Should You Meal Prep? Or is meal prepping necessary to succeed? The answer is undoubtedly, Yes! Preparation is key and the more you can prepare in advance, the less stressed you will feel on a day-to-day basis when trying to figure out what to eat. With that being said, the degree to which you meal prep is what will make or break this process for you.
So here are a few questions to help you decide how much meal prepping you need to do in order to eliminate stress and help you feel successful.
1. Are you ok with eating the same thing every day? If your answer is a BIG N-O, then you may want to re-consider batch prepping where you would make 5 portions of the same meal. In this instance, you may be better off prepping to 3 meals out of 5 for the week, maybe using leftovers on the other days, etc.
2. Which meals do you need the most help with? Are you constantly running out of the house in the morning? If so, maybe prepping your smoothies in advance or baking some egg muffins would be helpful. If figuring out what’s for dinner each night feels stressful then maybe it’s best you focus your energy on roasting some vegetables or your side dishes in advance.
3. Do you enjoy cooking? This is a big one! If you hate cooking (like I do) then you’ll want to keep the process of meal prepping quick and simple as to avoid dreading it each week. You might be best at prepping salads or wraps to-go.
The important thing to remember is that a little preparation can go a long way. You don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen. In fact, a client recently shared with me that she dedicates one hour every Sunday to meal prepping, that’s it! Another client shared how she commits to making one crockpot meal each week that will easily provide her with a few servings to be used at either lunch or dinner throughout the week.
Here are some of my personal recommendations…
– Prep the thing(s) that take the longest to make. For example, baking sweet potatoes, roasting vegetables, etc. Get these things off of your plate for the week.
– Prep your protein. If I’m short on time, I will focus on making sure I have good protein sources ready for the week….grilled chicken or steak, hard-boiled eggs, etc. These things are quick and easy to make but are essential to make sure I’m getting a sufficient amount of protein at every meal.
– Have back-ups. I always make sure to have things like frozen veggies or rice that can be added to any of my protein sources in a pinch.
– Meal prep at your convenience. Who says meal prepping needs to be done on Sundays?? I personally love meal prepping when I am in full-on grocery mode. For example, I will turn on the air fryer and start chopping up vegetables as I am unpacking them from my grocery store run. It’s on my mind and just makes sense for me.
As always we hope that you found this episode to be helpful, and would love to connect with you further in our Making FIT Work community on Facebook or on Instagram at @fitwith_nina. Until next time…be strong, be healthy, be happy!
