I feel like every time I open up social media, I see a million posts about clean eating and meal prepping.
You hear about various diets like Keto, Paleo, intermittent fasting, the Zone diet, etc… The list goes on!
But the one single most important thing that all of these diets have in common is that they all have a plan. The reality is that you must implement some sort of eating plan in order to see results.
By no means am I here to try to sell you on a particular diet. I personally believe that you can choose whatever diet plan you want for yourself as long as it’s healthy, wholesome and makes your body feel good.
That being said, take your dietary needs and make a plan — and the foundation of every plan is meal prep.
When you incorporate meal prep you’ll learn about portion control, save money and know exactly what’s going into your body. My recommendation would be to start by taking the guesswork out of eating breakfast and lunch so you avoid unnecessary purchases at the coffee or sandwich shop next to work.
Yes, it comes with extra work and can be time consuming. However, it’s just another thing that you get to experiment with until you find the perfect formula that you can fit in into your life on the regular.
If you identify the underlying emotional and physical reasons why you’re doing meal prep, it will be easier to create that time for yourself. You could also ask someone you trust, such as a health coach, trainer or friend, to help you stay accountable to your diet plan.
7 Keys to Effective Meal Preparation
- Start by planning out how many meals you need each week. As I previously mentioned, a good place to start is prepping breakfast and lunch for Monday through Friday. That’s only ten meals!
- Identity the days you’re going to be going out and socializing. Enjoy those days, and practise moderation!
- Make a list of all the types of breakfasts, snacks, and lunches you like to eat.
- Grab that list and head to the grocery store! Don’t be distracted by the tempting treats in the store! Stick to the plan. The fewer snack-able foods you have at home, the easier it will be to build positive habits.
- Be sure to pick up some food storage containers for all of you meals!
- Schedule yourself about two hours in the kitchen, and get cooking!
- Pre-portion all of your prep meals. This one is key to making meal prep successful. Almost every morning, I am thankful this is done ahead of time and that I can just grab and go! This has saved me from wasted dollars and calories at lunchtime because I didn’t plan and prepare properly.
These tips should get you started with effective meal planning and meal prep.
Have questions? Drop me a line in the comments section.
Your trainer,
Emilia
