Meal prep and planning.

MissMichelle1992

Do you prep your meals the day before? Ive been trying to do this because my S.O. doesnt eat the same as me. He eats two large meals a day and a good sized snack at night. I eat 3 balanced meals (very health, low calorie meals). I find that if I don't prep and plan ahead, I'll slack off and eat something bad for me. The only problem is, I dont always have time to do this. Does anyone have any ideas?

FYI: I looked for a thread to answer this question, none were satisfactory.

75poundgoal

I dont personally plan my meals because I work from home which makes it easier for me to eat healthy. My wife however preps and packages individual portions every Sunday for the week ahead. I sometimes wonder how good the food tastes by the time Friday comes around but it certainly helps her stay on track.

Queenmunchy

I make a few dishes on weekends and freeze them in portioned containers so I have a long time to eat them and we have a ton of variety.

melissa6771

I always plan. Prep and cook my food ahead of time. I cook enough for 4 days, and package it ready to go for me. If I had to do each day separately, I would fail.

kmsoucy457

Another fan of Sunday prep here. I make breakfast and lunches to take with me to work all week.
Meal prep helps me stay on track and frees up my evenings to work out, so it's a double bonus.

sllm1

I spend two to three hours every Sunday cooking our food for the week. I cook (literally) 15 pounds of chicken, some shredded and some grilled, rice, and veggies. Lots of food. Then I don't have to think about cooking all week. It's just there and there's no excuse to eat out or not eat properly.

Ruedora

I like easy food prep that I can manage every week. I think the key is to find something sustainable. Weekly food prep doesn't have to be 5 hours in your kitchen every Sunday. Just do your best and find something that works for you. I typically cook 3 dinner nights a week and make a little extra to have leftovers for lunch or to fill up my freezer. The rest of my food comes from the hour or so I spend setting myself up on the weekend.

1) I like to make a large batch meal for dinner once or twice a week. Something like this soup
http://www.cookincanuck.com/2011/11/hearty-chicken-stew-with-butternut-squash-quinoa-recipe/ or a chicken curry or a chili. I make enough that I can freeze about 10 ( 1 cup portions ). After a few weeks you have quite a stockpile and some good variety. Great for work lunches or fast dinners. It maybe takes an extra 15 mins to cut a few more veggies for a larger batch and to package it up at the end but since you'd be making something for dinner anyway, the reward far outweighs the extra few minutes it takes to execute.

2) Then on my Sunday, I start a pot of brown rice or quinoa, while that's cooking I grill enough chicken, fish, steak or a combo of whatever I have on hand, to take for lunches. Cut up and peel any veggies you have in the fridge. I like an assortment of raw veggies in a large container and 3 or 4 garden salads that are easy to grab on the go. By the time your rice is cooked and ready to go into containers, you've finished your food prep.

3) When we are putting groceries away we package up our almonds and crackers into serving sized bags to grab quickly and for the sake of ease I buy prepackaged cheese portions like Balderson aged cheddar. We wash our fruit (easiest and quickest are whole fruits like bananas, apples, oranges, grapes and berries but easy to switch it up with what is in season and what you like).

So when you open your fridge you have an assortment of health food options. Quick to grab veggies, salad and fruit, proteins and complex carbs. Mix and match your lunch or dinner until you run out and fill in with leftovers and freezer meals.

If i'm feeling ambitious I may make a batch of muffins or energy balls to add to the mix and both freeze well.

If you cant find time to do it all at once, that's ok. The important thing is to keep trying until you find something that works well for you.

Best of Luck!

Lizzy622

I usually just plan my dinners with lunch being leftovers from dinner the night before. For breakfasts, I basically cycle through 2 or 3 favorites depending on my mood and time factors. On Sunday I do my main shopping and prep as many veggies as possible for the week. The night before I make sure my meat (if having) is out of the freezer or cut up properly. I choose recipes with prep times under 30 minutes during the week so basically thin cut meat unless it goes in the cooker.( I have a timed pressure cooker so I can throw ingredients in the morning and come home to a cooked meal, as long as the power doesn't go out.)

rdl81

I do a mixture I have an office job. On Sunday I peep my lunch for 4 days but just the meat. Then I will cook microwave rice to go with it at work. I will make overnight oats the night before for breakfast and get scrambled eggs at work I used to take boiled eggs I would batch cook on Sunday for 4 days. In evening I will cook if pushed for time egg white omelette with some fillings

datsundriver87

I meal prep once a week all of my chicken and portion it out into small baggies, than eat chicken different ways every night with a can of veggies and a sweet potato, makes life simple and easy

Rick_Nelson81

I do similar; I cook food in bulk and store serving size portions in saran wrap and freeze them. I can mix and match to stay sane and still stay healthy and within my calorie limit. Plus it takes no brain power, so even when I'm exhausted, it's actually more work and time to eat bad, so it's like a triple win, or however many wins...

ncfitbit

Ruedora wrote: »

I like easy food prep that I can manage every week. I think the key is to find something sustainable. Weekly food prep doesn't have to be 5 hours in your kitchen every Sunday. Just do your best and find something that works for you. I typically cook 3 dinner nights a week and make a little extra to have leftovers for lunch or to fill up my freezer. The rest of my food comes from the hour or so I spend setting myself up on the weekend.

1) I like to make a large batch meal for dinner once or twice a week. Something like this soup
http://www.cookincanuck.com/2011/11/hearty-chicken-stew-with-butternut-squash-quinoa-recipe/ or a chicken curry or a chili. I make enough that I can freeze about 10 ( 1 cup portions ). After a few weeks you have quite a stockpile and some good variety. Great for work lunches or fast dinners. It maybe takes an extra 15 mins to cut a few more veggies for a larger batch and to package it up at the end but since you'd be making something for dinner anyway, the reward far outweighs the extra few minutes it takes to execute.

2) Then on my Sunday, I start a pot of brown rice or quinoa, while that's cooking I grill enough chicken, fish, steak or a combo of whatever I have on hand, to take for lunches. Cut up and peel any veggies you have in the fridge. I like an assortment of raw veggies in a large container and 3 or 4 garden salads that are easy to grab on the go. By the time your rice is cooked and ready to go into containers, you've finished your food prep.

3) When we are putting groceries away we package up our almonds and crackers into serving sized bags to grab quickly and for the sake of ease I buy prepackaged cheese portions like Balderson aged cheddar. We wash our fruit (easiest and quickest are whole fruits like bananas, apples, oranges, grapes and berries but easy to switch it up with what is in season and what you like).

So when you open your fridge you have an assortment of health food options. Quick to grab veggies, salad and fruit, proteins and complex carbs. Mix and match your lunch or dinner until you run out and fill in with leftovers and freezer meals.

If i'm feeling ambitious I may make a batch of muffins or energy balls to add to the mix and both freeze well.

If you cant find time to do it all at once, that's ok. The important thing is to keep trying until you find something that works well for you.

Best of Luck!

@Ruedora I found this extremely helpful! I've been slacking on the meal prep so I will try your ideas.