and Wednesdays. I do this so I am not in the kitchen all day on Sunday, but if you prefer to knock it all out in one day you absolutely can!
Let Us Help You
Learning to meal prep can be a daunting task, especially if you are brand new to it. The more you do it, the easier it gets, and slowly it will become a habit. If you are feeling overwhelmed or need some guidance in getting started, a 1:1 nutrition coach can help you through it. If you are looking for additional support, you can reach out to us on Instagram @harbertshealth or learn more about us at www.harbertshealth.com.
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