Calculating your calories, figuring out recipes, the manual labor of prepping and not to mention planning around picky eaters in the family.
Don't let this deter you from setting aside special time to get this task accomplished. Meal planning & prepping can truly save you time during the week; allowing you to focus on your workouts and weekly tasks.
Follow these next few steps to maximize your time and become efficient at meal planning & prepping!
1. Figure out your target calories
I use the 21 Day Fix container method to calculate my target calorie range. This allows me to know exactly how much of what I am able to eat! Each container is color coded and represents a specific food group. As I've been following this program I am able to easily figure out by eye what I can eat. No counting calories, points or tracking macros.
2. Select your recipes
There are THOUSANDS of recipes which follow the container system so it is SO EASY to figure out what to eat and plan your meals for each day. I get the majority of my recipes from Pinterest and the 21 Day Fix Fixate cookbook which runs about $20 (if you don't have this in your kitchen you NEED it). Can be purchased when you create a FREE account HERE.
3. Begin planning
I use a word document to plan out each of my meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. This allows me to hang up on my fridge to reference what to eat for each day when packing my lunch or getting dinner ready.
4. Start your prep
Meal prepping is a very LOOSE term for being prepared for the week with meals. Meal prepping can include only dicing and chopping your ingredients so cooking requires less time through the week. Meal prepping can also include cooking every meal ahead of time so all you need to do is heat up. Really your prep is versatile and based on your own personal needs.
When you begin your prep go ahead and pre-chop, dice, slice and cook anything needed to begin your recipe. We've all seen those cooking shows and are floored at how quickly they're able to get through their recipe in an hour when for us at home takes 2 hours and don't understand why. THAT'S why!
5. Begin cooking
Figure out which meals take the LONGEST to cook and start there! I say this because if your prep starts to take too long and you decide to give up you're able to push off the other recipes to make fresh as needed later in the week. But set time aside 2-3 hours and let that be it.
STAY dedicated, don't allow yourself to have any distractions as the more distractions you have to cooking the longer it is going to take to get the meals cooked.
6. Portion Out Your Meals
Portion out your meals for the week! So you've got some "grab and go" options. I use THESE neat containers for my meals to help in packing up my lunch or snagging out to heat up dinner! Being able to heat and eat in 45 minutes is a LIFE saver!
Don't allow yourself to feel overwhelmed, know if you have questions, as your friend I am here! Don't forget to sign up to receive my personal weekly meal plans with recipes! Sign up below!
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