I have always been the worst about meal prep, I love food so the idea of eating chicken and vegetables every day was never all that appealing to me. That coupled with a crazy schedule typically led to me ordering takeout, or my personal favorite, pairing a nice big bowl of popcorn with a glass of red wine for dinner, which isn’t quite the healthiest approach to eating, nutrition? What’s that?
In January I knew this was going to have to change since takeout is pretty much off the table during Whole 30, so Sundays became meal prep days. Whole 30 ended a few weeks ago but thankfully this seems to be one habit that stuck, it’s been about 2 months of consistent meal prep and I am absolutely loving it so far.
If you’re a meal prep newbie like I was, meal prep is a two-step process, first and maybe most important is setting up your meal plan, figuring out roughly what you’re going to eat for the week and then making a grocery list, I’m a fan of picking a few things to use as a base for a lot of different meals to avoid my fear of food boredom throughout the week. Typically, I end up doing 2 days of meal prep throughout the week, Sunday and then Wednesday or Thursday, although that midweek prep is is much quicker than Sunday since the week is winding down.
My favorite part about meal prep
For me, the biggest reward has been taking the stress out of dinner, if I get out of work late I don’t have to stress about going to the grocery store just to get home even later and have to start cooking dinner. On top of that, I always have lunches on hand so I’m saving a bunch of money and I’m eating healthy home cooked meals at normal meal times most days which has helped me cut back on my very real snacking habit. I’ve been blown away by how good all of our meals taste – no food boredom here – and how good I feel. After cutting out all that processed crap I was living off of, I’ve noticed I have more energy, I’m sleeping better and my skin is finally clearing up again. Basically it’s an all around win!
Lessons I’ve learned so far
It’s tiring. Sunday’s are cooking days, and that means a solid 4 hours in the kitchen getting everything cooked and cleaned.
A pressure cooker is an absolute game changer. I bought the pressure cooker/slow cooker combo right after Christmas after it seemed like everyone and their mom was getting and raving about pressure cookers and I have been so incredibly happy with it. It is so quick and everything I’ve made so far has been great.
Planning and making a list is key, you can grab my meal plan and grocery list here to get you started! At this point I have a standard list that I use most weeks and I just make simple tweaks each week, going to the store without a list is setting yourself up for failure, trust me.
Roasted veggies will be your best friend. I make 3-4 trays of roasted veggies every Sunday, toss them in olive oil, salt, pepper and a different seasoning of your choice for each tray and have 4 automatic bases for meals for the rest of the week!
Microwaves aren’t as necessary as you think. I’ve been redoing my kitchen (for what feels like forever) and am without a microwave, when I first started meal prep I was really nervous about not having a microwave to reheat all the delicious things I made on Sunday but it hasn’t been too bad. It does require an extra few minutes since you have to toss it in either a pan on the stove or into the oven to reheat things but I’m happy to report that if you don’t have access to a microwave, this is still possible!
What I’m still learning
Meal prep containers are everything. While Tupperware works great, it can be kind of annoying to bring multiple containers to work every day, I’ve had my eye on some bento boxes and stackable containers. Right now I make everything and put it in big containers in the fridge and then assemble my lunch and dinner each morning/evening and it definitely works but there are days when i have to bring 3 different containers to work so I can heat up some things and keep others separate, I don’t know about you but warm avocado is gross.
It’s kind of weird deciding what you’re going to eat all week on Sunday, I try and leave room for flexibility by leaving one day on the meal plan empty which allows for dinner out or changing my mind and running to the store for something else. Once everything is made you don’t necessarily have to stick to the plan 100%, if you want to have Thursday’s dinner on Monday, go crazy and switch things up! I will say this has been easier said than done, there have definitely been weeks where I have thrown perfectly good food away because I didn’t eat it in time.
Overall
Let’s be honest, I’m not getting any younger and it doesn’t matter how much I run, I can’t work off those takeout calories quite as quickly as I used to, anyone else with me on this? While I’m not ruling out the possibility of popcorn for dinner in the future, meal prepping has not only helped me save a bunch of money but also eat healthier meals more often which my body is definitely thanking me for. It actually feels weird not to pack a lunch when in the past it was the exact opposite. I have developed healthier habits that I’m looking forward to continue incorporating in my life, even if I only end up doing one meal prep day a week and still eat out 1-2 times it is a huge improvement that I am all about!
