6 TIPS FOR MEAL PREPPING 

 

1. Organize and Visualize: Take the time to sit down and organize what your day to day schedule currently looks like, write the time’s in the day on the left, from 5am-12am for example, and start plugging in your life schedule. -What time are you currently waking up, what do you do next? When do you have breakfast? Do you wake-up in a rush, grab something on the way, eat at work? What time do you arrive at at work? What happens next? Do you eat a snack? When is lunch? When do you workout usually? When are you home from work? When do you go to bed? etc. etc. every detail of your day, visually write it down and look at it.  Now that your essential living schedule is done, you can start plugging your 5 meals a day into your essential living schedule using using different coloured pens. Make it organized, make it visual so you can plug your meals (2.5-4hrs apart) into your schedule. This will help you see what TIMES in the day you should be eating, so you don’t skip meals and let the day get away from you. Maybe now you will be able to see you need to wake-up 30mins earlier, so you can start the healthier and more cost friendly routine of eating a wholesome breakfast at home vs. on the road or while at work. When you write in when you are working out, knowing door to door the gym routine could take you 2hours, you will know you should have your pre-workout meal at 5pm if you will be starting your workout at 6:15-6:30pm. Make it pretty, make it fun, drink some wine while planning your health mission. You may think you got it down pat in your head, but I guarantee things will go South fast when the rest of your life routine gets cray. Meals will be skipped, consistency will go array, more food will be bought out of convenience and hunger vs. thoughtful and purposeful. Make it easy on yourself and get organized.

 

2. Tupperware Game Strong: Trash (or recycle) all your old, mismatched, no lid Tupperware, and purge the space. TUPPERWARE DETOX PARTY! Make room for new, preferably GLASS containers such as Pyrex, the only glass container trusted by Rick Ross “All i want for Christmas is my Pyrex”. Get 3 of each size, 3 bigger ones to store the cooked bulk food in the fridge for you to spoon portions from, 3 medium sized to carry around with you, 3 smaller sizes for sauces and dressings. Epic food storage organization is surprisingly refreshing and will make the cooking and packing process way more of a breeze vs. digging for lids and placing your food in smelly and stained containers…#firstworldproblems. Plus, plastic oozes toxins into our system which can severely disrupt our endocrine (hormone) system, throws off our stress hormones, and can impede energy, vitality, and weight loss.

 

 3. Frozen Food is a Go!:  Buy frozen when you can, it can really cut down on your grocery bill but the best part it can minimize your visits to the grocery store. One of the things about meal prep that make people quit is the constant restocking of ingredients, it just gets really tedious and this risks the dreaded burn out. I buy all my meat from a local butcher and I highly encourage you to do the same especially if you are only feeding yourself or even 2-3 people. I stock up on my meat for the next 2 weeks as its kept frozen. When I am about 1-2 portions away from finishing what I have cooked, I will take out the next meat portion and place it in the fridge to de-thaw overnight so I can cook it the next night. This way I am always on a rotation, and during the weekends I’ll go out for a breakfast, lunch, or dinner (sometimes all 3). Fruit is also easily bought frozen. Frozen fruit is better in smoothies in my opinion, as it helps the overall consistency of the smoothie. Frozen fruit can be easily be de-thawed in the microwave for a few seconds, or heat berries up for longer and pour the juices over greek yogurt or oatmeal. Frozen veggies are no problem, I would recommend buying organic frozen vegetables. I usually have green beans, salad, and broccoli in my fridge but that’s it since veggies go bad faster than I can use them.

 

4. Keep it Simple: A lot of people believe they want a ton of variety in their week, and they detest eating the same meals Monday-Friday. Just remember, more variety every day of the week only means way more confusing prep, increased grocery store visits (gets old fast), more ingredients to buy so a higher grocery bill, more expiration dates to keep track of in the fridge if big portions are not being used, and meal prep will get tedious and tiring which can risk burn out. Eating a solid schedule and planning out what your breakfast, lunch, and snacks are going to be, buying specifically for those meals and the exact amounts you need, prepping larger portions of fewer ingredients so you can divide it into containers…it really isn’t that bad. It’s actually sweet, you feel solid and consistent and you can almost make your menu for the week every weekend. It makes it easy, keeping it simple is always the best way to keep consistency.

 

5. Buy a Scale: Do not eyeball your portions, don’t think you “got it on lock” and are an expert at your portions. After 1 week you are not a master of scaling things with your eyes, professional athletes weigh their food everyday not because they don’t know the portion by now, because even the smallest details of a routine create consistency, diligence, and breeds a relentless attitude towards the goal. Lofting on the small details means you are definitely going to SLACK on the bigger things, the small little details are the most important part. The person who practices the “insignificant” minute details is the one who will come out on top, no stone left unturned, no corners cut. Cutting corners off the hop? You’ll for sure be slacking later.

 

6. Learn to Love it

Eating food is an essential part to your human existence, so learn to love it or you will forever resent it. Create a relationship with food, start acknowledging it more, watch the Food Network and feel the chef’s passion, buy a new cook book, new pots, new pans…tap into your inner Master Chef. Learn to prep, and then eat an organized food schedule. Consistency is an important part of weight loss or body goals, eating more meals throughout the day and taking the time to work with your food will help  develop a more positive relationship with food over time. Dieting automatically places your mindset in a negative relationship with food and exercise, since certain foods are “off-limits”, food groups cut out, and by telling ourselves we cant have things, this shifts the process into “lack mentality” which is ultimately negative. Not only is it ideal to try and lose weight and change your composition on the highest amount of caloriess you can, but it’s also a good idea to work on a meal plan you will stick to relatively for life. Going on and off healthy eating schedules by following different diet schemes and cleanses is not all around healthy psychologically or physiologically. Your life is LONG, finding a food routine you can be consistent with and enjoy without eliminating foods all together is going to be the best route to overall health and vitality for life. It’s going to feel so much healthier and purposeful (as well as way cheaper) having your food and meals planned, vs. scavenging and impulsively buying your next meal day to day.