The Fanci Way to Prep

Meal prep has become a common practice for people looking to take control of their weight and health via the food they eat. In today’s growing world of nutrition, more and more resources are becoming available to help individuals make smarter choices.

Finding the Value in Meal Prep

Meal prepping is in a nut shell preparing food in advance to not only save time, but to make sure healthier foods are consumed. When crazy schedules get in the way, most often do we just reach for something convenient like cheeseburger or a bag of chips. That is just the nature of things when time is pressed or if that is our only option.

Meal prepping can help with this by balancing our schedule with foods we eat to maximize our health. The idea is that when we have healthier foods at our finger tips, we are more likely to eat them instead of other potentially harmful food.  It is also more efficient and helps with waste because use reusable containers when you meal prep.  On top of this it allows you to stick to your plan and will save you money. 

Simple Tips for Meal Prepping

The concept of meal prepping can seem daunting at first. Many times, when I suggest meal prepping my clients struggle on where to put in or schedule their meal prepping time. Seems they have such busy lives that don’t have a few hours to do this even if it’s just for a few meals for the week.  You have to get in that mind set to make sure you succeed. Then I get asked, “Where do you start?” “What do you need?” and “How do you get into that mindset?”. Well let me try to answer a few for you. 

Pick a Day for Preparation

Simply choose a day of the week and stick with it (time and day). Make it a time and day that you have an ample time to prepare food for the week ahead for whatever meal you are needing to prepare. For most people it’s Saturday or Sunday where work doesn’t get in the way for others it’s weeknights when fewer crowds are at the store. Just pick a day and stick with it. 

If preparing all your meals it just to much for you choose one meal that is the hardest for you and start prepping that during the week. Once you got that down start adding more. When choosing your meal or meals to prep go for healthy foods you like.  Fun little fact veggies are free so eat as much of those as you want through out the day, it's what you put on them you need to count and the more color the better. Protein keep it lean and try the right portion size for you every meal and always add some healthy fats and starchy carbs to this and you have a well rounded meal.  More on portion sizes to come so keep reading.

Me personally I like to make bowls with tons of flavor. You can make them in a batch type setting and put them in the freezer or refrigerator and store them for the week or for dinner time for the family.  

Stock-up on Containers

You will soon realize that Tupperware is your best friend when it comes to food prepping. Honestly, I invested in prep bag called the Isolator but there is another called 6 pack bags that is also really good. If you are not that into stick with Tupperware and make sure you have soup bowls, containers with different compartments inside, plastic baggies in variety of sizes and if you don’t go for the Isolator or 6 pack a handy dandy lunch box.

Develop a Menu

This should be the fun part and if you good in the kitchen it will be. Try to brainstorm healthy, creative meals you would like to eat or try. I personally like bowls that have great flavor and can mix all in one container (less stuff to carry) I always have a lean protein, a complex carb or grain, lots of veggies and a healthy fat. Rule of thumb always think color. 

Get Crafty in the Kitchen

This is where you do the work and create your meals. You don’t have to stick with just the stove or oven get extra creative and prepare your meals in ways so they don’t get boring. Whip out the crock-pot, blender, and air fryer? Don’t forget during those warm months the grill is an awesome option for preparing the bulk of your food.

Store Your Foods Properly

So now that you have them prepared you need to store them. Depending on what you prepared and if you prepared for the whole week depends on how you will store them. You may be able to refrigerate some items when others are dry and can be put on the counter for easy to grab. Others however to keep from spoiling you want to put in the freezer and just zap in the microwave when you are ready to eat. Either way you want them to be easy to grab and go when you pressed on time with little hesitation. 

Meal Prepping Basics 

As we stated above you need to pick a day of the week that works best for you and stick with it. The reason is because meal prepping is going to take a little time. Once you get the hang of meal prepping you will move more swiftly and it will take no time it get through. Just be patient the first few times as you get the hang of it.  Once you have that day that allows you time sit down and plan your list of foods to buy. Stick with the list and buy enough. A little tip buy in bulk you want to make sure you have enough food for the whole week for those meals. 

