Here’s How You’re Wrong About Meal Prep

Planning and prepping meals ahead of time is one of the best habits to form when you want to improve your nutrition. So why do we resist it? Why don’t we do it regularly?

Here are the three most common complaints I hear and why they’re not as valid as you think. -----

1) You think meal prepping is something you

have to add to your already busy schedule.

WRONG.

You already do it.

Wait, what?

Every time you want to eat, you prep a meal. If you eat 3x each day, that’s 21 individual meal preps per week.

That’s just nuts. [Name the candidate who said that in a 2016 Republican primary debate.]

And that makes it utterly absurd to realize we see meal prep as something we have to add or make time for or “wrap our heads around.” It’s not.

It’s something we have to do more efficiently.

I do meal prep 1x per week for sure, and usually 2x per week. On the weeks I don’t? I struggle to stay the path.

I make super large quantities of a veggie-based dish and super large quantities of a protein. I eat from those dishes for at least 3 days. Sometimes longer.

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2) You think you have to measure, weigh and portion out your food, and ain’t nobody got time for that.

WRONG.

More important than creating perfectly balanced meals with the right portions, the right macros, and the right calorie count is consistency.

Consistency beats perfection every time.

Partly because perfection makes it less likely you’ll keep doing it, and partly because it’s what you do most of the time that matters.

For the average person, you can eat quite a bit of your healthy veggie-and-protein meals and the calorie count and macros will take care of themselves.

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3) You think meal prep involves hours and hours of shopping, washing and chopping veggies, prepping meat, searching for the best recipes, standing over the stove.

WRONG.

You live in an era where you can have literally anything done for you. That means you can buy your vegetables pre-chopped, your greens pre-washed, your meats de-boned* and filleted, and your healthy snacks pre-portioned, if you so choose.

Take full advantage!

If you enjoy the process of cooking - and it’s a very worthwhile undertaking, as you’ll deepen your relationship with whole foods as well as your appreciation for what goes into preparing nourishing foods - then by all means, don your sexy apron and get your ingredient prep on.

If you don’t like cooking, your grocery store has your back.

I don’t love chopping carrots. I don’t know why. I’m just weird like that, but I’VE GOT TO BE ME, so I buy them already julienned. Fancy!

They are perfect for a quick saute as they cook nice and fast and they’re a perfect addition to salad.

* Hahaha I said de-boned....snort...

MEAL PREP MADE EASY

1. Choose which day(s) you’ll do your meal prep.

2. SHOP

3. Buy 3 veggies for roasting, steaming, omelets, soups, or stir-fry

4. Buy salad greens

5. Buy 3 veggies for salad toppings and snacking

6. Buy 2 fruits for breakfasts, snacks, desserts

7. Buy 2-3 kinds of protein for roasting, pan-frying, or grilling

8. Cook. Portion out into separate containers - or don’t. Cover and refrigerate.

9. BOOM - DONE.

See? EASY.