In this day and age, we are all trying our best to squeeze as much as we can into a day. Even when we try our best, we find that there aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done. And while meal prep can appear time consuming on the surface, it’s actually time saving!
I first learned the value of meal prep when I was juggling a full time job and carrying a heavy load of grad school courses. In order to maximize my time, I had to work smarter not harder. I found that preparing meals every day took a lot more time than doing most of my cooking, and produce washing ahead of time in a couple hours over a weekend.
But I also learned that meal prepping was good in other ways too. For example, by planning meals, it helped me avoid impulse and over buying when I was grocery shopping because I stuck to my list and knew exactly what I needed to buy. This was not only better for my budget, but it also eliminated food waste. It also kept me from turning to fast food and eating out because my food was easy to grab and go, both of which ultimately saved me money.
The most significant learning though was that meal prepping actually helped me control the ingredients that I was putting into my body as well as the portions. It was good for me to have healthy “grab and go” foods available during the day, and after a long day at work and classes in the evenings, I didn’t have to worry about what to cook because it was already there at home waiting for me and I didn’t snack while cooking because the meal was pre-portioned in containers, which allowed me to heat the meal quickly and ultimately helped me to control my calorie intake.
Meal planning can be a little overwhelming at first, but once you find your groove, you too will not only see the benefits but you’ll also find it easy. here’s my 4-step process:
Step 1 – Make a Meal Plan: This step all starts by determining what you want to eat for the next week. I plan for a week because I just don’t really like going to the grocery store more than once a week. And because I typically meal prep for a week at a time it just works for me. But you could do this plan a couple times a week if that better suits your lifestyle. Sometimes my meal plan is just foods that I buy every week. Other times it includes planning for ingredients I need for favorite or new recipes and/or cooking for guests.
I recommend that when you are just starting out with meal planning, don’t plan to make a bunch of new recipes right away. I limit myself to one new recipe a week.
Grab a piece of paper and jot your plan down. This is simply a list what you plan to eat each day of the week and for each meal of the day. Of course you don’t have to stick to this rigid list, but it will be the basis for the next step.
Step 2 – Creating a shopping list: Once you’ve outlined your meal plan of what you want to eat and cook for the week, check your pantry and freezer to see what you have on hand, and bounce it against your meal plan then add the things you need to buy to your list.
Step 3 – Grocery shopping made easy: As I mentioned before, I only grocery shop once a week because I really don’t like grocery shopping.
In fact, since many of the grocery stores have gone to curbside pickup, I often order online and just pick my items up at the store instead of even going inside. This has been a huge help to my grocery shopping budget because if I don’t go in the store, I can’t impulse buy. I’m sure the grocery stores don’t like that aspect, but hey…they offer the service so…it’s on them.
However, in the event that I do go into the grocery store I can usually get in and out of the store in less than 30 minutes by simply sticking to my list instead of aimlessly wandering around the store and picking up this and that, which may or may not even make a meal. Often the check-out lines take longer than my actual shopping.
Step 4 – The art of meal prep: Washing, cooking and packaging. Sometimes my meal prep is as simple as just washing and packaging fruits and veggies. Other times, it’s full on cooking.
I typically prep only one day a week and it takes me a couple hours at most. You can spread it out if that suits you better, but the key is to ensure that you meal prep only once or twice a week to maintain the time saving benefits.
Having the right containers is essential. I use different styles based on their purpose: plastic containers for portable lunches and freezer storage, Ziplock bags for various fruits and veggies in the fridge and freezer, glass for meals to be reheated (and tomato based sauces) and vacuum-sealed bags are great for freezing meat.
Finally, be sure to label everything you freeze to avoid unexpected surprises. You may think you’ll remember what is in that container, but trust me, once you get a few weeks of meal prepping under your belt, you’ll have several containers in the freezer and you may not remember or recognize what’s inside. In other words, if you are looking for your frozen pasta sauce, you don’t want to thaw your frozen chili (trust me, they look the same when frozen and smelling them won’t help).
If you are meal prepping for a family, of course you’ll need to consider the cravings and wants of others too! Involve everyone in the meal prep process as it’s a great way to bond, teach valuable skills (such as planning, budgeting, shopping, cooking and togetherness) and can ensure everyone enjoys the healthy meals together.
If you want my complete meal prep guide, just click HERE to drop me a note. Just put the words Meal Prep somewhere in the message and I’ll send a copy of my PDF to you FREE!
The journey to a healthier, happier you is so worth it. I know—because I lived it. I stopped chasing skinny and started focusing on my health—and that single shift changed everything. I lost 140 pounds, but more importantly, I found clarity, energy, and a life that finally feels like mine. I share the whole story in my book. Click HERE to learn more and see what’s possible.
