I’ve had a lot of feedback from posts and Insta stories showing my prepped meals. We don’t meal prep for every day of our lives because we just don’t have that much focus… and we like playing around with new recipes all the time! But at the moment we are on full-on prep mode because Brian is working towards a weight goal, so we’ll prep every Sunday for the coming week for the next four weeks or so.
If you’ve never meal prepped, you should try it for a week. Even if you’re just interested in making something easy you can feed the family without a lot of fuss, meal prepping can save you money and time.
First off, what exactly is meal prepping?
‘Meal prepping’ is simply taking one day to make and portion enough meals for the rest of the week (or few days) so that you can save time by just popping your meal into the microwave before you eat. This system is ideal for people trying to lose or gain weight. Instead of worrying about what to make for dinner or if you’ll have to go to the store beforehand, you are ready to go!
Right now we’re only prepping lunches because Brian loves cooking dinner so much. We do similar meals for dinner, but we just make them each day. Our household pretty much revolves around the kitchen!
Brian is eating 6 oz. of lean protein, 1/2 c. simple carbs and 1/2 c. veggies for lunch every day.
I’m eating 4-5 oz. of lean protein, 1/3 c. simple carbs and 1/2 c. veggies for lunch.
Many people stick with chicken breast, brown rice and a veggie for their meal prep, but we quickly get tired of the same old same and we HAVE to switch and spice it up.
Some meals we enjoy:
•Taco-seasoned 99% lean ground turkey with rice and steamed spinach.
•Asian-inspired chicken, rice and steamed zucchini.
•Black beans, couscous and steamed green beans.
•Baked lemon pepper cod with brown rice and steamed zucchini.
•Taco seasoned 99% lean ground turkey over a mixed green salad with avocado, cilantro, black beans and salsa.
•Super Greens veggie-enriched pasta and 99% lean ground turkey in homemade marinara.
Don’t forget the snacks! We eat probably 2-3 snacks per day to keep our metabolism going strong and keep us full. I typically have one about two hours after meals because I get hungry again. For a full list of fantastic snack ideas, check out my Healthy Snacking post!
Eating super clean every single day can be a bit tough, which is why we allow ourselves one cheat meal per week. This means we plan for one meal, whether lunch or dinner, and we eat whatever we want. Pizza, burgers, wings etc! I’ve told you before that just like one good meal won’t make you lean, one bad meal won’t ruin your fitness journey.
By meal prepping, you can specifically calculate and keep track of the amount of protein, veggies, carbs, etc you’re putting into your body.
Try it out this week! Put on some music and get your favorite person to help you! As with most things, it’s so much easier with an accountability partner. Don’t forget to eat when you’re hungry. Just make sure what you’re putting into your body is healthy, clean fuel (the majority of the time).
