In today’s blog, we will be starting our 3-week series about meal prepping for beginners. We will start with the fundamentals so that our readers have some idea of where to start. The series will go over meal prep basics, tips for traveling, and advice for individuals with a busy schedule. Often, busy professionals simply just don’t know how to get started. It’s believed that there isn’t enough time in the day. The hope is to unpack ways around this problem.
Portioning Snacks
An easy way to help make your day a bit easier is to start portioning out snacks. When you arrive at home after a grocery trip, it is best to portion, slice, or prep any items that you may be likely to grab for a snack. This might include vegetables, fruits, or healthy sauces and dips like hummus. This can prevent you from using the excuse that you do not have the time to make a snack. This will also make it more likely to choose a healthier option than a quick processed snack like chips.
Glassware Over Plastic
Another simple swap to try is using glassware. When you reheat plastic, it is not good for you as it can create harmful toxins. These can then seep into your food and into your body. Have you ever heated up spaghetti sauce and noticed that it stains the plastic container? When that happens, that toxic chemical process is happening. Also, when refrigerating food in plastic containers, food tends to go bad more quickly than food in glass.
Set a Date
If you have one day out of the week that you can reserve specifically to meal prep, utilize it. If possible, knock out the weeks’ worth of prepping in one sitting so that you save time to focus on other tasks. Setting time aside for prepping each week can help you stay consistent. If you keep the day and time the same, you will likely create a habit.
One Meal
If prepping multiple meals sounds overwhelming, simply prep for one. Try prepping for just breakfast, lunch or dinner. Choose the meal that you feel is most important to your goals and go from there. If even that sounds overwhelming, scale down even more. You can start with an item of only one meal such as the vegetables or rice. Some individuals have found that batch cooking is best (i.e. chicken breast).
Freeze It
The last tip can be for the individuals who live alone. This can also be for people who like to have extra or don’t like to have the same thing for multiple days in a row. When you make extras, it doesn’t mean that food must go to waste. Most meals freeze very well for extended periods of time. This will help with the weeks that your schedule changes unexpectedly. Freezing food can help solve some of these problems caused from a busy schedule. Frozen items can also be quick to make in the oven or microwave when time is limited.
