When you’re a beginner, meal prepping can feel pretty daunting and overwhelming. It’s a lot to take on when you’re inexperienced, but with time you’ll get the hang of it and soon enough it’ll feel like second nature. Here’s 10 meal prepping tips to follow in order to make the process a breeze.
Having a designated day of the week that you’ll be doing your meal prep makes the entire process 100x easier. That way you can do all of your groceries in anticipation of this day and be sure that your schedule is clear. Most people choose Sunday as their day because it tends to be the day where we have the least going on to interrupt the process. I personally think this is one of the most crucial meal prepping tips to maximize efficiency.
Do your research in advance and try to figure out what meals you’ll be making for the week. If you go into your prep with absolutely no idea what you’re going to make then this will make the process infinitely more difficult and will take a lot longer than it needs to. Having the recipes and plans right in front of you at the beginning is a great way to speed up the process.
This kind of goes hand-in-hand with tip #2. If you plan your recipes in advance then you can easily make a list of exactly what you need for your meals and it makes grocery shopping that much easier. Be sure you stick to your list and don’t get caught up in unnecessary food distractions at the grocery store. This is one of the most important meal prepping tips on the list by far to ensure the process runs smoothly.
If you’re eating the same thing all week, chances are you’re going to get tired of it pretty quickly. Ensuring you have some variation in your meals is a great way to get the most out of the process and maximize your enjoyment. While it may feel easier to cook the same thing in bulk, you don’t want to get tired of eating the same thing and resort to throwing out food for no reason.
You can get them in bulk at a variety of stores. Make your life easier and invest in them because using all kinds of different Tupperware can just be annoying. This way you can ensure all of your portions are the same size and that you haven’t skimped (or been a little too generous) on certain days. They’re cheap and are totally worth it.
One of the main points of meal prep other than saving time and energy throughout the week is because it increases the number of nutritious meals you’re consuming. Try and ensure that your meals have a source of protein, a carb, and some fresh produce in there. It’s the best way to ensure you’re hitting all the nutrients you need and have lots of energy throughout the day.
One of the best meal prepping tips I could give you is to cook meals that save you time. For example, making a bunch of meals with roasted vegetables is a great way to maximize your efficiency. Putting all the vegetables (proteins too) on a tray in the oven saves you a bunch of time because it will all be done at once.
While you still want to ensure the recipes are different for the sake of enjoyment, it’ll make your life a whole lot easier if there are some overlapping ingredients. Then you can make all of the ingredients at once and just put the meals together as the week goes on.
If you want to minimize the risk of your food going bad, make foods that you can easily freeze. Then you can get home after a long day and just reheat your meals or throw them in a pan with some sauce and you’ll be set with minimal effort and maximum satisfaction.
Pick snacks that are relatively easy to prepare so that you’re not spending even more time on them. Nuts, vegetables and dip and things of the like are very nutritious while not being time-consuming in the slightest. It’s the easiest way to ensure you’re satisfied throughout the day while not taking too much time out of your meal prep.
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