Secret Weapon: Meal Prep!

I agree! I don't like to hear excuses such as "I was busy" or "I didn't have anything made so I just ate___(insert something unhealthy here)___" ! If you know you are going to be busy do something about it. Make better choices ahead of time so you don't have to worry about it later. Don't allow yourself to get stuck in a bad situation. Excuses are just there to make yourself feel better about a bad decision.

You've discovered a great tip for your success. The more involved we can be with our food prep the more we truly know about what we are consuming. Your favorites sound yummy too!

I plan our weekly meals, which occasionally change. If I know what I am making that night I am able to put it in my dinner log before I even get to dinner so I know more about my calorie in/outtake I have.

I absolutely, positively suck at planning meals. And I did the exact same thing, stressy job, just shove down some energy food to keep my mind active, while I actually sit at a desk all day being a tech support monkey.

For me it worked both ways, I started this a week and a half ago and the simple fact that I HAVE TO log everything I eat keeps me constantly aware of what I eat.

And it forced me to plan better, to make sure I have healthy food with me (or buy healthy food instead of snacky food at work)

I tried it once or twice, to actually fill in the meal I was going to eat that evening right when I got up in the morning. It forced me to say "well, I noted this down, I better get my *kitten* in gear, go to the shop, get this healthy food and get cooking"

I'm not a great cook either, but it's simple things like peeling potatoes the evening before. Or when you're done doing the dishes (which miraculously happen every evening now, I swear, I'm changing) you pick out food for the next day.

For example, tomorrow I will have the rest of my little potatoes, I picked out lean pure ground beef from the fridge to make myself a lovely burger. And I will slice up some raw bell pepper to go with it.

Done..meal..ready, and in hindsight it took me less than 5 minutes to think about it.

Like everything on here, makes me wonder why I haven't done these things to begin with.

My absolute favourite thing to make though is a grilled chicken fruit salad.

I get some fruits from the kitchen and cube them up, I add some bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, cucumber (whatever I have laying around and looks healthy) And throw that all in a big deep plate.

Then I grill a piece of chicken, no oil, no butter, just a piece of chicken breast fillet and a cast iron grilling skillet. And let that sear nicely, (salt and pepper to taste)

After grilling I let the chicken rest for a few minutes, then cut it up in thin strips, drape those over the fruit salad, add a dash of lemon juice, and done.

It's sweet, it's savoury, you're not depriving yourself, and fruit is awesome.

This week I roasted a large chicken and stuffed it with onion, celery and carrots (this really makes the meat flavorful). Then I took it off the bones and stored my whole chicken breasts in one big container and all the dark meat in smaller pieces in another. I've been using it all week in tons of different recipes. My husband also grilled up some extra meat on the weekend to use in his lunches for work the next week. Saves time, helps with food prep.