Meal prep ideas

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KiaLove09
KiaLove09 Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I was looking through Pinterest (I'm totally addicted to it lol) and saw that some ppl lose weight faster when they have weekly meal preps. I was wondering if there's anyone who has started meal prepping and if it's worth it!! I went to SAMs club and bought a bunch of fruits/veggies, chicken breast and fish...I'm just stuck on how to put my meals together. Any ideas or suggestions? Let me know

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  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited February 2016
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    By meal prep, do you mean spending a day making all the foods for a week and putting them in the fridge?
    If frozen, just write down a weekly menu. Protein, complex carbs, and veggies for dinners. Take out the night before to defrost.
  • KiaLove09
    KiaLove09 Posts: 5 Member
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    Well I was going to cook everything in one day and prep for the week but I'd rather do the weekly menu instead and defrost the night before. Thanks Janet!!
  • fittestpal
    fittestpal Posts: 94 Member
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    Fitmencook.com you can adjust the ratios for your goals
  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
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    We prep because it makes it easier to have the right things available quickly. Especially cooking our meats ahead of time.
  • sanfromny
    sanfromny Posts: 770 Member
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    My husband and I try to bar-b-q every weekend. We buy chicken, steak, and fish (salmon does great on the grill) along with maybe some corn and asparagus and a few sweet potatoes. That way we have plenty of meats ready and just throw a side or two with it. Still gives us the ability to choose our meals day to day but feels like we have variety
  • madube84
    madube84 Posts: 135 Member
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    I usually cook all my meats and beans in bulk, store it in servings in the freezer, then pull it out the week I want to eat it. Chillis and chicken strews also freeze very well. Breads and cakes as well. If you don't have a stand alone freezer, I highly recommend it - best $200 i have spent.
    E.g. I will cook 5pounds of chicken breast, split into 10 containers that are labeled with the number of servings and size per serving, and throw that in the freezer. If i want chicken breast for the week I jut grab it out of the freezer instead of making it from scratch. OR buy a cake figure out servings, cut and freeze in zip locks so I can take one slice at a time. I have to wait for it to thaw, so I am less likely to go IN on more than necessary.
    I usually plan 3- 4 days of meals at a time and log everything in MFP ahead of time. I buy my veggies fresh every week. So I end up building my meals by pulling from the freezer and adding whatever veggies I want and making daily containers and putting those in the fridge.
    I am less likely to eat junk if the food is already prepped and ready. I just grab and throw in the microwave.
  • kate2004rock
    kate2004rock Posts: 223 Member
    edited February 2016
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    KiaLove09 wrote: »
    So I was looking through Pinterest (I'm totally addicted to it lol) and saw that some ppl lose weight faster when they have weekly meal preps. I was wondering if there's anyone who has started meal prepping and if it's worth it!! I went to SAMs club and bought a bunch of fruits/veggies, chicken breast and fish...I'm just stuck on how to put my meals together. Any ideas or suggestions? Let me know

    I have found that I don't have to make last-minute, not-so-great choices when I have controlled ingredients and portions packed in my lunch bag (with snacks too!). I like to spend 2-3 hours on Sunday afternoon making everything.(I also scour Pinterest for ideas!) Here's a few of my favorites:

    1) Low-fat homemade meatballs. Can be put with spaghetti squash, or wrapped in Bibb Lettuce with a little blue cheese and buffalo sauce.
    2) Chicken and couscous with some roasted veggies.
    3) A good old tuna and cucumber sandwich or turkey wrap.
    4) Try your favorite comfort-food casseroles with low-fat/light ingredients (like tuna noodle with whole wheat pasta, fat free cream of mushroom soup, and lots of veggies!) PERFECT for lunch!
  • CTRLplusZ
    CTRLplusZ Posts: 23 Member
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    I've been "meal prepping" for years simply for convenience. I work 11 to 8 so having my food ready to go in advance makes life simple. I spend a few hours on Sunday cooking and packaging.

    Basic weeks I'll just go simple with chicken breasts and steamed veggies with rice or potato. Salad with tuna is a go to lunch as well. Fruit salads and protein bars for snacks or nut butter with rice cakes. I do take time to cook breakfast every day, usually eggs or pancakes.

    This week I did chili for lunch and chicken shepards pie for dinner.

    Next week I am making stuffed peppers for lunch and garlic beef and broccoli for dinner.

  • firephoenix8
    firephoenix8 Posts: 102 Member
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    I don't "meal prep" in the ordinary sense. I cook a meal, that generally has four servings, pack up three of them in individual servings in the fridge and eat the fourth. I plan this ahead of time using pepperplate.com and my local grocery store chain's grocery list, including figuring out which days of the week I'll have time to cook and how to make it work so I don't eat the fame thing twice on one day. I use eating well.com mostly for recipes - their calorie counts, time estimates etc are pretty accurate and the food tastes good. The biggest secret for me is the three sets of interchangeable Rubbermaid containers I bought - never searching for four of the same size container or lids to fit the container makes packing simple.
  • KiaLove09
    KiaLove09 Posts: 5 Member
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    Thanks guys for the tips!! I'll go check out pepperplate.com

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