Cutting down on 'prep-time' nightly?

Koldnomore

Hi all and thanks for the awesome replies in advance

I eat pretty well the same stuff every day for breakfast and lunch but I find myself just taking SOOOO long for prepping my things for work the next day that I don't ever seem to have time to relax anymore. I've been at it for about 3 months but I just can't seem to do it in less than about an hour a night so I am hoping for some suggestions to make it go faster (if it's even possible)

Here is what I do:
overnight oats = I have to weigh out my yogurt, milk, fruit, oats, seeds then cut the fruit and put it all together and in the fridge.
salad = weight out my lettuce, spinach, tomato, cuke, carrot, dressing, peel my eggs, cut all the veggies and put it in a container.
cottage cheese or yogurt for snack has to be weighed and put in a container + add honey or pepper
veggie stix = wash, peel , cut and measure dip (hummus or PB)

I was trying to think how to make this faster but faced with problems...
-cut veggies (tomato, cuke) left in containers on their own so I can just grab it will get very gross and soggy quickly
-carrot and celery sticks left in water get waterlogged, left bagged get dry / slimey
-cut salad gets brown
-peeled eggs don't last as long.
-spinach stays fresher in larger containers properly packed.

I supposed I could buy a million containers and portion dressing, PB, oats and seeds, yogurt and cottage cheeze..maybe cut and freeze the fruit in baggies (that might add to the sweetness also)?

Ideally I would just like to do 'something' on a weekend night for the rest of the week to save a bit of time from weighing /measuring / cutting and recording all my food during the week.

What do you guys/ gals do?

rubyautumn4

I have this problem too! I have a million containers though so that helps. I portion out the yogurt, cottage cheese and hummus in advance so that helps. I also eat more portable fruits and veggies at work - bananas, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, grapes, clementines, apples, etc which cuts down on prep time quite a bit. Grabbing a few carrots from a bag of baby carrots is easier for me than peeling and chopping up regular carrots.

I try to do the prep while I am making dinner so I don't feel like I just live in the kitchen. Still takes up time though!

Hoping there's more ideas in this thread!

roachhaley

stop weighing your lettuce, lol...

Koldnomore

stop weighing your lettuce, lol...

This is a cycle that I would rather not get into. I am just starting on this path and being honest with myself is important. I am not ready yet to just stop weighing things because that will just lead to more justifications to not weigh other things

roachhaley

stop weighing your lettuce, lol...

This is a cycle that I would rather not get into. I am just starting on this path and being honest with myself is important. I am not ready yet to just stop weighing things because that will just lead to more justifications to not weigh other things

It's lettuce. It really doesn't matter how much you have.

Iwillbe130

buy a slap chop or something similar to cut down on your cutting time.

preaser

I buy bags of precut romaine lettuce. So easy. Can you buy a big bag on Sunday and prepackage your salads for the week at once? Good luck. I agree it's a lot of work.

karenmi

stop weighing your lettuce, lol...

This is a cycle that I would rather not get into. I am just starting on this path and being honest with myself is important. I am not ready yet to just stop weighing things because that will just lead to more justifications to not weigh other things

I tend to agree with not weighing your lettuce! Carrots maybe, but don't get too obsessed with the little things or you'll drive yourself nuts. Are you going to weigh lettuce for the rest of your life? Probably not. The only veggies I weigh are carrots, I never weigh spinach or cucumbers or tomatoes and I've been successful. I did not get fat eating these veggies.......

ErinBeth7

I would take some time out like Sunday evening or afternoon to spend prepping food for the next week, two weeks, month, whatever you prefer. Freeze some if you need to. It is a pain to defrost, but at least it won't take you an hour every night prep food for the next. All you'd have to do is take it out of the freezer and let it thaw over night. That sounds way easier!

75Juniper

I plan my meals for a week at a time and portion out what won't spoil so that I don't have to waste every evening scooping food into different containers. The millions of containers helps, too.

You're also on the right track with freezing things. Your celery and carrots won't get dry if you put a damp paper towel in the baggie. Peeled eggs don't last *as* long, but they will last a few days. I'll make scrambled eggs and freeze them. If I make a casserole for my lunch, I freeze it into single servings and just grab one on my way out the door.

Eventually you'll get into a rhythm and it won't take so much time. Continue to be creative and you'll get your evenings back.

NiagaraCheryl

It may be more expensive, but you can buy individual yoghurt and possibly cottage cheese (not sure as I don't eat the stuff). I personally don't log veggies on MFP since they're so low in calories anyway. Agree about not weighing lettuce.

You could up a couple days worth of celery in water instead of a week's worth and it shouldn't be too bad.
You can also buy already prepared carrots and salad. Saves a ton of time.

If you have access to a microwave at work you could buy a microwave egg cooker and cook them there - takes about 45 seconds. I do this quite often and make myself an egg mcmuffin for lunch (whole wheat english muffin, fat free mozzerella slice, egg).

megteg

I'm not sure I have any advice, but I just want to say GOOD JOB doing all that work so consistently! Such a great habit! Also, I'm following for tips/advice myself

My best ideas would be to maybe stop by the grocery store more often and purchase pre-portioned foods (like the peanut butter/ hummus), or pre-cut veggies. That may be more expensive but perhaps a few days a week, it'd be worth the extra time?

