Steps For A Successful Meal Prep

Below you'll soon be able to come up with a process that not only helps your prepping process but also gives you motivation to begin meal prepping.

But first, you make ask,

Why meal prep in the first place?

For starters, meal prep saves you money. Here is a crazy statistic, did you know The average restaurant meal these days is $10-12 and the average American spends thousands a year on eating out! When you start meal prepping you cut costs down on eating out and you can save thousands.

Meal prep can also help you save time. Instead of cooking 40+ minutes every day, you cook only for that time period only once a week or bi-weekly depending on your meal prep schedule. You can cook 20+ meals in that little time, now you can save yourself over 5-6 hours a week that can be focused on your health or exercise.

Lastly, meal prepping makes it so much easier to eat healthily! When meal prepping you already have food done that you made at the beginning of the week, no more excuses to go eat out because you don't want to cook at home. You are also in control of what you put in your body, you cook the food so you know what kind of calories you are putting in your food.

Steps for a successful meal plan.

Not everyone looks forward to spending hours in the kitchen while meal prepping. This is only natural since the key incentive for meal prepping is reduced cooking time.

The following methods will help streamline prep and cook times.

Sticking to a shopping schedule

Meal prepping works best when you stick to a regular schedule. Knowing exactly when you'll shop for groceries and prep your meals will help you form a good routine. For instance, you might reserve Sunday mornings for grocery shopping and meal prepping. Or you could select Monday evenings for making lunches for the rest of the week. The schedule is up to you and should fit your weekly routine. Keep in mind that picking specific times and sticking to them will simplify the decision-making process, freeing up mental space for other things.

Buy in bulk

Take advantage of the bulk section of your local supermarket as a way to save money, buy only the amount you need, and reduce unnecessary packaging waste. This part of the store is a great place to shop for pantry staples like rice, cereal, quinoa, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit and beans. Bring your own containers so you don't have to use any plastic bags to carry your bulk items home.

Choose recipes and build a menu

With simple recipes in hand, decide what you'll cook for the week and schedule the days of the week when you want to enjoy your meals. Take stock of what you need for those recipes, plus any missing essentials you need (like spices or Grass-Fed Ghee ), and make your grocery list. (A shopping list also has the added bonus of making your online order or trip to the grocery store faster and more efficient.) View the Fit Med recipes by Dr. Eileen and see what she recommends for a healthy meal!

Cook recipes you'll actually eat

As long as your meal prep dishes are balanced, you don't need to branch out of your comfort zone. For beginners, make recipes you know you'll love anything less could result in wasted food (and wasted time).

As you can see, meal prep can be an easy way to encourage healthy eating habits, make a busy life easier, and help you meet your overall health goals. So get out there, get some meal prep ideas and start prepping!