Herbalife or Meal Prepping

miss_bianka1

I want to start having a healthier lifestyle and get fit. I'm going to start working out little by little. I know with that I need to start eating healthier. Should I start HerbaLife or Meal Prepping? Can I get your opinions? And if you to say Meal Prepping, and recipe ideas for a beginner? Thanks

bpetrosky

Skip the Herbalife. Make your own meals.

Use MFP to set your calorie target, eat that much.

Use sites like eatthismuch.com or skinnytaste.com to find recipes in the range you need.

H_Ock12

Meal Prepping within your calorie goals. A portion of meat (baked or grilled) with a veggie or two of your choice (frozen veggies are easy and inexpensive). A bowl with meat, rice, beans, cheese, salsa, etc... is easy and convenient.

kenyonhaff

Yeah skip HerbaLife - meal replacement shakes don't teach you how to eat actual food. Nothing wrong with them once in a while, mind you.

I'd encourage you to meal prep, but I'm not that kind of "prepper". I tend to eat a portioned controlled breakfast (as in cereal or eggs usually), a frozen lunch, a couple of protein bars or other portion-controlled snacks like yogurt, and measure out a portion of whatever my family is having. I don't really prep much myself.

aevea

meal prepping...ive done all the shakes and the only weight i lost was money from my pockets and perhaps abit of my sanity?
powdered shakes work for some...not for me unfortunately. I get hungry and cranky with only consuming those.
- -
Eating healthier and blending your own shakes(from fruits; veggies;protein powder; seeds) is a lot cheaper and tastes better.

Jriggs46615

Another vote for meal prepping over Herbalife. My SIL and her parents did Herbalife, lost weight, and gained it all back, I'm pretty sure. I don't think it really taught them anything, and the ingredients don't seem to be the healthiest.

If you have time on the weekends, you can make foods you like for the meals where you tend to have the least time, and freeze them. For me, it's breakfast. I need a good breakfast to get me off on the right foot. I have found that, if I don't have a solid breakfast, I will eat everything I see later in the day.

To that point, I will spend a couple hours on Sundays making things like breakfast tacos or banana pancakes, etc, and then separating them into servings, and freezing. It makes it a breeze during the week and keeps me on track.

There are several sites that I love, but Oh She Glows may be my favorite. While I'm not vegan, her recipes are practical, easy, and the majority don't include disgusting items like tofu. Copy those recipes into the recipe builder on this site, and you'll have it available in the future.

snickerscharlie

Meal Prepping. Way cheaper than Herbalife and your money isn't going to line the pockets of MLMers.

Also, fresh ingredients taste waaaaaaay better, not to mention you actually get to *eat* stuff, like, you know, the way your body was intended to.

ashdawg8790

Another vote here for meal prepping!
I always get all my food ready the day before I go back to work, and some things are always the same while other things always change.
For me, the constants are portioning out little containers of protein powder for my breakfast (I currently use Orgain vanilla protein powder from Sam's Club, which I like to mix with Oikos Triple Zero greek yogurt), hard-boiled eggs, tuna made up the way my husband likes it, homemade jerky, and salads for my lunches. What changes up is usually some kind of casserole or low-carb dish I can spread out into several meals, as I also feed my husband the same things. I really like the recipes from BudgetBytes, but there are several good sites out there - most of my recipes come from Pinterest, which you can search by any kind of category you want. Personal favorites include homemade pizza, jalapeno popper chicken, bacon cheeseburger casserole, chili, and quesadillas. Meal prepping is really the only way we can stay in budget, and I can control my calorie intake much easier that way - eating variations of the same thing (at least during the days that I work), make it easier for me, as my job is very sedentary, leaving a lot less leeway. On my days at home, I can eat a much more diverse diet as I am significantly more active.
I usually spend around an hour, maybe an hour and a half making enough food for three days, but that is all three meals plus snacks for both my husband and myself, as I work in two-day blocks with days off in-between.
My diary is open if you wanted to take a peek - you can tell which days I work!

beanz744

google

300 calorie easy meals
400 calorie easy meals
500 calorie easy meals

there r tons

Sabine_Stroehm

Definitely meal prepping. It doesn't have to be complicated stuff. Just eat nutritious food, at a deficit. Move more. Save your money.

toxikon

Meal prepping is awesome. I bought 150 reusable tupperware containers from Amazon for like $40. I decide on recipes throughout the week, then make my grocery list and go shopping on Saturday. Then on Sunday I meal-prep!

