Regardless of whether you’re a nutrition novice or seasoned health guru, following a few simple meal prep tips can make a major difference in your routine.
Meal prepping, which is the practice of planning and preparing meals in advance, can save you time, money and energy while also keeping you on track towards your overall health goals.
Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of meal prepping, along with some simple healthy meal prep tips and recipes to get you going.
Benefits of Meal Prepping
There are tons of reasons to start incorporating a few simple meal prep strategies into your routine. Here are a few of the top benefits of meal prepping:
1. Saves Time
One of the main reasons to start meal prepping is to save time throughout the week.
Preparing a balanced, healthy meal can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, and the amount of time you spend in the kitchen can start to slowly stack up when you factor in breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
Prepping several meals in a single sitting can help streamline your schedule so you can spend more time on other important activities during the day.
Instead of spending hours slaving over the stove everyday, you can set aside a few hours once or twice a week to knock out your cooking all at once.
2. Saves Money
Have you ever filled up your cart with lots of fresh fruits, veggies and other healthy ingredients, only to end up throwing half of them away at the end of the week because you never got around to cooking them?
Meal prepping allows you to plan out your meals in advance, making it easier to buy only what you need from the supermarket.
Not only does this cut down on food waste, but it can also save you some serious money in the long-run as well.
3. Keeps You on Track
When you’re headed home after a long day of work, it can be incredibly tempting to swing by the drive-thru when you don’t feel like cooking.
However, having healthy, fresh meals already prepared and sitting in your fridge can make it much easier to curb those cravings and stay on track towards reaching your health goals.
It also allows you to plan out your meals to ensure that you’re getting the nutrients you need, making it easier to enjoy a variety of nutritious, whole food ingredients as part of a well-rounded diet.
4. Adds Variety
When you don’t plan your meals ahead, it can be easy to fall into the trap of eating the same things again and again. Pasta, burgers, pizza and sandwiches are all easy options to fall back on when you’re running low on time and energy.
While these foods are fine to enjoy from time to time, planning your meals in advance can help add a little variety to your diet by encouraging you to try new recipes and ingredients.
In addition to keeping things interesting to avoid getting bored with your diet, it can also help add a wider range of micronutrients to your diet to ensure that you’re meeting your nutritional needs.
Meal Prep Tips and Tricks
1. Stock up on the Basics
Having a few pantry staples on hand can make grocery shopping a breeze while also setting you up for success when it comes to meal prepping.
Legumes, grains, nuts, seeds and spices are all essentials to stock up on at the grocery store, thanks to their long shelf-life and versatility.
Having these nutritious ingredients ready to go can save you time and energy when preparing healthy meals for the week.
2. Set Aside Time Each Week
One of the best tips for meal planning and prepping is to set aside a specific slot of time each week designated specifically to preparing your weekly meals.
Whether it’s on a weekend morning or right at the start of the week, find a window of time that works for you and stick to it to start setting a routine.
3. Start Collecting Recipes
Saving and collecting recipes is one of my favorite ways to get inspired and stay motivated with meal prepping each week.
Try following some blogs with healthy recipes, start a Pinterest board to save your favorite batch cooking tips or simply stock up on cookbooks and bookmark any ideas you want to try.
In addition to keeping you motivated, this can also help add some variety to your diet and make it easier to include more unique ingredients in your meal plan each week.
4. Make a Meal Plan
Determining exactly what you want to eat each week is one of the most important and best tips for meal prepping.
Start by listing out exactly what meals you plan to prepare for the week, along with which ingredients you need to grab at the grocery store.
Being equipped with a plan can set you up for success, at both the supermarket and in your kitchen.
5. Try Batch Cooking
Batch cooking involves simply preparing larger portions of your favorite foods.
This can help give you leftovers to enjoy throughout the week to save you some extra time.
To get started, try doubling or tripling the ingredients in your favorite recipes. Be sure to adjust other steps in your recipe as needed as well, including the cooking and prep time.
6. Pre-Portion Your Meals
Investing in some high-quality storage containers and pre-portioning your meals can make it easier to grab your meals and go during the week.
Not only that, but it can also make it much easier to stick to the appropriate serving size and avoid overeating.
Meal Prep Recipes
In addition to following these easy meal prep tips, finding a few healthy recipes to start making is a key component of success.
Here are a few healthy meal prep recipes to help get you started:
- Tempeh Taco Salad
- Plant-Based Veggie Pot Pie
- Vegan Zucchini Meatballs
- Easy Burrito Bowls
- Kale Sweet Potato Breakfast Bake
Conclusion
Meal prepping is a simple practice that can make a big impact on your daily routine.
Besides saving you time and money, it can also help add some variety to your diet and keep you on track towards your overall health goals.
From stocking up your kitchen with some pantry staples to setting a specific time slot to cook every week, there are plenty of meal prep tips for weight loss and health that can help guide you to success.
