All the tips, tricks and hacks for your weekly meal prep that’ll save (and change) your life!
Meal Prep. You’ve heard it a million times. But so few people actually do it! If you ask the one thing that helps me stay on track, I’d tell ya… MEAL PREP. I know it’s daunting and I know it takes time, but I guarantee if it’s the only thing you change in your life, it’ll help you far beyond anything else. I promise.
Oh, and I have a little treat at the end that just might make your meal prep journey a little easier 😬👇🏼
It all started my summer after freshman year of college. I had been diagnosed with Celiacs six months prior and was finally ready to start feeling good again. I was determined to lose my freshman 15 (or whatever it was) and did a lot of research on healthy food. It’s also the same time I started meal prepping.
I was lifeguarding for the summer and putting in some serious hours at the pool, so I needed to bring lunch, snack AND dinner. Every night when I got home at 8:30p, I’d plan out what I was going to take for the next day. I’d write it on a sticky note and try to calculate the calories, protein, carbs and fat. Yes, all on a sticky note. I’d get everything ready and pack my food the night before.
I definitely had my go-to meals. Chicken breast with veggies and salsa, smoothie and almonds, turkey burgers, hard boiled eggs, yano that kind of stuff. Low carb foods. I also began to incorporate more strength training into my workout routines.
I started to see changes. I finally felt healthy again.
I started my Sophomore year of college (at a new school) and continued meal prep, but again it took a different form. I was home most days for lunch and dinner, but to help me stay on track, I planned out what I was going to have. Most days were the same (like they are now), but I’d still write it down. I’d make my grocery list and that’s what I’d have for the week. No standing in front of the fridge for half an hour trying to figure out what I wanted to eat, no impulse binges (… well mostly, I was a college kid ;)), and no wasted food.
It worked for me.
Four years later and in the real world, my meal prep game has stepped up a bit. I now make my meal and workout plan by Thursday (writing down ideas/inspiration throughout the week), Friday/Saturday go grocery shopping, Sunday meal prep for the week’s breakfasts, lunches and snacks. Every.damn.week.
There are Sunday’s when meal prep is the last thing I want to do (and sometimes IS the last thing), but I always manage to get it done, even if it is at 8-o-clock at night.
One hour of work for a whole week of healthy meals, is totally worth it!
The point is meal prep looks different for everyone. Some people are home for every meal, others need to plan more. Meal prep can be as extensive or as simple as you want it to be – write a plan OR prep the food OR make the meal. Whichever way works for you!
There are so many benefits to meal prep, this blog post could go on for daayyys. The top reasons I do it:
Benefits
- Saves money
- Saves time
- Keeps me on track throughout the week
- No wasted food
- Portion control
- Fewer impulse eats/buys
- Helps maintain a naturally balanced diet
If that doesn’t convince you to try it, I don’t know what will.
I’m not a mom and I don’t have a family to run around constantly, but I do work full time, I teach group fitness classes part-time and run this blog part-time, so believe me when I tell you my days are busy. I also understand that that it’s easier to do when you enjoy it, which I do. Obviously, I wouldn’t have this blog if I didn’t.
So to help all you lovely, hard working mamas (or newlyweds or dog moms or dads), I’ve created a meal plan for you to try, including a grocery list! It’ll still take time to actually meal prep, but it’ll provide you a stepping stone to get started.
Before we dive into that, I wanted to share my tips/steps to a successful (and fast) meal prep!
Tips
1. Make a Plan – Planning is everything. Create a google doc or grab a piece of paper and write down all the meals you plan to have that week. It can be specific like mine (see above) or general, but the idea is to develop a game plan. If you’re good with eating the same thing every day or every other day, do that. The important thing is to write down ALL the meals you plan on eating/making because this will be your guide for making a grocery list and it’ll help keep you on track throughout the week. Planning is the most important!
- Get Inspiration – Here are great places to find healthy recipes for your meal plan: Pinterest, Health Magazines, blogs (here are a few of my favorite: Fit Foodie Finds, Ambitious Kitchen, Rachael’s Good Eats, Pinch of Yum)
- Mix it up – it’s easy to get in a rut of eating the same thing, think of different types of cuisine like asian, mexican, italian, german that you could include in your weekly plan. You can also make a schedule like meatless monday, taco tuesday, leftover thursday, that way each week is not a burden to come up with something unique.
2. Create your Grocery List – sit down with you meal plan and go through each meal for every day, writing down what you’ll need (even write down ingredients you know you have (or think) you have). I put my grocery list in order of where it’s located in the store. There are also a couple of apps that do it for you, like Shopping List Ease or Our Grocery Shopping List
3. Check the Pantry and Fridge – making the list is only half the battle, now go through your pantry and fridge to see what you have and what you still need. I make notes like 4 containers of greek yogurt or small container vs. big, that way I know what I’m getting when I’m at the grocery store. (p.s. – nothing feels better than a clean fridge/pantry, toss out the food that’s stale, going bad or been in there wayyy to long).
4. Grocery Shopping – stick to the list. There’s a reason you made it in the first place! Try to shop the periphery of the store – produce, meats, dairy, health food section. You may occasionally pass through the bread aisle or spices section, but the majority of your list should be coming from the perimeter.
5. Meal Prep
- Grab your essentials – meal plan, cutting board, utensils, lunch boxes (or plastic baggies in my case). Turn up the tunes, put on a podcast or pick a movie and settle in! 🙂
- Set out your containers – use glass, BPA free and microwave safe containers, if possible, and grab a variety of sizes
- Lay out your food – if you have counter space (the island is great!) pull out all the groceries you think you’ll need, that way you’re not running from the fridge and pantry a hundred times.
- Make a game plan – go through your meal plan and prioritize the foods that’ll take the longest. I start with baking chicken and hard boiling eggs. Since I make all my dinners at home, I don’t worry about those, just breakfast and lunch. If this is your first time prepping, I suggest concentrating on one meal. Then after a couple weeks of practice, work your way up to more. If you work from home, maybe meal prep only consists of cutting veggies and washing fruit, so that you have healthy options to go for during the day. If you work an 8-5, maybe it’s lunch and snack. Do what works for your schedule! Once you have started the food that takes longer, move to the rest of the plan. If you’re dividing cottage cheese into a container, do all the cottage cheese at the same time. It’s all about bulk prepping.
I know this seems like I a lot (information overload), but by week 3 or 4 you’ll have a system down and it won’t take much time at all! My prep only takes about an hour and that includes breakfast, lunch, snack and some dinners. You can do it!!
Alright, enough with my blab, I know this is what you really came for… Enter your name and email address below you’ll receive a confirmation email (which you will need to confirm) and then my meal plan and grocery list will be sent to your inbox! (p.s. – check the quantities on the grocery list to reflect what you actually need and how many people you are feeding. P.s.s. – I don’t know how often I’ll be sending out the meal plan, so stay tuned!)
Oh and let me know what you think! All questions or suggestions are welcome 🙂 I’m here to help you conquer the art of meal prep.
Enjoy!