A Beginner’s Guide to Meal Prepping
•Posted on February 21 2018
Ahh, a whole blog post dedicated to food – what’s not to love?!
Food prep, meal prep – whatever you call it, it’s a super handy way of helping to keep you on track with your nutrition goals. Whether you use it to prepare all of your meals for the week, or just the ones that you have trouble staying on track with, making your meals in bulk is a great way to nail healthy eating.
What is Meal Prepping?
Meal prepping isn’t some scary concept that’s exclusive to elite athletes aiming to get gains; prepping your meals is an easy way to stick to your nutrition plan.
It’s a simple format – you make your meals in advance, so when it comes to mealtime, you can heat up your pre-prepared food.
Why Meal Prep?
If you’re a newbie to the health and fitness scene, you may struggle to keep your focus when it comes to avoiding the mid-afternoon slump or getting the right intake of your macronutrients (carbs, protein and fat). Prepping your meals in advance has a variety of benefits:
You’ll see an increase in the number of nutrients you take in. This is because you’ll be methodically thinking about the types of foods you need, plus planning in advance means you’ll prepare all of the foods that are good for you.
Meal prepping usually sees you prepare all of your meals for a particular day, so you’ll be eating regularly. What’s the result of eating regularly? You’ll regulate your metabolism, which in itself has a range of benefits.
Eating regularly and eating the right food also means that you’re properly fuelling your body for the day ahead. If you’re busy in your day-to-day life, eating well can sometimes fall to the wayside, but if the meal you need is there, ready to be eaten, you’re more likely to find the time to stop and consume it.
The final benefit – and one of the best – is that meal prepping is more economical. You’ll bulk buy food and bulk prepare meals, so you’ll use everything you buy, meaning less waste, plus you’ll only cook what you need so your shopping list will become quite specific.
How to Food Prep?
We don’t want to teach you how to suck eggs (eggs are great to prep in advance, by the way) but here’s how to successfully meal prep for your busy life:
Pick a day that works for you to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen and get through some bulk cooking. We recommend doing this on a Sunday evening, so you’ve got all of your meals for the working week covered.
Yes, it will take a few hours to begin with, but soon you’ll be a multitasking queen who can food prep all of your week’s meals in an hour. Unless you opt for a slow cooker (obviously that’ll take longer – but, man, it’s worth it).
Plan in Advance
Planning meals in advance is key. Find inspiration on Instagram and Pinterest, and get creative with the types of meals you can cook up. Let us tell you now, it ain’t all bro food in the land of meal prep.
When you’ve decided on your meals, make your shopping list – this will help with being more economical, as we mentioned.
Pick Up Some Containers
Reusable containers are vital in the success of your weekly food prep. Sometimes sandwich bags, or something similar, will suffice, but to really seal in the freshness of your food (see what we did there?), we recommend investing in some proper containers.
Basically, Tupperware is about to become your bestie. But sometimes it’s more Tupperware… the heck is the lid? Amiright?! Some people can overlook the constant game of hide-and-seek, and if you can too you’ll be successful in meal prepping. Containers now come in a variety of materials, shapes and sizes – you can get glass containers or BPA-free plastic, both of which are dishwasher friendly, so even the clean-up is quick and easy.
What’s your favourite meal to food prep? Let us know in the comments, and don't forget to follow our blog for regular help and advice on fitness, food and fabulous activewear.
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