How to Make Meal Prep Quick and Painless
It sounds counterintuitive, but creating systems for yourself actually frees you up.
Willpower and mental energy are finite resources. Work and family stress take up most of our reserves, and unexpected life events derail everyone from time to time. Expect the unexpected and consider putting a plan in place for repeated tasks. We all have to eat. That’s non-negotiable.
Why not have a system for how you prepare food so you aren’t always scrambling, hungry and lethargic, or bloated and overstuffed?
Control what you can control. If you don’t have a system for the boring everyday things that you need to do, developing one will save you more time and energy than you think, freeing you up for the things you want to do and the unexpected things you have to deal with. When life gets crazy, just follow your system; zero guesswork or mental energy required.
Prepping meals ahead of time is a proven way to keep yourself on your nutrition plan and minimize the chances of going off-plan unintentionally. You can create an environment for success – by planning ahead when you have some down time, you’ll not only save money, but take the guesswork and willpower out of making good choices throughout the week. You’re much less likely to be left in a bind and have no choice but to hit the drive thru.
Meal prepping is NOT about making bland meals of plain chicken and broccoli. The better your food tastes, the more likely you are to stick to the plan. Compliance is the science. The number one goal of meal prep is to help you stick to your plan, and that won’t happen if your food sucks.
This post isn’t meant to tell you how much you should be eating, how often, or what your overall goals should be. If you need help figuring that out, contact me and I’ll be happy to help.
To get started, look at your calendar and block out a half-hour to develop a strategy. Set it like you would any other appointment and prioritize it. Keeping appointments with yourself is always a step in the right direction and builds positive momentum.
Once you’ve sat down to plan, answer these questions for yourself.
What foods do you like?
Which of these foods will help you move toward your goals?
What foods (from this narrowed down list) do you know how to make? If you don’t know how to make something, do you want to learn?
If you don’t like to cook or don’t want to, which of these foods have minimal or no preparation requirements? What can be purchased pre-cooked?
If you want to cook, what kitchen appliances do you have?
How often do you want to prepare food?
Once you have the answers to these questions, you’ve got a pretty good overarching strategy in place. Now you just have to fill in the nuts and bolts:
How much do you want to budget for food?
How often will you shop for groceries?
Where will you shop? Will you use a delivery service or physically go to the store?
How much time will you set aside to prep per week? When/on what days?
Yeah, at first all this might feel very overwhelming. Just take it one question at a time and pretty soon you may be surprised at how your strategy takes shape.
Here’s what all this looks like in practice for me. You may be radically different but here are some ideas…
I shop at Aldi once per week, usually on Saturday but occasionally on Sunday. These are less busy days for me. I usually need about 2-3 hours to shop and prepare food for the week (total), and I don’t use a delivery service. I’m no chef, and the only kitchen appliances I regularly use are my crock pot and the stovetop. When the weather is nice I also grill outside.
My staple foods:
Proteins – lean steak, ground beef, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, eggs, milk, Greek yogurt, and protein powder
Carbohydrates – rice, tortillas, beans, and fresh, canned, or frozen fruits and vegetables
Fats – olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, mixed nuts, and almonds
Seasonings – garlic salt, black pepper, seasoned salt, sea salt, garlic, thyme, rosemary, cloves, paprika, peppercorns, and various pre-mixed seasonings
My meals are very simple and easy but also taste great when I don’t screw up the recipe. I don’t choose recipes that have a ton of ingredients or that take a long time to prepare, but I still cane make a wide variety of meals that suit me just fine. I’ve been eating this way for years and see no reason to stop.
In the next post in this series I’ll give you some ideas on how to put it all together and batch cook food that actually tastes good.
If you’re looking for a fitness trainer in the Mt Juliet/Hermitage/Nashville TN area, online fitness training, or just need some advice to get your fitness program started, contact me
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