I’ve always wanted to start meal prepping but I haven’t really had the chance to know how to start. I started browsing on the internet to get inspiration on how to start and how meal prepping can reduce some day to day expenses for people who are always on the go. Meal prepping is simply preparing your meals for a certain time during the day. You can even prep for the entire week or even two weeks if you wanted to. The benefits for meal prepping is that it can help you make healthier food selections by having unprocessed ingredients. Meal prepping ensures that you eat proper portions so that you will not go over your total calories for the day. If you’re like me who doesn’t really pay attention to calorie intake and just eats whatever is in sight, when you feel like it, then this blog post is definitely for you.
To start meal prepping, you should choose a day during the week when you have a lot more free time. A day that I would meal prep would be a Sunday because that is a day during the week when my schedule is not so hectic and it gives me time to know how exactly I would prep for the week. Also as a beginner try to prep for only for about 4 days, just so that you’re used to choosing the right portions and making sure that the meal choice that you picked for those days are the right choice for you. It’s also helpful to use a calendar to schedule times when you plan on eating each day. If you have the Microsoft outlook app on your phone device, it can give you reminders on when to eat depending on your schedule. Or if you’re into planner notebooks (like me), that can work too.
The next step in meal prepping is choosing the actual meals for breakfast, lunch or dinner. There are tons of recipes to choose from and even though it’s a good idea to maintain healthy choices, try to select a variety of meals so that you won’t get bored of eating the same meal every day. I know for me, if I continue to eat the same meal over and over again, I would probably walk to Potbelly’s and order my usual turkey sandwich with a banana smoothie. When I begin to start my meal prep, a meal that I would consider to make for lunch would be white rice, grilled chicken, broccoli and carrots. It’s totally up to you if you want to meal prep for breakfast or dinner. For breakfast I would have my usual pancakes and tea. (I’m a big fan of green tea). And then for dinner I would try to meal prep for chicken wraps with whole grain wheat tortillas. Finally for the most exciting part, well for me, for dessert I would treat myself with 2 scoops of low-fat ice-cream or sorbet. If you’re looking for more inspiration about what to make for a meal prep try watching YouTube videos for nice demos. You could also try asking a family member or friend of what their favorite meals are and see if it’s quick and easy for you to make.
To scale food items to help keep track of calorie intake, a kitchen scale can be really useful. A kitchen scale can also help you make sure that your portions are distributed evenly between the containers. It is also good to know that the type of container you use is important. It is recommended to use containers that are BPA free. A container that is BPA free means that it is microwaveable and safe. Also use clear containers so that you’re able to see what’s in your container which can help you decide quicker what you want take for breakfast, lunch or dinner. A good container should have divided sections so that foods will not cross contaminate each other. For me, I just hate when certain foods “touch” and the meal doesn’t seem so appetizing to me anymore. It also wouldn’t hurt to have containers that are air tight because it can keep the meal fresh so it doesn’t spoil too quickly. Also try to use same sized containers so that it is easier to stack and doesn’t take a lot of space in your fridge. Other factors to consider for finding the right containers is that they are reusable, dishwasher and freezer safe.
The benefits for meal prepping is that you can save money. Try buying things in bulk and definitely make use of your freezer. For example with 8lbs of chicken, you don’t have to cook it all at once. You could cook the chicken 1lb at a time and then freeze the rest until ready for use again. One day you could decide to make a grilled chicken wrap or another day you decide to make chicken Alfredo (another favorite meal of mine). You could also freeze herbs if you wanted to use it for the chicken. Also if you like making meals with beef, it can be the same way as the use of chicken and can even give you combination of a variety of meals like tacos or spaghetti.
Meal prepping can help you save time. This is a perfect strategy for super busy individuals. A way to multitask in the kitchen can be when you’re making an incredible meal for dinner, you can start meal prepping for lunch the next day. It can help you feel organized and prepared for the next day. A great example is by making use of your oven and fill it with all kinds of different foods like baked potatoes, vegetables and chicken. Sometimes people may think that meal prepping can consume so much time but I think choosing healthier food options by just grabbing a container out of your fridge each day is easier than deciding what healthy meal to cook for each day of a week.
Hope this blog got you motivated to try meal prepping! Try to tailor it to what you enjoy eating and don’t think of it as a chore. Think of it as way as a fresh start to a healthier lifestyle and maybe a new exciting hobby! Make your friends and family jealous and post your creations on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Tumblr. Once you’re a pro, try to make a video on YouTube and get your technique to go viral. But most importantly motivate others to have a better, healthy eating lifestyle. Thanks for reading!