Otherwise, invest in LOTS of plastic baggies, and pre-weight all your dry foods, ie oatmeal, seeds/nuts, and stick in your pantry. Do the same with your PB/ hummus (just make sure to close those baggies well!) :flowerforyou:

BrettWithPKU

Over the time you've been doing this don't you now have a fairly good idea about how big your measured servings are?

I don't measure anything anymore. I did at first. Now I approximate. Still getting the same results.

You hear people talk all the time about dieting as a "lifestyle change". Are you really going to spend the rest of your life measuring every single thing you eat?

infamousmk

If you're not ready to eyeball your produce, you're not going to be able to shave time off your prep.

hsmaldo

What if you did two days of salad/veggie prep every other night and on the "off" night, you did 2 days of oatmeal, yogurt, hummus prep. While it's not 'night before fresh', it would save time...

krnlcsf

My suggestions would definitely be to buy several containers (maybe even colour coded for each day of the week so you just pick up the pink ones on monday, blue tuesday etc...). Weighing the cottage cheese/yogurt/dips whatever ahead of time will not affect the goodness of it. And seeing as those things keep in the fridge for at least a week or even 2, you could easily do up that many containers worth.

Veggies are also simple to pack ahead of time, but maybe just do them twice per week if you don't like the slimy or dry problems. So then you're just packing and cutting on Sundays and Wednesdays perhaps. I find I will only eat celery if i pre-cut the entire stalk and keep in a container. I just put maybe 2 tbsp of water in the container to keep the moisture, and give it a shake every day to re-wet the stalks near the top, and I find it will keep for about a week. Also the suggestion of grape tomatoes and baby carrots is a good one... such a time saver. And the carrots will last about a week pre-packed with just a small amount of liquid (since that's how they come in the package from the stores).

And perhaps if you have everything pre-cut you will save time assembling your salad... just put your salad container on the scale and tare it, add the lettuce and then tare the scale, then add the next thing and tare, next and tare etc... So you're weighing everything but not all separately.

imhungry2012

-You could pack your lunch with the egg still in the shell and peel it when you are at work getting ready to eat your lunch.
-Wrap portioned carrots and celery in a damp paper towel (keeps moist w/o waterlogging and will hold for a couple days)
-Bagged baby spinach and/or arugula are much more resiliant than iceburg or romaine and do not need chopping!
-Use cherry or grape tomatoes - no cutting needed
-Buy portioned cottage cheese or yogurt when on sale (even when it's not, your time may be worth a little extra)
-By low maintenance fruits -bananas, apples, cherries, grapes

I have a lot of tupperware b/c I too bring bfast and lunch to work most days. Here are some things I do:
Greek yogurt 5.3-6 oz containers of whatever brand is on sale
I portion out an entire bag of oven roasted almonds (24 nuts each portion) into small baggies so I can grab them and add them to my "snack bag" when I am packing my lunch.
I leave dressing at the fridge at work or portion it in my smallest tupperware and mix at work
Cook a crockpot of chicken breast on Sunday - shred - use for lunch or dinner throughout the week in wraps, salads or on it's own with a side
Cook sweet potatoes on Sunday, mash and have for the week
Measuring using cups is faster for me than weighing for most items - I pretty much only weigh meat and cheese
Whatever I cook for dinner usually ends up being the next days lunch which combines my efforts


Good luck!!

2boypeas

Aside from what has already been suggested, try prepping on Sundays and Wednesdays- food would only be stored for 2 days at a time.

lporter229

When I serve dinner, I portion an extra serving of everything right into containers as is I was serving another person. This is lunch for tomorrow. I also make very good use of my vacuum sealer. I portion soups and stews and such directly into the bags and freeze. On days when i don't have leftovers for lunch, I just grab a bag from the freezer and leave it sit out in my office so it's thawed by lunch time (or I pull it into the fridge the night before).

For my breakfasts, I keep things like frozen waffles, peanut butter and cereal at work and throw it together when I get there. i usually add fresh fruit of some variety.

Koldnomore

I tend to agree with not weighing your lettuce! Carrots maybe, but don't get too obsessed with the little things or you'll drive yourself nuts. Are you going to weigh lettuce for the rest of your life? Probably not. The only veggies I weigh are carrots, I never weigh spinach or cucumbers or tomatoes and I've been successful. I did not get fat eating these veggies.......

Unfortunately I didn't get fat eating crap, never eat fast food, chocolate bars or much processed food as I cook just about everything myself and always have. I got fat eating 'good' food, just WAY WAY too much of it and while I am definitely working on not being so anal I still have to weigh it for now. Maybe when I hit my goal I will be more comfortable with a 'good portion' but at the moment I can honestly say no. I actually 'tried' eyeballing food one day..I went over about 900 calories.

Thanks everyone for the ideas! I'll be going to buy some more containers this weekend!