What’s the deal with meal prepping?
I’m going to start this out with a truth bomb that I would like everyone to acknowledge: When we are hungry, rushed, and tired, we don’t make good food choices. There’s no way around it. It’s just easier to grab a protein bar or bag of chips when you’re rushed and running out the door. It’s easier and more satisfying, our brain tells us at the time, to grab a handful of cookies than measure out an appropriate amount of nuts. When we’re hangry - so hungry that we get angry or crabby - chances are, we’re not reaching for a bunch of kale or in the mood to whip up a beautiful grain bowl. We will eat what’s available and what we can get in our mouths with the least amount of effort.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about or have never felt this way, either you have your life together way more than I do, or you are not paying attention to your eating habits closely enough.
Every client I have worked with so far has expressed these behaviors to me to some extent. Sometimes it takes a while for them to admit it, but usually, after unpeeling a few layers of the onion that is called life, we find ‘em. Our actions when we’re hangry are not the best and they’re not usually something to be proud of. For me, I find myself apologizing A LOT more for things I do and say when I’m hangry!
There’s a reason for this. We need to eat regularly to keep our blood sugar from getting too low. Low blood sugar is a signal the body gives the brain to go find food because it needs more energy (sugar, more accurately, glucose). But if that signal is ignored for prolonged periods, such as at work or when you’re running around checking things off your to-do list and you forget to eat, eventually the hunger comes out, and it’s not pretty!
The goal should be to keep your blood sugar as stable as possible throughout the day. But that’s something I consider a more advanced goal because the first step is usually to eat healthy foods. If you’re eating junk all day, you’re going to be spiking and then drastically plunging your blood sugar anyway, so in that case, we need to actually fix the problem first - eat healthy foods.
How do you do this?
This is where meal planning and meal prepping come into play. I know, I know, probably not your idea of a fun Sunday afternoon! It can be time-consuming and it usually causes a giant mess in your kitchen because you’re prepping several dishes at the same time. BUT there are so many amazing benefits! Plus, how does that saying go…if you don’t make time to be healthy, you will be forced to spend time being ill.
Let me break this down for you into a more manageable plan. With a few tweaks, you may likely find that you have more time throughout the week when you simply spend an hour or two prepping ahead of time. As a bonus, you will save money! Who wants to waste money on veggies that go bad or on processed foods that cause you to overeat (news flash - processed foods are designed to make you eat more.).
Check out these tips and tricks:
Plan your meals. I like to plan out my dinners for the week on Sundays before I go grocery shopping. Take into account any evenings that you have activities planned or that you might be working late or just not able to sit down and eat. Those are great days to mark as “Leftovers Days”. Whatever you do, plan for one or two leftover days, preferably at the end of the week, to keep food from going bad. This is why most standard meal plans you pull off the Internet fail, they don’t account for leftovers. If you have a big family, that might not be needed, but far and wide, most people will greatly benefit from this. Another option may be to use leftovers for lunches throughout the week. Try it out and then plan accordingly.
Keep in mind the amount of time you will have each evening for the actual cooking of the meal and then the eating of that meal. Busy weeknights are not the time to be trying new or complicated dishes. Do that on the days when you have some time so you don’t feel rushed and can hear yourself think. The simple recipes that you know well are going to save you a ton of time and energy!
Make a shopping list based on your meal plan for the week. This seems obvious, but stick to your list! Go through your fridge and pantry before you go shopping and get rid of anything past its prime. Take stock of the staples you need to restock and then double and triple-check that everything you need for your recipes goes on your list. Last-minute grocery runs cause frustration and waste time!
Here’s something that is commonly missed when making your grocery list - plan for snacks. Snack time is a time when many people with the best intentions get derailed. Then they feel guilty. Then they feel like they already did the damage, so why not finish off the cupcakes or bag of chips? It’s a vicious spiral and it doesn’t take long to get sucked in. So if you know you’re a snacker, frequently hit up the vending machines, or eat when you are bored, angry, tired, or something else, do yourself a favor and be prepared. Have a bunch of healthy (and yummy!) snacks on hand for when cravings hit.
Plan meals that can be prepped together. What does that mean? It means planning recipes that use some of the same ingredients or that you will eat on different days. Grain bowls are a fabulous example of this. You can prep all the different components ahead of time - grains, roasted veggies, lentils, beans, cut-up veggies, sauce, ect. Put them all in separate containers and then each day, you can assemble your lunch or dinner exactly how you want to, which could be different each day. Maybe one of the days you put some of those components into a wrap or on top of a salad. Multiple ingredients are used on multiple days. Easy.
Another example of this would be something like tacos. You could do all the prep work including the chopping ahead of time so you just have to assemble the tacos that evening. And then the next day, put all the fixings on a salad for an instant taco salad.
Roasting a big batch of veggies ahead of time would be another way to prepare healthy foods ahead of time. You can put roasted veggies on so many different things, like the tacos or grain bowls I just mentioned. Or eat them as-is with different seasonings.
Never underestimate how many things you can put in a tortilla or a wrap!
Utilize your freezer. Some recipes make large batches. If it’s just a few of you eating, make the recipe as is and freeze the leftovers. Or, if you do have a large family, double the recipe so you have leftovers to freeze. This works really well for soups and many bean dishes, but I bet you would be surprised by how many things freeze well!
When you are chopping veggies, maybe chop up some extras either to munch on throughout the week or to freeze, instant frozen veggies! You can simply pull out one of these frozen meals, or components of meals, on busy nights.
Don’t feel like you have to “meal prep” everything. Maybe you just want to chop up the veggies and fruit. Or maybe make a big batch of granola or trail mix and then portion it out for your snacks. Small steps like that can save you time and money, which is the entire point of all this!
Schedule time during your week to prep. I don’t know about you, but if it’s not on my calendar, it’s not happening! You don’t need to dedicate an enormous amount of time to it, maybe an hour or two once a week. But just remember, the time you spend prepping is going to free up some of your time during the week. Even if it doesn’t sound like fun to chop vegetables on a Sunday afternoon, think of how great it will be to have those pre-chopped veggies all ready to go! Spend your time doing something else!
Hopefully, some of those tips and tricks will help you save time and money in the kitchen! Dinner time should be a time to slow down and focus on your family or yourself.
Do you have other suggestions for meal prepping? I would love to hear them! Send me a message! Let’s help each other feel empowered!
Peace, love & kale!
Lindsay