Meal prepping

taylorjgarner

Beginner here! I am doing excellent in the gym, I lift heavy and do some cardio 5 days a week. Of course diet gets me. I don't think I have the mindset to meal prep for breakfast lunch and dinner...would it be beneficial to meal prep all your lunches for a week? It just seems so boring to have the same thing every day for every meal...? Any advice, more importantly simple meal prep recipes? I'm looking to lose weight.

RetroPolkaDot

I'm able to stick to it better if I prep my food beforehand. I usually prepare lunch for 3 or 4 days at a time that way I'm not stuck eating the same thing throughout the week. It changes every 3 or 4 days which I find okay. I'm not a fan of the usual lunch type meals so I typically make a dinner like dish that I can reheat in the microwave.
I'm able to have a different dinner most nights. If dinner is a struggle for you, you might try making a few meals that can be frozen and then mix in freshly prepared meals on days when you might have more time.

kirstinlee

I used to think that meal preppers were nutters, and that I could never stick to it. Then I tried it. I love knowing what I'm going to be eating every day, and I actually really enjoy eating the same thing over and over. Sometimes its nice to not have to think about putting your meals together, and just... eat.

jacklifts

I have never been able to meal prep in the caloric sense. But I do use a couple of strategies to improve my dietary organization:

1. I allot a certain calorie count for each meal I eat. For example, I know like 800-900 calories for dinner. So I just log that in ahead of time. Then when it comes time to eat dinner, I just stay within that calorie limit. It helps me figure out how many snacks I can have or additional meals if I want them.

2. I eat a lot of chicken. So every week or two, I'll grill 7-10lbs of chicken thighs. It's not meal prepping the traditional way, but I know when I'm looking for something to eat, I'll have that already available.

trisH_7183

The easiest route is to figure out what you like to eat,then try prepping a couple a couple of those. Hard boiled eggs to eat or add to salads,Frittata can be made,then frozen in your portion size. Eggs work for any meal.
Soup can be made in slow cooker or on the stove. Cool,portion & freeze.

It's easy to bake chicken parts of your choice,along with a few potatoes. Have chicken & a potato for meal.......make home fries with Pam,using the cooked potatoes.Use steamable micro veggies.
Cook & portion your choice of lean ground turkey,ground beef.
Cook your choice of dried beans.....add cooked meat & veggies for chili,soup etc.Add to salad,make bean salad.....it keeps in fridge.
Read recipe threads on MFP......look at skinny taste for ideas with nutrition info.
With meat cooked,you can chop a salad while veggies heat in micro.....your meal is ready! Pat

KateTii

I meal prep but I use plastic zip lock bags instead of takeaway containers/tupperware. I bag protein separate from vegetables separate from carbs (sweet potato/rice/pasta etc.)

Everything gets frozen and then I can mix & match the bags depending on what I feel like eating. It gives me heaps of control over what i'm eating and gives me more options than before. It also means I can just prepare vegetables or just prepare some more meat when i'm running low - I don't have to spend 4 hours doing everything at once.

feisty_bucket

By meal prep, do you mean making everything in advance?

I don't do that, but I have "prepped" in the sense of I have my routine meals, and I know exactly what goes in them (re: calories and macros), and how to make 'em really fast and efficiently.

Queenmunchy

I prep and freeze. I make a lot of one pot meals (soup, stew, chili, curry) in all different variations and I freeze them in individual portions so I can just pull one out and pack it for lunch or whatever. When you make just two dishes, you end up with maybe 16 portions. It's easy to just keep going and make 1-2 dishes every weekend to keep your variety high.

I freeze a lot of other things that aren't one pot meals (breakfast sandwiches, burritos, egg bakes, any muffin tin recipe, meatballs and nuggets, bagged up cooked chicken/steak, cauliflower rice. and all of my sauces - marinara, enchilada, BBQ), but they're the easiest to start with.

We typically have some kind of cooked meat in the fridge anyway (leftovers) and I usually have hard boiled eggs as well.

cross2bear

I make a weekly menu, so I know whats going to be on my plate from one day to the next, mainly for dinners. Then because there is only two of us at home now, I can take any dinner leftovers for lunch. Sometimes though, I get caught up in other things and we end up having pizza for dinner, but thats pretty rare.

puffbrat

I don't think meal prepping means you have to eat the same thing several days in a row. I think it is more about making whatever you are going to eat in advance so you can plan your calories for the day/week. It also allows you to quickly grab the prepped food instead of feeling overwhelmed by the time it takes to put everything together and grabbing something quick and less healthy/higher calorie like fast food.

feisty_bucket wrote: »

By meal prep, do you mean making everything in advance?

I don't do that, but I have "prepped" in the sense of I have my routine meals, and I know exactly what goes in them (re: calories and macros), and how to make 'em really fast and efficiently.

The only real meal prep I do is that my husband and I typically chose two dinner meals per week and eat leftovers the rest of the time. So the leftovers are "prepped" meals. We eat a fair variety of dinners, not just the same things every week (I think our list of options is around 30 right now and we're always look for new ideas).

I do find it useful to pre-log my day as best as possible either the night before or that morning. That way when I change things up with a different breakfast or lunch, or when I know dinner will be higher or lower calorie that night, I can adjust the rest of my food to accommodate the changes. For instance last week's dinners were 425 and 550 calories, but this week's dinners are 300-400 calories. Since the dinners are lower calorie, I am indulging in different higher calorie lunches this week rather than my normal salad. This is also helpful when I know I will want dessert.

laur357

I think there are a lot of ways you can help yourself prep without going all in. For me it's usually about planning more so than prepping (though I'm always in awe of QueenMunchy's posts) - I try to plan out what I'm going to eat so I can buy appropriate groceries and have a rough idea of calories. I also try to make enough to use leftovers or make extra proteins when I cook dinner so I have a base for my lunch.
If I make tacos on Sunday, I'll make extra seasoned beef/turkey/chicken and eat taco salad for a few lunches and whole wheat quesadillas + salsa the other days. I might also roast extra veggies and eat some on a sandwich and some in grain bowl or with pasta. It generally takes less than ten minutes to pack them up.