I do 2-3 meals, each one with 12-24 servings. I cook throughout the morning/afternoon with the TV on for entertainment. I keep a notepad close to write down the grams of each ingredients for each recipe so I can input them into the MFP Recipe creator. When everything is out of the oven and cooled down a bit, I portion out servings into the tupperware. Then I input my recipe, calculate serving size based on number of tupperwares, then enjoy meals all week long! I throw a good portion of them into the freezer so they stay fresh.

I use recipes that reheat well like quiches, casseroles, stews, chili, pasta dishes, soups, curries, etc. I just find any recipe that sounds appealing and make it. I use AllRecipes a lot.

lemurcat12

I think meal prepping is just planning ahead so ingredients are on hand and maybe making some things (like lunches or some quick dinners if you know you will need them) are available. I find that helpful, although I don't really make it into a thing.

Part of what I mean by that is that I don't find it useful to focus on actual meal plans or recipes. I buy things that I know I will need for the week (basically the meats I plan to use, and a lot of vegetables, focusing on what's in season). Lots of things are just staples, like olive oil, dried pasta if you use it, canned beans and tomatoes, stuff like that (spices, of course).

I have a pretty standard breakfast (it involves eggs plus whatever vegetables I have on hand always, so I always make sure I have those things). I often prep lunch ahead or pack it with dinner stuff when cooking dinner. For dinners I will have taken the meat/fish I plan to eat of of the freezer or otherwise have it in the refrigerator ready to go (unless I'm having eggs or tofu/lentils or have made some bean based dish ahead, as beans often take longer -- usually I do meat/fish, though). I occasionally will do a slow cooker thing for dinner, but more often I use my slow cooker as part of my making lunch ahead process. Anyway, I have the meat/fish ready to go and then make sides usually just based on the vegetables that are available in my refrigerator. This is something I learned to do well when I started getting a CSA box and needed to learn to use up what I had before it went bad and is, IMO, a helpful skill, and I really advise being flexible and not thinking you need to run out to get specific ingredients to fit a specific recipe.

Often if I want to get excited about dinner I will look at recipes for the dish I have in mind (or the meat I'm having or some of the veg I know I have on hand) or else just skim seasonal recipes on a blog I like like 101cookbooks or look up ideas for a particular vegetable in something like Greene on Greens.

More often I just cook pretty simply and get inspired by what I have or something I see or some idea I have and want to try.

Don't know if any of this is helpful, but back when I started cooking more at home (years ago), trying to cook to a specific meal plan would always seem too complicated or too much work, so realizing this lazy way worked as well -- and is every bit as healthy as meals are still centered around protein and vegetables -- helped a lot.

Having super quick ideas in mind like a pasta with shrimp and lots of misc veg with olive oil and pine nuts or a stir fry with lean beef and lots of veg on rice or some such is also easy and perfectly healthy too.

tinkerbellang83

Meal prepping is certainly better on your pocket and you will learn more about improving your eating habits as is echoed above. I wrote a brief blog when I settled into my meal prep/plan which might help: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/tinkerbellang83/view/beginners-guide-to-meal-planning-prep-916154

Ready2Rock206

100% meal prep. Don't waste your money on junk like herbalife.

kommodevaran

Why does it have to be anything in particular? Do whatever suits your work and social life, your schedule, preferences, allergies, cooking skills and equipment.

I like to plan my meals and my shopping, and I shop twice weekly and "cook" fresh 6 days a week - I don't usually use recipes, I just do whatever needs to be done with some protein, some starch, and some veg that go together for dinner, and with whatever I have planned or is thrown at me for the other two meals. Cheap, easy, tasty, healthy, flexible. I have no other requirements.