When shopping you want to try to stick with a list and menu you create so have an idea of what you are going to make through out the week. You want to stick with the outside of the grocery store and avoid the isle as much as possible. This does not mean you won't go into the isles but you do want to do most of your shopping on the outside more than the isles. 

When going into the isles learn how to read the labels. Some quick tips on this are:

• You should be able to recognize and pronounce each ingredient
• There should be 5 ingredients or less
• Look for food that have less than 5g of sugar/servings 

Ingredients to pass on: Trans fats and hydrogenated oils, High -fructose corn syrup, hormones and antibiotics, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors and flavors, artificial preservatives, sodium benzoate, bleached flour, carageenan.

Ingredients to limit: Processed seed oils such as corn, canola, soybean, nitrates and nitrites, added sugars even cane sugar fruit juice concentrate, soy isolate, MSG.  

The following is a suggested list of healthy foods and prep items to have:

• Chicken breasts/Shrimp/Ground Turkey
• Eggs
• Steamer Bags of Frozen Veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, asparagus, peppers, etc.)
• Fresh Veggies (carrots, celery, radishes, peppers, broccoli, etc.)
• Nuts, seeds, olive oil or avocado
• Plastic Storage Bags
• Plastic Meal Containers
• Quinoa/Brown Rice
• Sweet Potatoes
• Fresh Fruit (grapes, apples, oranges, berries, bananas, etc.)

You can customize each meal prep to your individual palate. After cleaning the food, it’s time to prepare it all. Have fun with this part, get creative!

Tips for Preparation

An easy way to prepare all your protein at once is to use a grill. If you don’t have a grill, the oven is fine. You can put several chicken breasts on/in at the same time. The same goes for shrimp; skewer them in between onion and peppers for a healthy and delicious meal. The ground turkey can be made into patties and you’ve got turkey burgers for the grill or oven as well.

Take your eggs and place them in a pot of water on the stove top to hard-boil them. All of these foods can be cooked on the grill, stove top or in the oven while you use a microwave to steam your bags of vegetables, rice, quinoa and sweet potatoes. The fruit and fresh vegetables can be put into small plastic bags for snacking. Just be mindful of the portion size.

Let’s talk about portion size for a second. You are cooking all this healthy food and it nutritionally dense which is good but you need to know how much of it you can have because you don’t want to over eat your good food either. Good news (like I stated above) is veggies are free food. It’s what you put on them you have to count such as oils or sauces. But if you eat them raw or steams with no butter or oils or sauces, they are free food eat as much as you want.

Your carbs or your grains you should measure or weighed dry.  I often us a food scale or sometimes measuring cups if it’s a grain. This also goes for your pasta and rice. If in doubt go by the serving size on the back but remember measure dry.

Fats I measure by teaspoon or tablespoon or a quick way is by the size of my thumb. Nuts you should go by the serving size which is usually 1 to 2 oz and you can weigh it on a food scale. Most of my fats are oils and I cook them on the meat or veggies.

Proteins I always measured cooked all but for fish which I measure raw. Basic rule of thumb on meat you should go to the palm of your hand. I eat typically 4 to 5oz but depending on your goals I will increase one’s intake to 5 to 6 oz’s per meal rarely up to 8 oz and I will weigh it on food scale. However, I do eat several meals a day. That lean protein is very important for weight loss and lean muscle mass and satiety.

While all the food is cooking get your containers out and ready to go. Line them up on the counter and start what I would call an assembly line. Add your food and make sure you add all the macro’s in each container and seal the top and place in the refrigerator or freezer.

Once you get in the habit of meal prepping you will fine you spend less and less time in the kitchen. You find simpler ways easier dishes and your stress level there will go down. The biggest reward is you will be eating healthier which will make you feel and look better making you hit your goals. So what are you waiting for?