Meal prepping in February is probably the last thing you want to hear. It’s usually at this time of year that people drop their health goals for various reasons. The top reason is that life gets in the way and they don’t have time. The second reason is lack of planning and the third is lack of motivation.
There are a lot of meal prepping services and meal prep kits that are growing. It may seem like a good idea in the short run but in the long run, it may not be cost effective. There are some who are able to afford it and find it easier to maintain their healthy habits with pre-made meals. However, what about those of us with fuller schedules? Making time for meal prepping is hard and can discourage a lot of people as it is tedious.
With the right tips and tricks, meal prepping can actually be a quick and efficient process. When you are ready to become a pro at prepping meals, just refer to this blog post by saving it and sharing it! Oh and if you are looking for some nutrition tips and meal ideas, check out my Health & Nutrition Board on Pinterest!
What Is Meal Prepping?
As it sounds in the title, meal prepping is preparing your meals for a later time so that they are ready to eat and available when you need them. They help you stay ahead of the game so you don’t have to worry about what to eat for the week. It involves blocking off time to prepare meals. I don’t like to cook every day so making time to cook for the week allows me use that time for other tasks. Prepping meals can include: shopping for the food to chopping fresh ingredients for later to cooking and portioning them out in containers.
5 Benefits of Prepping Meals
- Saves time: Do you want to spend two hours a day cooking meals? Prepping in advance saves you from figuring out what to eat and what to cook for the rest of the week.
- Saves money: Write out a list and keep to it. Buy food in bulk to save money on deals and cut down the trips to the supermarket.
- Creates good nutritional habits: The temptation to eat less healthy foods is pretty much gone. You’ll find it easier to curb cravings.
- Improves portion control: Prepping meals helps you practice portion control and monitor your intake.
- Reduces waste: Prepping meals helps you cut down on waste as you are buying the exact ingredients that you need and are using them all. If some are leftover, you can easily use them to create a one pot meal before they go bad.
How To Meal Prep?
There is meal prepping and meal planning which involves the preparation of your meals. I would say that there are four steps involved in this process:
- Plan out your meals: Decide what you want to cook. What recipes you want to use? What ingredients do you need to buy? The number of servings you want to cook? What kind of containers are you going to store the food in? How much you want to freeze?
- Make a list: You want to go into the store the prepared. My top tip is to make sure that you eat something before you go. Therefore, you won’t be tempted to impulse buy. Whatever isn’t on the list, don’t buy it.
- Get cooking: This is the time to start cooking. Set out all your ingredients, containers and tools that you need. Start cooking until you have all the meals that you want for the week. My top tip is to start cooking your proteins first as they tend to take longer. Whilst your proteins are cooking, start cooking the grains or your carb sources of choice.
- Clean up: Tidying up is probably the worst part. This is my handy tip: Clean up as you cook. If you are no longer going to use the chopping board, wash it up and put it away. Simultaneously cleaning and cooking makes the space tidy and makes the chore less tedious.
If you are ready to jump back into meal prepping or you just want to continue improving your diet, make sure that you are following me on Instagram because I post weekly health and nutrition content to help prepare you! Make sure to subscribe and join my fitness and wellness community newsletter for more resources and exclusive content!
Until next time,
Folakemi Olamide
