When I first put together the guidelines for my 5 week challenge (which I will share next week), I knew that meal prep would be a huge factor in my success. If I leave my meals up to chance, more than likely, it won't be the cleanest option. Since one of the goals of my challenge group was to eat completely clean (minus one cheat meal a week), I knew I had to meal prep.
Surprisingly, I actually enjoy meal prepping for the work week. It's no surprise that I love to cook and the satisfaction of knowing that mine and my husbands meals were not going to be guess work, is awesome! It most certainly has kept me on track and keeps the week free of stress and worrying about what to make for lunches.
One thing that comes to mind behind the idea of meal prepping is this quote: "by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail". Since a lot of people struggle with the nutritional aspect of a healthier lifestyle (myself included), meal prepping is so important. It not only sets you up for success, but it helps develop that routine that is so important when converting to a healthier self.
One thing that I have become aware of during this challenge is that eating clean does not have to be boring! I haven't felt deprived once and i actually enjoy having everything laid out for me. I have delicious food to eat and the best thing is knowing what amazing things I am doing for my body by fueling it with the right food. If you know me personally, you know that I am an avid planner. If there is a way to plan something, I am planning. So it should be no surprise that I love my meal prepping.
I have decided that meal prepping is so important to me and important in continuing this healthy way of life, that I wanted to share some tips I have come up with so that you can also be successful!
What you will need:
Tupperware containers in various sizes
Mason jars
Ziploc baggies
Sharpie
Tips:
- Start by planning out your menu for the week (see the awesome menu planner below).
- Carve out 2-3 hours (I prep on Sundays) for meal prepping.
- Prep for the 5 day work week at the most.
- Cook a large portion of a good carb (I usually do brown rice).
- Wash all veggies and fruit.
- Steam/roast any veggies desired.
- Cut up any raw veggies or fruit you will be using.
- Cook a large batch of protein (we cook a whole chicken in the pressure cooker for the week).
- Boil some eggs-easy and a good source of protein.
- Portion everything out amongst your containers (I placed a nice guide of portion sizes down below for ladies-I double that size for my husband)
- I usually have a good carb, protein and veggie in each container for lunch and fruit/grains for breakfast and snack.
- Label everything-since I prep for myself and my husband, I label our containers with our names and what meal it is for. For myself, I also label mine with the calories.
I have a couple go-to recipes that I rotate for breakfast. You can check out my
Greek Yogurt Parfait and
Overnight Steel Cut Oats recipes. Prep them in mason jars for a quick, grab and go breakfast. Grapefruit with a touch of honey is also a delicious and easy breakfast to prep and a nice veggie omelet is always a good choice as well.
For snack, I keep it pretty simple. I will usually prep a dozen hard boiled eggs and separate them in pairs in ziploc baggies. I keep them in their shell until I am ready to eat them to keep them fresh for a longer period of time. Another delicious and easy snack is an apple with nut butter. My favorite nut butter of all time is Justin's Maple Almond Butter. Not only is it fantastic, but it comes in individual squeeze packets that make prep for this snack a cinch. Lastly, a no fail snack is a good fruit salad. Cut up some of your favorite fruit, squeeze a bit of lemon juice on top and sprinkle with cinnamon! Divide it up into desired proportions and you have yourself a yummy snack.
For lunch, I tend to prep a few different varieties of similar ingredients to keep it easy but to avoid getting bored. I almost always have a brown rice base to my lunches. Accompanied by a protein, which mine is always black beans (they are my favorite) and a large serving of veggies. I love making my
Vegetarian "Fried" Brown Rice. It reheats nicely and is something different than the boring rice and veggies. Along with my fried rice, I found this fantastic, simple idea from a vegetarian/vegan restaurant I went to on vacation. It was so good that I thought, why couldn't I recreate this for meal prep. It simply is wild rice, black beans,
pico de gallo, and guacamole (I smash up an avocado, add a little of my pico de gallo, garlic powder and sea salt). Mix all those ingredients together and it is so delicious! I got some simple sauce containers with lids (the kind you see at Mexican restaurants that you can take salsa home in-from Smart and Final) and I put my toppings in them. So easy and they can be tossed after using. Another go-to lunch prep is brown rice, black beans and a half of a roasted sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are an easy thing to prep and they too, heat up nicely. Quick and easy tip on prepping sweet potatoes: Preheat the oven to 400*, pierce your sweet potatoes, cook for 1 hour. They come out fantastic every, single time!
The one meal that I don't prep, is dinner. I cook my dinner's fresh because I have the time to do so. If you don't have that option, prepping dinners is perfectly fine. For those busy, on the go, men and women, meal prepping for dinner is a fantastic idea. Any of my lunches above can be used for dinner as well. A couple other recipes that I like to cook for dinner are:
Coconut Chickpea Curry,
Curry Pumpkin Penne Pasta, Taco Salad (meat can be prepped ahead of time and quickly added to some lettuce and veggies), Chef Salad (use prepped protein and veggies).
Here are some fantastic resources that I have found and use weekly for my meal prepping.
I hope some of my tips have given you a better understanding of meal prepping. Set yourself up for success!
